You sit down at your desk ready to crack on with that assignment you’ve been putting off then you pick up your phone to check the time.
Suddenly you’re scrolling through social media, texting your friends and online shopping. You’ve probably had a peek at your screen time and been horrified by the amount you’ve spent on TikTok, we all have.
You’ve well and truly entered the procrastination rabbit hole and need help getting out. This is a guide showcasing the top 5 student apps to beat procrastination and get back on the right track.
Focus To-Do
Combining the Pomodoro technique and a to-do list, this app will increase your focus and productivity.
Pomodoro is Italian for tomato and the technique gets its name from a University student, Francesco Cirillo, who used a tomato-shaped timer to organise his study schedule after he struggled to stay focused.
The idea is to work for 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break. Repeat this 4 times then have an extended break of 15-30 minutes.
Francesco designed the method to be used alongside a to-do list which Focus To-Do incorporates into an application for your phone. The basic app is free and premium plans start from £1.79 a month or a lifetime licence for £9.99.
RescueTime
RescueTime is compatible with macOS 10.12 and Windows 10, it tracks your time spent on websites and applications and organises it into categories.
It then uses this data alongside 3 billion hours of activity from people like you and determines how you can be most productive throughout the day.
When you really need to focus you can start a ‘focus room’ which blocks sites that threaten your productivity.
RescueTime also has smart coaching which analyses your focus and meeting schedule then serves you insights and tasks you should focus on.
PC Magazine gave this application a rare 5-star rating describing it as “one of the best productivity tools we’ve ever tested.”
Forest
When you want to stay focused you plant a tree in this app, which will grow while you work. If you leave the app before the timer ends, your tree will die.
Over time a beautiful forest will grow in the app, a simple concept that shows a visual representation of your hard work which also has a real-life impact. As you grow trees, you earn coins which can be used to plant trees on Earth.
A simple motivating concept that has resulted in over a million trees being planted globally by the procrastinators of Earth.
Mindly
If you’re tired of regular to-do lists where everything looks the same and is visually mind-numbing, you should give Mindly a go.
It helps you organise ideas, deadlines and reminders in a three-dimensional format. A digital mind map that keeps track of your thoughts harnessing the power of associations to stay organised.
You can personalise each idea with colours, emojis, links and text. It’s also available on all platforms whether it’s your phone, laptop or tablet which all sync together.
Todoist
A simple app that allows you to create to-do lists based on your projects. It’s available across all platforms which sync together. It also has quirky features such as natural language input.
For example, “finish the monthly report by Wednesday”, will automatically set the due date to the upcoming Wednesday.
If you need to work with someone on a project, the collaboration features allow you to share access and set tasks with deadlines.
The best part is that you’ll get most of the features you need through the free version making this tool a no-brainer to beat procrastination.
| So there it is, the top 5 student apps to beat procrastination. If it’s in your student accommodation in Cork from Novel or at the student library, get started today! |