5 Tools Every College Student Should Use
If you are a college student like I am, chances are you’re swamped with reading material and homework which can often drive you crazy. As a result, you end up with a half finished essay, no time to do something fun and often pretty tired because you’ve burned the midnight oil. Creativity in these situations can be measured with zero, and the situation gets even more hectic as the finals approach.
Many will say that the key to success is being well organized, but they don’t give you the necessary tools. Therefore, .ME team decided to provide students with useful tips and tricks on how to stay organised, while being creative and productive. Oh, and most of these tips can also be applied in your everyday life!
Evernote
Evernote is by far one of my favorite production tools. It’s a free, simple to use note capturing app which basically works on every known platform out there (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, you name it). This makes it perfect because I can write down all the lecture notes on my laptop and the’ll be instantly synced with all the other devices I use. Upon coming home, I can just take my iPad and the notes are right there, no manual transferring is necessary.
All the notes are organised by date and you can create custom notebooks into which the notes will go. The app is rich in media meaning you can attach a picture, video or a voice memo to it, but the best feature about this tool is that you can share all your notes with others, even the ones who don’t use the service.
Dropbox
Before this nifty tool came out in 2008, nobody knew what a cloud service really is. Dropbox changed the game when it started offering 5GB of free cloud space. I’ve started using it back in 2009. when I’ve enrolled at a college and it made my life, and the lives of my peers so much easier.
Since we share our notes, spreadsheets and other material, it’s comes in handy to have all your files stored in the cloud, right at the tips of your fingers. You can share your folders and make sure that people who you decide to share files with can accesses it without bothering you. Also, you can set the settings to just copy, which will stop anybody from changing your documents.
Clear App
Clear app is an awesome to-do app with one of the best UI’s out there. It’s simple and minimalistic look means you’ll spend more time focusing on the task itself. Since I often have to do a lot of stuff outside the school, Clear helps me to stay on top of everything. It gives it’s users you an option to create special lists, with items that need to be checked.
Combining awesome visuals and rather magical sounds, this app is perfect for things like shopping, picking up stuff from dry-cleaners of remembering to do homework. The only downside to Clear is that it’s not available on Android, only on iOS and Mac AppStore.
Google Docs
When it comes to word editing, spreadsheets and presentations, most people prefer Microsoft Office. Yeah, it’s good but it’s also really expensive and can set you back more than 100 dollars for a basic, student version. This is where Google Docs comes in. Since the service was introduced a few years ago it’s been the best replacement for MS Office. More and more users are creating their content exclusivity using this awesome tool which is completely free! All you need is a Google account and you’re ready for some serious writing.
Last year, the service merged with Google Drive which now offers you cloud space features, similar to Dropbox and a 5GB of free space for your files. However, the best feature behind Google Docs is its real time, multiple users document editing. More than often, I have to do an essay with a fellow student and each of us can write its own part in just one document. No more merging files or sending docs via email. Everything is on the web, and can be accessed from any computer. Also, Google Docs enable you to create standard MS Office files which will work on any other computer.
Toshl App
Being a student has it’s perks, but the constant downside is that you always lack money. Finding a part time job is the way to go, but even than your finances seem to vanish before the payday. Chances are, you’re buying to much lattes and it’s creating a hole in your already tight budget.
Toshl, a personal finance manager is just the tool for the job. After you sign up for free, it will ask you to put in your monthly budget and expenses after which you’ll be presented with a visual graph of what your finances look like. Toshl will also suggest where you could save money, but it’s ultimate goal is to get you to visually notice on just what your spending your cash. Since I’ve used it, it help me to cut down on gas money, thus walking more and taking a public transport more often. It’s really helpful because everything is visual, it’s not just numbers and figures.
Now that you’ve discovered these awesome apps, all you have to do is start using them. Get ready for a truly life chancing experience which will help you towards achieving your goals! 😀
