Maximize Your Productivity: Top Apps and Strategies for Staying Organized and Motivated

Bullet Journaling: The Silver Bullet for Organization & Motivation?

Maintaining a bullet journal is a creative journaling method designed to keep track of goals, thoughts, and scheduling. Like a normal journal, it utilizes a physical notebook. However, rather than lined pages, bullet journals have dotted gridlines, which allows for more flexibility in creating a page setup. A typical bullet journal is handwritten and includes an index, key, future log (an overview of future events, deadlines, goals, etc.), monthly log, daily log, and collections (personal lists, trackers, or brainstorms). Collections range from fitness and sleep trackers to favorite movies and book reviews. All of this contributes to boosting productivity while also offering a creative outlet for users.

Katherine Mali Hanner’s Review: I started bullet journaling a few years ago, and it has been such a mental health booster for me. Although I’m not the most organically creative person, using Pinterest as a guide for the kinds of lists and trackers others have made really helps me come up with my own ideas for page themes. For example, some of my pages include “Marvel Movies I’ve Seen,” “Things That Make Me Smile,” “Summer Bucket List,” “Exercise Tracker,” and “Favorite Things About Freshman/Sophomore/Junior Year” just to name a few. Setting up each page with colorful titles, doodles in the corners, and lists personalized to me not only makes me happy but motivates me to keep up with my trackers or create new pages. Bullet journaling serves as a means of keeping myself accountable and as a creative way to take a break from whatever stressors may distract me from enjoying life. It also helps me maintain optimism when feeling down because I can look back at old pages and reflect on past anticipations that came to fruition, which allows me to look forward to future events.

 

Microsoft Planner: Keep on Track When Working with a Group or Working Alone

MS Planner helps you organize plans, assign tasks, share files, chat about what you're working on, and get updates on progress. 

Sophia Dsouza’s review: From my experience, MS Planner is an easy, low-skill application that helps keep you organized. You make plans and organize tasks within buckets. For example, I am working on my thesis on Planner. The plan is called “thesis”, and the buckets inside are labeled “in progress” and “finished.” In my “in progress” bucket are all the tasks I need to work on. I like this application because it is on the phone and computer, so you can get updates in several different ways. I get an email in the morning with the tasks I need to complete, along with a due date. 

Some downsides include that you manually have to input all the things you want to get done and assign due dates. In Google Calendar, you can copy a C anvas link to input all your assignments and due dates. You also can't color code tasks in MS Planner.

 

Structured: Put it All Together with an AI Assistant

An app that allows you to integrate different areas of your life into one place for a more organized lifestyle. The app allows you to input everything from class schedules to driving time and even gives you tips on break times and things to do during your free time. The AI setting allows users to integrate their daily/weekly schedule by stating the activity, time, and day. Structure sets up their program to work simultaneously via phone, computer, and iPad. It is currently in Beta for Android. For those who struggle to stay off social media while studying or doing homework, it provides a setting to block usage for the desired time and days you select—allowing you to have timeouts from social media for school or to unplug. 

Maria Saavedra’s Review: It took me a while to find an app I could use on my phone, computer, and iPad. But that's not the only reason this app differs from the rest. The app allows me to put in my class schedule from the start to the end date and color code between different things in my day-to-day life. It has even allowed me to create a morning routine through their sub-to-do lists that you can make under your actual activity; this has allowed me to add breathing time, meditation, skin care, and even relaxation time into my everyday life. It also has a setting for alarms (minutes, hours, or days ahead). 

Feeling Stuck? Divide and Conquer 

Juliana Coronado’s suggestions for getting started and maybe even getting it done:

Procrastination is often the result of avoidance due to feeling overwhelmed or unprepared. Thus, instead of tackling a big task head-on, it's better to divide big tasks into manageable chunks so you can work on it one step at a time. If procrastination persists or it still feels like too much, then at the end of each day, set out a small but important goal for the next day that must be completed regardless of what you do the next day. That way, regardless of what happens that day, you will have accomplished something. You can force yourself to do the task by setting a rule for yourself that you will start the undesirable task on the count of 3, no matter what. 

These strategies sound simple and too easy for some people, but they are helpful when even the thought of getting out of bed seems like too much. It's a good strategy that does not have to be used for work or schoolwork and can be used for self-care, like forcing yourself to get out of bed and eat something. Doing something, no matter how small, is better than doing nothing at all.

 

Self Reference Effect Yourself to the Top of the Class

If we understand how our brains work and remember more information by relating back to ourselves, we’ll be set for success. The self-reference effect may impact you more than you think!

Mikayla Wiglesworth’s Review: This is important to know about oneself, especially in a learning environment. I remember researching this topic thoroughly in my Research Methods class and presenting to others how important the self-reference effect is when trying to remember things long-term. Efficient studying is a very difficult thing to learn, especially when transitioning into college. Students who follow this advice and apply this method to their studying will greatly benefit in the long run. For example, people remember information more when it is related back to themselves compared to someone even very close to them. This means that you can apply what you learn back to yourself. This may be more difficult for STEM classes, but for humanities and social sciences classes, this is a very effective study tool. Compare yourself to the main character in the book, or think about how that theory applies to you and your life, and it will be far easier to remember.