10 Best Productivity Apps for Students

Forest

Forest is a unique app designed to increase focus and cultivate a sense of mindfulness. It has loads of cool features to help you reach your study goals, including a focus timer and break timer. Forest is also an excellent choice for environmentally conscious students. Stay focused, smash those study targets, and you'll see your virtual trees grow. Slack off, and you'll watch them wither away. Users are rewarded with virtual coins for growing trees. Once you've saved enough, you can donate the coins to eco-initiatives planting real trees in African countries affected by climate change, including Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania.

InMotion

InMotion is a creative workflow tool that makes organizing your study calendar as easy as possible. You can use InMotion to schedule meetings, share times with other users, and jump in on video calls instantly; ideal for anyone studying remotely. InMotion links up with other apps and websites, including Gmail and LinkedIn. This means you can pull up your schedule and make adjustments without jumping around different websites. Michael Seibel is the CEO of the hugely successful startup accelerator YCombinator. He's also a big fan of InMotion. "I'm moving a lot faster on tasks like scheduling. InMotion does an amazing job at keeping me focused while working," said Michael.

Tide

Relax, breathe, and sleep like you haven't got a care in the world with the Tide mindfulness app. Ideal for both beginners and deep explorers, Tide has a range of guided meditation sessions designed to bust stress or cultivate positive habits, like self-discipline, attention, and even creative thinking. The sound scene feature plays calming natural sounds at a low volume to block out annoying late-night internal chatter. It's the perfect way to fall into a relaxing slumber, ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to hit the books. Tide also sends daily inspirational quotes to keep you motivated through those post-lunch study slumps.

Cold Turkey

Do you struggle with limiting your screen time? Are you continually trying to fight the urge to send one last tweet before you really start cracking the books? If so, then it might be time to go Cold Turkey. The toughest website block app out there, Cold Turkey is designed to help people reclaim their time (and attention spans) back from big tech's mind-manipulating algorithms. Cold Turkey can block apps, websites, and even your entire computer. Alternatively, you can customize settings to grant timed access to the sites or apps you need for studying. Cold Turkey comes as a free download. The advance pro package is available for a one-off payment of $29.

Evernote

Evernote makes sure a good idea never goes to waste. Described by Forbes magazine as a powerful tool for entrepreneurs and creative thinkers, Evernote is a mobile and laptop app designed to take, organize, and archive notes. Use it to scribble down a flash of inspiration, screenshot an article from the web, or record a voice memo if you're on the go. You can also create project outlines, to-do lists, and study calendars. Evernote works both online or offline, and is available in over 20 languages, including English, Chinese, and French. Bethany Stephens is the founder of the marketing agency Soapbox Influence. She describes Evernote as a 'second brain.' "I capture every fleeting thought and idea in Evernote," says Bethany. "I've always trained myself to think, 'Can this go in Evernote?' I very much subscribe to the idea of it as an external brain."

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is easy to use, practical, and 100% free. It's good for scheduling events, setting up meetings, and organizing your revision timetable during exam season. You can also share your calendar with other people when working on group projects and presentations. Google Calendar is cloud-based, so it automatically syncs with laptops and mobile devices. It integrates with Gmail accounts, creating instant calendar reminders. You can also set personal reminders for assignment deadlines or other important college events, like career fairs or society meetings. Google Calendar links straight to Google Meetings, letting you set up or jump onto video calls.

Rev Voice Recorder

Available for Android and iPhone, the Rev Voice Recorder captures high-quality audio on your phone. What's more, it has an AI-powered feature that transcribes the recording with one tap of the screen. Rev is perfect for students who like to record lectures. It lets you pay full attention in class then review the content in more detail at home, where you can write detailed and insightful notes. Rev removes the hassle of emailing yourself voice recordings, transferring files, and finding the right cable to connect recording devices to laptops. It also connects with email, text messaging, and several other useful learning apps, such as Slack and Evernote.

CliffsNotes

The original study guide, CliffsNotes has helped many students hit that last-minute deadline. These concise, easy-to-read study guides are the perfect way to digest the fundamentals before pursuing a more in-depth study. CliffsNotes study guides range from breakdowns of literary classics to a beginner's guide to accounting or Algebra 101. More recently. CliffsNotes began producing useful guides for standardized college admissions tests, like the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), the college SATs, and the Praxis exam. You can also take a practice test on the CliffsNotes website to prepare you for the real thing come exam day. CliffsNotes is like having a personal exam tutor, which is a huge advantage for aspiring college and graduate students who can't afford private tuition.

EasyBib

EasyBib is a bibliography maker and citation checking tool that makes sure all your papers are correctly referenced. Just select what style you're using, and EasyBib does the rest. It can format essays and papers in MLA, Chicago, and APA citation styles. EasyBib also comes with a plagiarism mistake checker and an advanced grammar assistant. Plus, it gives practical feedback on writing style, helping you create stronger and more eloquent arguments. The advance subscription service costs $19.95 per month, but students get plenty for their money. The advance package comes with free video support, an instant math solver, and unlimited grammar checks. It's a solid investment for students who want to write perfect research papers.

Slack

Slack is a workflow platform, messenger service, and video conference app rolled into one. Slack also connects with GoogleDocs, letting you upload documents, presentations, media files, and other useful bits of information. It's a great way to manage group projects, research groups, study sessions, and extracurricular activities, like a book club. With one-to-one voice and video calls and 10 integrated systems, the free version has enough functionality for smaller teams and groups. The more advanced packages start from less than $6 a month. US software company Salesforce recently acquired Slack for $27 billion, so expect lots of high-tech added features over the next few months. Microsoft Teams is also proving increasingly popular (it is mostly for businesses but there is a freemium version for non-business users).

Productivity is about managing time as effectively as possible. It's also about taking care of your wellbeing so you can function at your best. Thankfully, these 10 apps have got both bases covered. So pick the ones that suit your needs and start living better through technology.