STUDY SMARTERNOT HARDER

Responsibility is on you….

■ To organize the information that is given to you

■ To make sense of the information that is given to you

■ To ask for help when you think you needed it

■ To change behaviors / habits to be more effective academically

■ To use tools/resources that will help you be more successful

EVERNOTE

■ PROS:

– FREE

– HUGE NUMBER OF USES

– OCR IN IMAGES

– AVAILABLE ON ALL DEVICES (ANDROID, IPHONE, PC, MAC) FREE

OF CHARGE

■ CONS:

– SLIGHT LEARNING CURVE

EVERNOTE MAKES NOTES MANAGEABLE AND SEARCHABLE

THERE IS REALLY NO LIMIT TO CUSTOMIZATION OF NOTEBOOKS

FLASH CARD APPS

THERE IS A HUGE NUMBER OF FLASH CARD APPS OUT

THERE, EACH WITH PROS AND CONS.

HAVING AN ELECTRONIC VERSION GENERALLY MEANS

NOT HAVING TO MAINTAIN A LARGE NUMBER OF

PHYSICAL CARDS, AND IMAGES / VIDEO / AUDIO CAN

BE ADDED.

QUIZLET

■ PROS:

– FREE TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECKS

– IMAGES

– SMALL LEARNING CURVE

– MINI GAMES

– SHARED DECKS

■ CONS:

– SMALL AMOUNT OF CUSTOMIZATION

STUDY BLUE

■ PROS:

– FREE TO MAKE YOUR OWN FLASHCARDS

– CONNECTS TO EVERNOTE

– DECKS CAN BE SHARED

■ CONS:

– USING SHARED DECKS REQUIRES SUBSCRIPTION

– VERY BLOATED (MEANING THERE IS MANY UNNECESSARY

FEATURES)

ANKI

■ PROS:

– FREE TO USE

– ALGORITHMIC LEARNING BASED ON PERFORMANCE

– INSANELY CUSTOMIZEABLE CARDS

– LARGE NUMBER OF SHARED DECKS FREE TO DOWNLOAD

– STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DECKS YOU HAVE CREATED

■ CONS:

– HUGE LEARNING CURVE

– IPHONE APP IS $20 (ANDROID IS FREE, CAN USE SAFARI ON IPHONE

FREE)

MANY MORE OPTIONS

■ CRAM FLASHCARDS (FREE ON ALL PLATFORMS)

■ CHEGG FLASHCARD+ APP (IPHONE ONLY)

■ STUDY STACK (TURNS FLASHCARD EXPERIENCE INTO A MINI-GAME)

■ BRAINSCAPE

■ STUDIES

TASK MANAGERS

THE USE OF A TASK MANAGER ALLOWS YOU

TO KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS IMPORTANT ON

A DAY TO DAY BASIS.

IT IS EASY TO GET BEHIND WHEN THERE IS

A PILE OF THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE.

THINGS 3

■ PROS:

– HUGE AMOUNT OF USEABILITY

– CONNECTS WITH CALENDARS

– CLOUD SYNC

■ CONS:

– IOS AND MAC ONLY

– EXPENSIVE

– HUGE LEARNING CURVE

THINGS 3

TRELLO

■ PROS:

– FREE

– WORKS WITH TEAMS

– LARGE AMOUNT OF FEATURES

■ CONS:

– LARGE LEARNING CURVE

TRELLO

TODOIST

■ PROS:

– FREE ON ALL PLATFORMS

– CLOUD SYNC

– TASKS CAN BE ORGANIZED WITH CATEGORIES

– WORKS WITH TEAMS

■ CONS:

– NO CONS

THERE ARE MANY MORE TASK MANAGERS OUT THERE.

■ REMINDERS

■ WUNDERLIST

■ CARROT

■ HABIT BULL

■ GOOGLE KEEP AND GOOGLE NOW

■ OMNIFOCUS

■ ANY.DO

■ FANTASTICAL

GETTING RID OF DISTRACTIONS

IF YOU CONSTANTLY LOOK AT YOUR PHONE YOU ARE NOT BEING

PRODUCTIVE.

IF YOU CONSTANTLY CHECK SOCIAL MEDIA YOU ARE NOT BEING

PRODUCTIVE.

IF YOU CONSTANTLY DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE ONE

THING YOU NEED TO BE DOING, YOU ARE NOT BEING

PRODUCTIVE.

GETTING RID OF DISTRACTIONS

ONE OF THE BEST WAY TO GET RID OF DISTRACTION IS

USING THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE.

BASICALLY, SET ASIDE A BLOCK OF TIME TO FOCUS ON

ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY. SOUNDS SIMPLE,

BUT IN PRACTICE IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO KEEP

DISTRACTIONS AWAY. USE A TIMER TO HELP.

30/30

■ PROS:

– ALLOWS FOR MULTIPLE POMODOROS (TIME SLOTS)

– CUSTOMIZEABLE

– HUGE AMOUNT OF FEATURES

■ CONS:

– PAID APP (NO SUBSCRIPTION)

– LEARNING CURVE

– CAN BECOME BLOATED

30/30: WORK FOR 30 MINUTES,TAKE A BREAK

POMODORO KEEPER

■ PROS:

– SIMPLE INTERFACE

– NO LEARNING CURVE

– GOAL ORIENTED

– FREE VERSION

■ CONS:

– LACKS FEATURES

– ABILITY TO CHANGE TIME SLOTS REQUIRES PURCHASE

POMODORO KEEPER

KANBAN

■ PROS:

– CAN BE DONE WITH OR WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY

– SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE

– GOAL ORIENTED

– FREE

■ CONS:

– LACKS FEATURES

– NOT CUSTOMIZEABLE

KANBAN: CATEGORIZE THE DAY’S GOALS

FOREST: PLANT A TREE WHILE BEING PRODUCTIVE

■ PROS:

– MAKES YOU FEEL BAD FOR PROCRASTINATING

– HELPS THE ENVIRONMENT

■ CONS:

– PAID APP

– LITTLE CUSTOMIZATION

FOREST

WHEN YOU GROW ENOUGH TREES IN FOREST, A REAL TREE IS PLANTED

THERE IS NO APP TO MAKE YOU STOP PROCRASTINATING OR STUDY BETTER

APPS, STUDY SYSTEMS, TRICKS, ETC. ARE ALL TOOLS TO BE USED.

TO BE EFFECTIVE YOU HAVE TO USE THEM CORRECTLY AND CONSISTENTLY.

THE TOOLS ARE THERE. USE THEM.