Study Smarter, Not Harder
If you’re like me, your university resumes classes for the Spring semester tomorrow. In order to better prepare yourself for this semester, I have compiled a list of tools, gear and resources to help you study smarter this semester from Brett McKay.
Academic success comes to the students who study smarter, not harder. Successful students also utilize technology to achieve their academic goals.
Evernote [free]
Smart students take notes. Smarter students take their lecture notes using Evernote. Evernote is an application that allows you to remember and organize everything your professor throws at you.
Evernote is crammed with features that will help you upgrade your note-taking experience. Notes you take on the Evernote desktop app automatically sync with your Evernote account online. If your laptop crashes or gets lost, you’ll still have your notes sitting safely in the cloud. If you like to handwrite your notes, but would like to store them digitally, Evernote makes it possible. Just scan your handwritten notes into Evernote, and Evernote will use the magic of image recognition technology to allow you to search for your handwritten notes within the app.
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC1 QuietPoint Noise-Canceling Headphones [$80]
When noises distract you from studying, a pair of noise-canceling headphones can bring silent. QuietPoint noise-canceling headphones won’t give you complete noise cancellation like their $200-$300 cousins, for $80 you can get an 85% reduction in ambient noise.
Leechblock [free]
The internet provides limitless distractions: YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, etc. One of the biggest challenges in studying is avoiding these timewasting websites. Leechblock, a plug-in for the Firefox web browser, makes blocking timewasting sites a breeze. Simply tell Leechblock which sites you want to block and when you want them blocked and Leechblock does the rest. Now when you try to surf over to your favorite timewasting site, instead of the page, you’ll see a message from Leechblock telling you to get back to work.
The Pomodoro Technique [free]
Pomodoro is a time management method. The technique uses a timer to break down periods of work into 25-minute intervals called Pomodoros (from the Italian word for tomatoes) separated by breaks. The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.
