Our phones are with most of us all of the time, and they have the potential to be a great tool for keeping our lives on track. These days, there are tons of productivity apps available at our fingertips, but it’s hard to know which will work and in what circumstances. Luckily, our team has done the dirty work and narrowed down the options for you. Whatever your child needs support with, you can bet there’s an app for that.
Apps to keep you on schedule
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- Google Calendar: Part of the g-suite of apps. This is the most widely used calendar app and easily syncs with virtually all of the to-do list apps listed below. Calendars can be shared easily and phone reminders are easy to set. There are also a number of third party apps that allow for a wide variety of widgets and additional functionality with a google calendar base.
- Any.Do: This is a calendar and to-do list app in one. It supports location based reminders (think “Grab your math book” as you approach your locker), includes space for shopping lists, allows for easy sharing of calendars and really does just about everything you could want. If you’re building a ground up system, this is a great place to start and might be the only tool you need.
Apps to help you get organized and get things done
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- To-Doist: Todoist is one of our EF coaches’ favorites because it’s so intuitive, easily syncs across all devices and integrates with loads of apps (including Toggle & google calendar). We also love that you can nest sub-tasks under larger tasks (ie: you can set mini-due dates on the way to completing an essay!). This to-do app is all about data. It tracks your progress, will predict what reminders you need, and allows for sorting your tasks in all sorts of ways.
- Habitica: This app is notable because it gamifies getting things done. You can earn points (or lose them!), battle other users, and level-up. You can set recurring tasks or one-off tasks and earn points as you complete them. If a regular old to-do list is too boring, try this!
Apps to help you take note and take charge
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- Google Keep: This app allows for simple to-do lists, touch-screen note taking, photos and voice memos which can be color-coded or organized into categories. There are no reminders, but it’s a great place for a brain dump.
- Evernote: This app allows for everything that Google Keep does as well as scanning documents and saving websites & PDFs. You can also use Evernote to search within all of your notes – including anything handwritten!
Apps to boost productivity and manage your time
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- Toggl: So many of our students end up starting late on their work mostly because they don’t have a good sense of time. Toggl is an easy way to track where you time goes, and the graphs it creates are a great starting point for lining up your use of time with your priorities.
- Timely: Timely lays out your workweek in advance and lets you estimate how much time you’ll need to set aside to tackle your daily tasks. As you track your time, you’ll be able to compare your predictions with how long it actually took you and plan your schedule better in the future.
- App Block & AppDetox: These app usage trackers offer a similar set of capabilities which help you stay on target. By restricting the use of blocked apps or your phone in general (based on a number of qualifiers, such as Daily Usage Limit, Hourly Usage Limit, Limit on Number of Phone Screen Unlocks, and more), you can finally put that phone down and focus. More importantly – our students appreciate that getting control over phone use allows them to clearly delineate work time and chill time.
Apps for tracking assignments, courses, and more
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- Alta Ipsum: This is a comprehensive school organization app that includes a calendar to support class schedules, an assignment tracker, a grade tracker, a place to set goals and track progress towards them, as well as a host of other features. You can upload assignments, add notes to them, and time yourself as you work. Alta Ipsum will even recommend study plans when you schedule tests or mini-due dates when you schedule large assignments.
- The Homework App: This app helps make it easier to self-advocate and notice crunch times by keeping instructor contact information close and providing a graph of your workload for the upcoming seven days.
Apps can help students overcome a number of day-to-day challenges, but for truly personalized support on time management, developing organizational systems, study strategies, and more, our executive functioning team is here to help. Contact us to learn how an EF coach can help your child thrive.
