Not–so–breaking news: Penn is hard. It's easy to procrastinate when we're overwhelmed. Don't worry, though— Street's got the apps to help you out.
Focus Keeper Free
Focus Keeper Free is one of many apps that utilize the pomodoro technique, a method of productivity that involves working for 25–minute intervals, with five–minute breaks in between. This technique is especially useful for those who lose focus or interest easily, as it allows the user to break efforts down into short spurts. This is really helpful for long, daunting tasks because it helps to mentally divide projects into smaller, more manageable segments.
Focus Keeper is available for free for iOS.
Forest
Forest is another app that utilizes the pomodoro method, but this one rewards you for your productivity and discourages you from using your phone. Starting the timer in this app plants a virtual tree, which will continue to grow as long as the app is open. If you choose to close the app while the timer is still going, however, the tree will die. Over time, using this app will lead to a virtual forest, which helps create a sense of accomplishment and discourages procrastination.
Forest is available for $1.99 for iOS and free for Android.
Evernote
Evernote is a note–taking application that can be downloaded on just about any device, so that users can read and take notes from just about anywhere. The platform also allows you to create multiple notebooks and tag files with keywords so that they are easy to find. This application is helpful for those who are constantly on the go, as notes can be accessed from multiple devices—you can take notes in class on your laptop in the morning and review them on your phone later that day.
Evernote is available for free for most devices.
Cite This For Me
Cite This For Me helps make it quick and easy to cite sources and build a bibliography. The phone application allows users to scan barcodes to automatically generate citations for books. Cite This For Me also has a website, and the app can be synced with your account to make it easy to copy and paste citations into documents.
Cite This For Me is available for free for iOS and Android.
Exam Countdown
Exam Countdown is the perfect application for people who have a tendency to forget about deadlines and test dates. This app allows users to insert the dates of multiple exams, so that you can see exactly how many days you have left to prepare. If nothing else, Exam Countdown might be able to scare you into buckling down and studying.
Exam Countdown is available for free for iOS and Android.
Pocket Points
Pocket Points was created to incentivize college students to pay attention in class. We are all guilty of falling victim to distractions during lectures—online shopping, texting under the table, browsing Instagram. Pocket Points aims to remove the distraction caused by cell phones by allowing users to earn points for not using their phones. The longer you keep your phone locked while the app is running, the more points you accumulate. In turn, these points can be redeemed for discounts at various local and online stores, including Insomnia Cookies, Macy's, and Jet.com.
Pocket Points is available for free for iOS and Android.
