The days are getting shorter, the nights colder and the work is starting to pile on. In other words, we are approaching midterm season. I’m sure most of us have had our fair share of last-minute paper horror stories and all-nighters studying for an exam worth 75% of our overall grade, but this year can be different.

If you’re anything like me, you probably push off studying and papers until the last minute and end up either doing amazing or failing the assignment. I am a procrastinator at heart paired with the short attention span that I got from years of scrolling through TikTok. I struggle to write a sentence without a ten-minute phone break.

I have always struggled to find a good rhythm and effectively study with productivity apps. Building habits has been a life-long struggle for me, and I’m sure many people can relate. However, I do know that habit-building does not happen without the true motivation to do better. So I decided to try my hand at five different study and habit-building apps to help pace out my studying and coursework healthily.

Quizlet
Whether students need to study for a test last minute or make study sets, Quizlet has been a popular way to make that happen. Quizlet is a study application that can be used on a phone, tablet or computer. Through Quizlet, students can either study flashcards from preexisting sets that someone else has made or they can make their own to suit their studying needs.

Using the free features, I was able to create flashcard sets and study guides. I made folders for each class with the flashcards and connected them to UMSL. The flashcards are straightforward to make with the option to study by the definition or term.

To make a study guide, users can create voice recordings, scan documents, use images, type or upload a file. Quizlet then uses AI to create a study guide to help learn the desired information. From the study guide, Quizlet can create flashcards or act as an AI tutor.

Now, we get into the extra features that have to be paid for. To upgrade a Quizlet account, there is an annual option for $35.99 a year or a monthly option for $7.99 a month. With the upgrade, Quizlet will allow students to use “Expert Solutions” which is a step-by-step guide to solving textbook questions. The upgrade also comes with the “Learn” and “Test” features, which are extra studying tools, the ability to add custom details to flashcards and get rid of ads.

To be frank, the upgrade is a rip-off. I used Quizlet in high school and early college when it was free and loved it. Once I had to start paying for these features, I found other ways of studying for tests. If you have the money to spend, I would say the upgrade has potential. Ultimately, if you’re only using Quizlet for flashcards, it’s best to save your money.

I am disappointed with Quizlet and its features. It’s a decent study tool if all you need are flashcards, but what once was a saving grace for students everywhere, now sits behind a paywall along with the rest of the world.

Notion

Notion is a notetaking and planning app that can be used for school, work and everyday life. When I first opened Notion, I was a little intimidated. There are a lot of customization opportunities within this app and there was no clear place to start. I ended up with the “Student Planner” section of my Notion account and started adding in my classes.

After I added my classes, I realized I could put in due dates for my coursework. This was very helpful for me to set up and get reminders for. The student planner in Notion works the same as most physical planners in a checklist format.

The Notes section is organized under each course you have assigned to the page. The notes can be organized by date, chapter, how recent they are, etc. Once you start taking notes, it’s very straightforward. After filling out the content, Notion automatically saves it, and if you want, you can go back and check the history of the note page.

Notion also has a calendar feature that can be synced to Google Calendar. You can keep your assignment due dates in this calendar and add whatever you feel you need to keep track of. As someone who uses Google Calendar already, I don’t find this feature useful, but if you are someone who likes everything in the same place, this is perfect for you.

On the surface, Notion seems like a very basic planner, but a lot is happening underneath this app. All the freedom this app gives you when designing can be overwhelming if you are not used to a planner like I am. It didn’t take long to figure out how to work the app and was beginner-friendly, especially with all the YouTube videos out there.

Obsidian

If you are familiar with Microsoft’s OneNote program, you should be able to grasp Obsidian fairly easily. When starting up the program, I opted for the quickstart rather than manually creating a “vault”. I thought this would be an easier option for someone not used to using online planners and note-taking apps.

It was extremely straightforward. You can create multiple notes and within those notes, there are tabs. The tabs, like the notes, may be duplicated as many times as you want. I like how simple this note-taking app is. You can download extensions to the app along with other templates to customize it more to your liking, but the basic template and functions are aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.

The only thing I would like to add to this is a planner function. I found that I enjoyed having my planner and notes in one app. Having a planner and a notes app in one place was more efficient than going back and forth between multiple apps or web pages.

Google Calendar
I love using Google Calendar for keeping up with assignments and meetings. Google Calendar is the ultimate planner. In Google Calendar, you can set tasks and events. Both tabs give you the option of giving the task or event a specific date or time.

When creating events and tasks in the calendar, I was able to customize the events more than the tasks. With a task, I can add a title and description, set the time and date I need the task done by and mark it as repeating or not. I think this feature is good to use for less important assignments or tasks that need to be done.

I prefer using the event tab to input my assignments into the calendar in order to further customize the tab. I can change the color of each tab, allowing me to color code my assignments and courses. I also like that I can add a Google Drive attachment to the event, so if I want to keep the instructions for the assignment with the event tab, I can do so.

Another feature I find useful is the sharing function. I can invite people to be a part of a certain event. This is particularly convenient when in group projects to ensure all added members know the deadlines to their part. You can also add people to the entire calendar which I find to be a good function for families, friends, or partners that have to schedule time in coordination with each other.

I love using Google Calendar as my planner, especially since it syncs with my other Google applications. If you are looking for more incorporated features, I think Notion may be the better app for you as it combines the calendar and planar aspects together.

Flora – Green Focus

Flora – Green Focus is a timer and task app. I have a hard time staying focused when I am finishing assignments and having a timer that has breaks worked into it helps a lot. You can set up a list of tasks and add in timed goals.

For one of my tasks, I made a goal to study for an exam for one hour each day. I broke it into 25-minute increments with a ten-minute break in between. The reason I found Flora to be effective was that you lose progress if you exit the app. While the timer progresses, a virtual tree grows in the app. Anytime you leave the app, you will lose progress on the tree’s growth. So the app makes you responsible for something to keep you focused.

Growing the trees also gives people a sense of accomplishment when they finish their goals. Giving up your phone to function as a timer, gives people a reason to be more present in the moment rather than scroll. Maybe you want to set time out of the day to just be off your phone for 1 hour, this is a great app to help accomplish that.

Flora also gives the option to charge your card if you kill the tree by either getting distracted or not staying on top of tasks. As a college student, this could either be a motivator or a turn-off for this app. I would refrain from using this feature myself because I would not want to risk losing money. For those who have money to spare though, it may be beneficial to them if money is a large motivator.

I think these apps all have their specific uses, but for the best overall productivity app, I give the award to Notion. It does well with having a little bit of everything; a notebook, a calendar, and an AI assistant to help with gathering ideas and information. While you can upgrade your account for a monthly fee, unlike Quizlet, I feel like I can take full advantage of Notion to get what I need done without paying for extra features.

I also really liked Obsidian for its simplicity. It was an easy-to-navigate note-taking app and if you wanted to make the switch from paying for Microsoft applications to something free, Obsidian is a great replacement for OneNote. The interface is almost identical and it allows for extensions to be added if you are using the desktop app.

I am very disappointed by Quizlet. I had not used it in years before this article and when coming back to it all I could think about was how it was so limited in functionality after the paywall was added. An app directed towards students should not cost $8 a month to use features that were once free to use. Many students do not feel like the cost is worth it, so they go on to find other studying methods.

The timer on Flora helped motivate me to stay focused on studying and working on assignments. I invested in the health of my tree waiting to see it all grown up, so I was motivated to stay off my phone. It did not completely solve my inattentiveness, but it took away the biggest factor for my procrastination: my phone.

None of these apps will work to get the job done for you, you have to put in the effort to make the apps work around your life and your habits. It can be hard at times, especially if you struggle to stay organized, but these tools help manage the chaos rather than cure it. I have spent many late nights working on assignments and papers that were due the next morning, but these apps give me the resources to help me manage my time better.