Opinion: Utilize these helpful additions for studies

As exam season approaches and study rooms get booked, you may rack your brain for ways to keep up with your studies. These three additions to your test-taking routine may be just what you are looking for to succeed. To respond to alarms, retain material, and keep your motivation to focus, look into these apps:

1.) Alarmy Attention

Are you guilty of snoozing your morning wake up call once, twice, or even more? Is your roommate suffering from the blaring sounds that work their way into your slumber?

Then, Alarmy is the app you need. Just by keeping this app open and adding your preferred alarms, this is a guarantee you will not miss that 8 a.m. class this week. Alarmy includes challenges, like math equations, that keep your eyes open and prevent that second-nature snooze.

The sound you choose continues playing until you have finished the task at hand, resulting in a smoother and more assured start to your day.

2.) Anki Advances

With a quick click away from Moodle, you may find yourself on Anki. This free-on-browser site is flashcard-based, much like Quizlet.

With the ability to have collections of different notes, cards, and decks of information, there is a place for all material needed to ace your exams. Users can rate their grasp on each card so that what is known sticks and what is fuzzy becomes clear.

If you have charts, images, or audio that need polishing, Anki can handle various types of media. For material that needs retention and repetition, this site is a guarantee that you will be familiarized with difficult decks and solidify knowledge before finals.

3.) Focus Friend

If you lack the motivation to study, channeling your work towards goals and intention could be the solution. The Focus Friend app, made by Hank Green, incorporates a simple design and helpful nudges to check off your to-dos by increasing concentration.

This application has features like Pomodoro time management tactics and Focus Mode, to limit access to distracting apps when you have set a time to study. This app kickstarts your academic time and keeps it going, until you have accomplished what you set out to do. When you start the study timer and stay productive, your Focus Friend does too, highlighting a reward system that feels beneficial even when your workload is high.

Simply start a Focus Session, commit to a length of time, and complete that assignment to gain in-app rewards. Work to limit doomscrolling by utilizing your phone for productivity. This helps you work on your assignments now for a smooth semester later.
Whether you need to hit the ground running and combat heavy sleep, study material that you actually do not grasp, or commit to working for a set period of time, these apps and sites have their perks.

Photo by Lauren Sloan.