We recently asked our Ping! readers if they use a great tool to help them organise their studies and life commitments. We had loads of responses and wanted to share some of their wisdom with you!
Physical tools
Tool | What it does |
Colour coding each topic and commitment (using highlighters, sticky notes or coloured pens) | The whole reason color-coding works is that it allows you to identify items visually and quickly by category. Colour-coding is a dynamic way to organise the information that you need to learn. Even if you’re short on study time, colour-coded notes allow you to rapidly review the most important information. The use of bright colours captures your attention and is especially stimulating for visual learners. |
FUSA student diary, or any other diary
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Diaries are a great way to track your time and hold yourself accountable. You can use a diary to stay organised and up-to-date on key deliverables and due dates. It will help you learn from your wins (as well as your losses) and improve your time management. |
Student planner and calendars
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Writing down appointments, due dates and reminders is a good way to help you remember them and seeing them acts as a prompt to make sure they aren’t forgotten. |
Sticky notes
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Sticky notes have the benefit of being sticky and movable, and also come in a variety of sizes, colours and shapes. This is a great advantage when you are trying to prioritise tasks and makes organisation easier. |
To-do list
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Organising your tasks with a list can make everything seem much more manageable. Seeing a clear outline of your completed and uncompleted tasks will help you feel organised and stay mentally focused. It’s also REALLY satisfying when you cross something off the list! |
Not to-do list
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Ever wanted to do something but don’t have the time ‘right now?’ A ‘not to-do list’ is a way to keep track of all of the things you want to do, but might have to leave for “future you” to achieve when your priorities change, you get some free time, or you’re looking for a new challenge.
Another way to use a ‘not to-do list’ is to write down all of the things you know are a distraction and consciously avoid doing them. For example, new series streaming on Netflix? – top of your not to-do list could be ‘watch new series on Netflix’. How you use a ‘not to-do list’ is totally up to you! |
Digital tools
Tool | What it does |
Trello | Trello is a collaboration tool that organises your projects into boards. In one glance, Trello tells you what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is up to. Imagine a white board, filled with lists of sticky notes, with each note representing a task… That’s Trello!
All Flinders students have access to Trello via Okta. |
Notion | Notion is an application that provides components such as notes, databases, kanban boards, wikis, calendars, and reminders. Users can connect these components to create their own systems for knowledge management, note taking, data management and project management. |
Anki
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Anki App is a cross-platform mobile and desktop flashcard app. You can make flashcards with text, sound, and images, or download pre-made ones. Anki automatically does backups and syncs to all your devices, via the cloud. |
AMBOSS | The AMBOSS Medical Knowledge Library app is the ultimate resource for medical students and clinicians. This comprehensive library works on the go and offline, so students and doctors can find the medical answers they need anytime, anywhere. |
Daylio | Daylio is a diary app that allows for goal setting, mood tracking and routine notifications. The app uses this data to create personalised statistics and find the causes of individual moods. |
Amazing Marvin | Marvin is a task manager/to-do list app. Marvin is also a day planner, time tracker, project management tool, timer, calendar and soon a habit tracker, goal tracker, collaboration tool and more. The idea is to combine multiple productivity tools into one app, so everything is easier to manage. |
Rocketbook | The Rocketbook app instantly sends your Rocketbook pages and whiteboards enhanced with Beacons to your favorite cloud services. Access and share them anytime, anywhere! The app has a unique seven-symbol shortcut system that gets your auto-cropped and high-quality scans into the cloud faster than any other scanning app. |
ClickUp | ClickUp is a cloud-based collaboration and project management tool. Features include communication and collaboration tools, task assignments and statuses, alerts and a task toolbar. The activity stream displays tasks as they’re created and completed in real time. |
Student Edge | The Student Edge app lets you browse, search, filter and find discounts and deals nearby or save them for later! You can use the app to redeem the deal in-store or online with exclusive discount codes and coupons from major brands and retailers! * FREE membership and FREE discounts! |
Google Chrome video speed controller | Speed up, slow down, advance and rewind HTML5 audio/video with shortcuts.
The video speed controller will help you optimise your video viewing by allowing you to make quick playback speed adjustments, as well as rewind the video to hear the last few second one more time. We don’t read at a constant speed, and we talk much slower than we read – there is no reason why we have to listen at a constant speed and at a (very) slow rate.
Once the extension is installed, navigate to any page that offers HTML5 video, and you’ll see a speed indicator in top left corner of the video player. |
Taskade | The Taskade extension for Chrome integrates your checklists and notes into your daily routine, making you more productive. Keeping track of your tasks and goals normally takes willpower and mental effort. The Taskade Chrome extension means your goals and ideas are always just one tab away — no extra effort required. |
OneNote | In OneNote, you can create notes that can include text, pictures, tables, and drawings. Unlike a word processor, OneNote features a virtually unbounded document window, that you can click anywhere on the canvas to create a new text box at that location. OneNote saves data automatically as you make edits to the file.
All Flinders students have access to OneNote through the Microsoft365 suite. |
Sicky notes | Windows has included a Sticky Notes feature for years, where you can create and place virtual notes on the screen to remind you of things you need to do or remember. In Windows 10, click on the Start button, scroll down the All Apps list and click on the entry for Sticky Notes. |
Phone or digital calendar | Put all events, activities and due dates, no matter how small into your calendar. You can turn off reminders, so you don’t get alerts, but the time is still blocked out, or use the reminders to highlight important activities and events.
There are a range of digital calendars available such as iCal, Google Calendar or your phone’s calendar. Have a search around and find the one that suits you best. |
Please note, some of the above-mentioned apps may incur a fee to download or subscribe. Flinders does not endorse the use of, download or purchase of any external apps or tools mentioned in this blog. The purpose of this blog is to share what other students use to assist them with organising their study and life commitments.
General tips
- Exercise daily/regularly
- Set your own deadlines (before the actual deadlines) to create a buffer. Do not leave things until the last minute.
- Take notes during lectures and consolidate them so that you can save lots of time for revision
- Surround yourself with a great group of people who will support you
- Have a dedicated study space away from distractions
- Painting my nails before doing readings so I stay still and don’t get distracted doing something else
- Dedicating a bit of time each day to do readings helps a lot
- Make a daily challenge list
- Keep it simple! Noting ‘due dates’ and ‘to-do’s’ with a whiteboard marker on my mirror keeps me across my commitments during my daily teeth brushing
- Be organised. Listen to your body and rest when you need to.
Have you got a tip, tool or resource that you would like to share? Let us know at student.experience@flinders.edu.au, and we’ll add it to the list!