The life of student is filled with deadlines, some setbacks and a quest to have a great CV by the end of it all. It can sometimes feel very overwhelming. In order to help I took the time to gather up some free tools to help you study more and enjoy the other elements of being a student.
It is tradition for most students to start an assignment the night before it’s due. Imagine how much better your work could be if you started beforehand? Todoist helps you to set targets and deadlines for just about anything. This enables you to study hard while also setting aside time to socialise.
There are few things more satisfying than ticking off a completed task. With every task in front of you, you won’t miss a thing.
Todoist is brilliant when combined with Trello. Trello can be used to create todolists which can easily be shared. That lazy person in your group project won’t have any excuses.
Have you ever regretted signing up for a class?
Coursera enables you to test out university level courses so that you are better informed to decide on your future.
Universities are businesses with shareholders and profit targets. They will tell you just about anything in order to get that sweet £9000 a year. Get into the wrong course and you will either need to start again or end up in a career you hate.
Coursera can also be used to expand your knowledge which would prove very useful for interviews.
In brief, Coursera is a good way to try before making an investment in your future.
Teachers love to give handouts. It can be difficult to keep track of it all.
Office Lens is a free app from Microsoft. You simply take a picture of a document, whiteboard etc and it converts it into a digital document which can easily be shared. I liked to combine Office Lens with Onenote in order to stay on top of everything. Plus, everyone loves that person who seems to have all the documents within easy reach.
Office Lens and Onenote proved very useful when it came time to study. The documents I “captured” on my smartphone were easily viewable on my computer. Plus, I could easily share a whole course folder with friends.
If you don’t use any of the apps mentioned on this post, be sure to get Office Lens and Onenote.
When I was at school some lessons felt as if the teacher was speaking a foreign language. There was always that one clever person who could just understand everything the first time.
It takes me a bit more time to understand something on a deep level.
Khan Academy makes hard to grasp concepts simple. It was founded by Salman Khan who later received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It now has millions of learners from around the world. They do a really good job of breaking down complex topics using video.
Budgeting
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a student was failing to understand the importance of money, and saving it for a rainy day.
My understanding was that money in the bank was supposed to be spent. Therefore, I would find means and ways of bringing my balance down to zero as quickly as possible.
I now know that when life hits you with an emergency, those fine shoes and gaming consoles won’t come to the rescue. Liquidity (or cash) is usually what makes the difference.
Monzo is a “challenger” bank with a free mastercard which breaks down everything you spend. I was very surprised at how much I spend on food and snacks. Tough on the budget and the waistline.
There are other challenger banks such as Starling bank and Revolut which have similar features to Monzo.
Work
At the end of the day, you want a job that pays well and makes you excited to come in each day.
The days of an A level or degree being enough to find a great job are over. The ones who glide through the job market come with extras which make them standout. Your qualification is usually only relevant for your first job. After that, it all boils down to experience.
Ideally, you want as much experience by the time you are done.
If you are planning on taking a gap year, why not spend it in an apprenticeship? Apprenticeships aren’t what they used to be. Most come with in-demand qualifications, and the chance to secure a well paid job.
Trust me on this, when employers are presented with a long list of candidates with similar qualifications, it is the one with relevant work experience who stands out.
You can also work for companies from around the world using Upwork and Weworkremotely.
Totaljobs and Reed also have extensive information and vacancies to suit you. Just be consistent and tailor your CV+ cover letter to each position. You only need one yes so don’t give up.
Glassdoor also has great information with regard to salaries and the work environment at various companies. If you are planning on attending uni in the future, it is worth using Glassdoor to get a good idea of what you can expect various career paths.
I wrote an extensive post on job hunting. Be sure to check it out.
Final thoughts
I hope you found this post useful. Do you have any free student tools which have been useful to you? Don’t keep it to yourself, share it with the community in the comments section below. If you have any other comments please pop it below.