Staying Organized: Best 5 Planner Apps for Students

Staying Organized: Best 5 Planner Apps for Students

Staying organized is a crucial skill to maintain in today’s fast paced world. This is especially true for students since they have to keep up with schoolwork, extracurriculars, social life, and personal responsibilities. Luckily, we have technology to help us manage these tasks more efficiently. One of the most effective ways to manage this is by using digital tools, such as apps and websites that can assist you in managing and scheduling your time better. In this post I will be sharing what I think are the top five most effective planner apps that will help you stay organized. These digital assistants will track your deadlines, organize your time, and help manage your workload all in a single app. I’ll talk about the special features of these apps, their main functions and what they're best used for, and what kind of students that particular app is best for. The apps we’ll be exploring today are Todoist, Google Calendar, Notion, Microsoft OneNote, and Trello. 

Todoist 

Best For: Managing daily tasks 

Platform: iOS, Android, Web, Mac, Windows

Overview + Features: 

Todoist is a very popular productivity app and is ranked highly for a good reason. The main features of this app includes being able to create sub-tasks, organize tasks, and set deadlines. It creates tasks quickly and you can even categorize your tasks by project and label them to make looking for them easier. You can also set due dates for your tasks and if you allow notifications it will notify you of what you have to accomplish. Additionally, you can break large tasks into more manageable sub-tasks, which makes multi step problems easy to track. My favorite feature that this app has to offer is the karma system which rewards you when you complete tasks. This app also has a very clean design and powerful features which allows students to manage multiple tasks for various subjects or activities. 

Why This App Is Great for Students:

This app is especially helpful for students due to its simplicity and wonderful features. It is easy to use and great for students who need to stay on top of assignments, personal tasks, and extracurricular activities. Todoist’s ability to break down large assignments into smaller sub-tasks and set reminders is especially helpful and ensures that you accomplish what you need to get done.

How to Use Todoist Effectively for School:

Using this app effectively will enable maximum productivity. To do this you can set a daily or weekly review routine to adjust your deadlines and check off the tasks that you have finished. Also, you can use Todoist’s labels to track assignments by subject. Additionally, using the karma feature to increase your motivation is very helpful. However, the best tool you can use in this app to increase productivity would be to use sub-tasks to break down large projects into smaller micro-steps and goals. 

Google Calendar

Best for: Using scheduling for time management purposes

Platform: iOS, Android, Web

Overview + Key features: 

Google Calendar is another popular productivity app that is also a website. It works wonders when it comes to time management and it’s especially useful for students who are required to coordinate their class schedules, extracurricular activities, study sessions, and personal appointments with specific times. The app also integrates seamlessly with other Google apps such as Gmail, Google Meet, and Google Tasks, making it an all-in-one scheduling solution. Google Calendar has many useful and essential features. These include color-coding events, reminders and notifications, sharing your calendar with others, and setting up recurring events. Color-coding makes it easy to visualize your schedule and you can give your tasks categories and color code those categories. Having reminders and notifications ensures that you stay on top of your commitments. Event sharing allows you to share your schedule with others which enables collaboration. And setting up recurring events avoids the need to input the same information about an event multiple times. 

Why It’s Great for Students:

Google Calendar is great for students because it is easy to use and has so many useful features. It is the perfect scheduling tool for students who want to manage their time effectively. There are multiple features that will help you coordinate the many aspects of your school and personal life. 

How to Use Google Calendar Effectively for School:

Using Google Calendar will help you be more efficient and coordinated when handling your assignments. You can input your class schedule as a recurring event so that you are always aware and conscious of them. Additionally, you could block study sessions in between classes or in the evening. There is also a “Goals” feature on Google Calendar where you can get your personal objectives like exercising or taking naps and you can let the app schedule this tasks for you. 

Notion

Best For: Customizing a routine and note-taking

Platform: iOS, Android, Web, Mac, Windows

Overview + Key features: 

Notion is my personal favorite productivity app and is an all-in-one workspace. It is known as an all-in-one workspace because it has task management, note-taking, and collaboration tools all in one place. Above all, it's extremely flexible, customizable, and you can organize information however you like. However, that is also the reason why it can be overwhelming. Due to the massive amount of tools, it can seem like a lot. But at the same time there are many pre-built layouts and databases. Also, there are many youtubers that share their pages for new-users to try out. These highly customizable layouts may be used for notes, assignments, calendars, and projects. Other than the flexibility of this app, it is amazing for organizing your notes, task management, and collaboration. Notion has many task management features such as setting due dates and prioritizing tasks. You can also collaborate by sharing Notion pages with your classmates to collaborate on projects and note-taking. Whether you're managing personal or academic responsibilities, Notion provides numerous features that can adapt to your needs.

Why It’s Great for Students:

Notion is great for students who want a highly flexible tool that can handle everything on their to-do list from creating notes to task lists to project references to group project management. Keeping your school assignments, extracurricular activities, and personal tasks organized is crucial, especially as a busy student. Notion will be immensely beneficial in keeping your school life organized in a single app.

How to Use Notion Effectively for School:

Notion can be used in so many ways, so it is essential to narrow down what you really need. For instance, you could create separate pages for each class which includes lecture notes, assignments, test reviews, and study schedules and a main database to organize all your class pages. You can also track your assignment deadlines by using calendar view or making date an element or section in whichever page view you are using. You could also create a “study tracker” database or page to monitor your study habits and progress. 

Microsoft OneNote

Best For: Note-taking and organizing class materials  

Platform: iOS, Android, Web, Mac, Windows

Overview + Key features: 

Microsoft OneNote is mainly used for effective note-taking and keeping notes all in one place. This app uses a notebook style so that students can keep notes for different subjects organized. Each notebook can have multiple pages for individual lecture notes, projects, and assignments. The feature I love most about this app is that it lets you create different notebooks for each subject, and inside each notebook, you can create tabs for different topics. Another great feature is that you can share your notebook with others for collaboration work, whether it’s collaborative note-taking or project management. I think that the way that OneNote allows you to handwrite your notes using a stylus or your finger is also super cool and I love that it can convert that into text. The last feature of the app I would like to talk about is the audio and video notes. On Microsoft OneNote you can record audios and videos directly in the app, which makes it efficient for lectures or meetings. Overall, Microsoft OneNote is exceptional for note taking. 

Why It’s Great for Students:

This app is great for students who want an organized way to write and store your notes and any study material you may have. It is also an excellent option for those who like to handwrite their notes. Its ability to integrate multimedia is especially helpful in creating study guides with multiple kinds of resources. 

How to Use OneNote Effectively for School:

Microsoft OneNote is essential for notetaking and can assist you greatly in studying. Having an effective way to store and manage your notes will assist you in planning study sessions because you already know where all your study resources are. Also, as a student, creating a separate notebook for every class instead of cramming all your notes into one notebook is important. If you want to, you can even use sections to organize your notebook by topics or weeks in the semester. Additionally, you can use OneNote’s tagging feature to highlight important parts of your notes. You can even record meetings or lectures directly in the app and review it later. 

Trello

Best For: Visual organization of projects and assignments

Platform: iOS, Android, Web

Overview + Key features:

Trello is a great project management app for students to use and is also very popular. It uses many different features to organize information. For instance, it uses boards, lists, and cards to organize tasks. You can benefit from these boards by using them for different subjects or projects. Task cards are used for moving around assignments as you finish them. This app is very visual and is overall great for visual learners who like to see their tasks laid out in an easy to understand manner. Also, like many of the other apps explained above, this one can also set deadlines for tasks and send notifications to stay on top of your work. The main reason I use the app is for collaboration. I share boards with my classmates for group projects and we use it to communicate, assign tasks, and track each other’s progress. 

Why It’s Great for Students:

Trello is a highly visual app and it makes it easy to organize tasks in an engaging and effective way. I mostly use this app for group collaboration so I can see my group’s progress in real time. Also, it’s wonderful for visual thinkers like me because I can clearly visualize my tasks with this app.

How to Use Trello Effectively for School:

Trello is great for organizing your workload and great for school projects as well. You can create boards for each class you have and add cards for quizzes, projects, tests, and assignments. You can also break down large projects and assignments into smaller tasks and move them around in the list you created them in. Additionally, you can collaborate with your classmates by sharing boards with them for group projects and assign tasks to each person. 

Conclusion

As a student, staying organized is essential, especially when managing large workloads, extracurriculars, and personal responsibilities. Having a planner app that works for you is a game-changer and will help you prioritize tasks and stay on top of deadlines. The apps mentioned above—Todoist, Google Calendar, Notion, Microsoft OneNote, and Trello—all have unique features that cater to different types of students. It’s crucial to find what works for you and take the time to explore these options. Base what you’re looking for on whether you want something simplistic or complex and then find something that goes along with your habits, preferences, and organizational style. By using these apps daily, you’ll reduce stress, improve productivity, and find more time for what’s important to you. 

**𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚘𝚝**