Figuring out what to attempt first when you have an overwhelming, never-ending, soul-sucking to-do list is hard. Figuring out what productivity app or system to use shouldn’t be even harder. A lot of popular time and task management apps require involved setups, and it can often feel like it takes more time to manage your time management app than it does to complete your actual work.
Notion, Obsidian, and Motion are great productivity apps that have received a lot of hype and acclaim, but they do require heavy amounts of user input. While they are helpful and certainly do have their place (I was once a Notion junkie myself!), there is definitely a learning curve when it comes to setting up and maintaining them, which can be pretty discouraging as a time management newbie. After all, overwhelming is a bit of an understatement when looking at their interfaces…
*Obsidian’s interface*
*Motion’s interface*
*A sample Notion dashboard*
With that in mind, I’ll be delving into a few apps and systems you can use to start managing your tasks in ways that are accessible and easy to keep up throughout the semester.
Apple Notes opened on an iPad
Chances are you already are an iPad kid or you’ll be converted into one within a semester. Having a task management app that syncs across all your Apple devices is super valuable if you’re anything like me and randomly remember things that needed to happen yesterday with only your phone on you. I personally keep a specific note for offhand thoughts and to-dos that occur to me when I’m out and about, which I then integrate into my more official to-do list once I am no longer in go-go-go mode.
If you enjoy more of a paper-pencil feel, Apple Notes still has you covered. You can annotate documents that you scan within the app itself, mark up media that you Airdropped from other devices using an Apple pencil, or just start writing by hand in an empty note. The app will make your handwriting a bit neater, autocorrect your spelling, and turn it into proper text if you want, which is pretty neat!
The best aspect of the app, though, is how easy it is to use. So many apps require you to press ten buttons or complete a five-step sign-in process before actually being able to add your to-do to your list. With Apple Notes, it’s just open the app, click on a note, and type. It’s like having digital sticky notes.
The main Tweek.so interface
You can see your to-dos for the week at a glance while still having them assigned to each day, which isn’t a common feature but is very helpful — especially if your schedule changes on the fly. This tends to happen a lot as a college student. You can also easily drag and drop tasks between days, and being able to visualize when specific things are going to get done lifts a weight off your shoulders (talking from experience) and allows you to focus on what you’ve got to finish off today. To add form to function, Tweek.so also has a visually appealing minimalist UI which helps you feel put together but not overwhelmed when it’s midterm season.
One of my favorite features is the “Someday” list they have at the bottom of the weekly planner. This is where all those articles you mean to follow up on and new hobbies you want to try can go to die and/or thrive (the choice is yours).
Unfortunately, you do need a login for this one, but you just have to login once on your laptop and never have to deal with it again. They also have a printable version of their weekly to-do list template if you’re more of a paper person. Either way, if you’re looking for something simple to get you started but want a little more structure than what Apple Notes offers, Tweek.so is a great choice!