The student of today are so into technology. It’s like they can’t live without their gadgets especially their mobile phones. But while a student like you can get too many distractions from your mobile phones (social media, games, streaming, etc.), why not try to download productivity apps that can help you with your studies?

Your phone doesn’t have to be all about the fun. It’s also a powerful tool that can help you ease your work load. We gathered some of the best productivity apps that you could download to help you focus and organize your tasks to accomplish for school. We categorized them by functionality so you can choose one of each that suits you best.

Productivity Apps a Student Must Have

Here are a few productivity apps that we suggest every student must have. We’re categorizing them according to their functionality so you know which app fits best to your needs. Are you ready? Here we go!

File/Note Sharing Productivity Apps

Everything is just easier when we can take down notes and share or compare them with our classmates. There are apps that actually function this way. Here are a few we can name:

Google Drive and Its Components

Google Drive has been one of the top productivity apps not only for students but also for office work. Its components also help people collaborate at with certain files, spreadsheets, or reports.

So imagine you can take down notes right at Google Docs and if you’re unsure, you can compare notes with your classmates. If you’re sick and can’t make it to school, you can ask a classmate to share their notes with you. That way, it would just be as if you haven’t missed school for a day.

Google Drive’s Sheets and Presentations is also every student’s ally. Accounting majors can maximize the use of Google Sheets to practice their accounting skills. But even if you’re not, you can also use sheets for your research paper’s data gathering and analysis, or use it as your citation guide. Presentations are also best when you have reports that you want to collaborate with your entire group.

Evernote

Evernote is probably one of the most popular note-taking apps out there. That is because it works well multi-platform making it easier to create and access your notes wherever you go.

You can easily scribble your notes just like writing on a notebook, or type away if you like. You can also add photos and record voice memos just in case there are things that you want to add or are not provided in your originally set of notes.

What makes Evernote a favorite among students is that it stores your notes in the Cloud where you can access it in real time across different devices.

Simple Note

Its name pretty much gives you the idea why this is a must-have.

Simple Note is making note-taking simple for you when you use your smartphone. Its minimalistic interface makes it less intimidating to work on and also invites less distractions. It can also be accessed through different platforms.

The app’s security feature is a plus. You can password-protect each note to keep things private.

Quip

Aside from Google Docs, there is one app that makes collaboration work well within the group or entire class.

Quip allows you to create, share, and collaborate notes, spreadsheets, tasklists, and more. Since the app works on multiple platforms, it can be easily available and accessible to any user. That makes collaborating with your group a whole lot easier.

What makes Quip unique among other apps is that it has an in-app chat which allows you to talk to your groupmates remotely and tag them to certain notes. No need to message them on a separate app or send them an email. It makes communicating a breeze.

Task/Time Management Apps for Busy Students

Students juggle a lot of tasks in a day; all the more within a week or month. That is why it is important that one should have an app that would help them manage all the tasks that they need to do for school (or even outside school activities) that would also help them manage their time.

DropTask

DropTask is a fun and creative way of managing all your tasks all in one app. If you’re busy with school – academics plus some extra curricular activities, perhaps – this app is the way to go for you and the rest of your group.

Its drag and drop interface makes it easy for you to group tasks and even assign these tasks to people. DropTask’s calendar view also allows you to arrange tasks according to deadlines so you would know which one to prioritize.

The app also allows you to send messages to group members in each task and even attach documents and other files that you want to share. It updates in real time so you and the rest of your members can post updates together.

Trello

This is one neat app to organize your tasks per project or, as for your case, subject.

You can arrange your cards (that’s what they call it) of tasks in a column and arrange them according to priority. You can then move these cards to their corresponding status – whether it’s an ongoing one or if it’s already done. This is also great for collaborating with a team or group because you can assign one task to a person and can be updated in real time. You’ll be notified once the task is moved to ‘Done’ so you would know when something is accomplished. Plus, you can all check ones work and maybe send it back for edits or finally move it to ‘Completed’.

Neat, huh?

Week Plan

Getting all too hectic for the week. Week Plan is an app that could help you with that.

This app helps you organize your tasks and view your to-do’s per day, week, or month. You can schedule your tasks in the entire month and block out schedules so you can prioritize and focus on your tasks.

So be it a short-term goal or the entire term’s, you can get more done when you carefully plan and execute each task.

Exam Countdown Lite

The app’s name speaks for itself.

Exam Countdown Lite allows you to keep track of your exams and projects and other school to-do’s. It automatically arranges all that you’ve listed according to which one is more urgent. Plus, it reminds you of your upcoming exams and you can carefully track just how much time you have left down to the very last second!

Apps to Help You Focus and Avoid Distractions

Now, when we talk about mobile apps, it means that you still have to hold your phone and use it. The possibility of getting distracted is so high.

But the geniuses of the tech world found a way around that. Here are our top four apps that would keep you away from distractions and help you focus on the task at hand.

SelfControl

Another app that speaks for itself, SelfControl helps you focus on your task without unnecessary distractions.

You can download the app on your computer and lets you add websites that you consider as distractions or where you often find yourself wasting some precious time. The app blocks these websites for as long as 24 hours.

You now have a distraction-free, laser-focus time to do your assignments and other projects.

Forest

Now, here’s a cool and fun app that can keep you focused.

Forest is an app that gives you a task to plant trees. Yep, plant a tree. At the start, you need to set how long you need to keep your focus. Then, you start planting a seed until it grows to a full grown tree. You don’t have to do anything except to leave the app open. The catch? Once you leave the app and get distracted with another app, your tree dies.

So what would keep you away from distractions if all the app does is stay on to grow a tree (and even, a forest)?

You will earn coins for each planting session and these coins would be used to donate to help plant REAL trees. Cool huh?

Noisli

Are you easily distracted by the noise around you?

They Noisli is an app that sets your mood to focus on your task and zero out other noises.

You create a ‘recipe’ of nature sounds that best suites your mood and level of concentration needed. There are ambient sounds which you can mix and match to your liking. You can also choose among the presets so you won’t have to keep on adjusting the ambient sounds and automatically get a perfectly matched tune.

Anti-Social

Don’t worry; this app won’t let you lose your social life. You can still have it but first, focus on your studies. And Anti-Social app will help you with that.

Anti-Social allows you to see and even compare how much time you use on social media and other distractive apps with your friends. This will help you analyze which apps are actually causing you more distraction than it seems. That way, you can then set it in the app to block these apps for you. You’ll then enjoy a distraction-free study session alone or with friends.