Increased Productivity/Organization

As the workload is piling up, I thought it might be a good idea to share some resources that I often find helpful in organizing my school work and increasing my productivity. I know that the high school workload can be tough–especially when you add in other activities like sports, employment or college applications! I started thinking how even more difficult it is for children with hearing loss, as listening fatigue is real!

Here are some apps and programs that I use to help me manage my work, hopefully they will be useful to you as well!

My latest favorite is Workana: This is a desktop plug-in or extension that I am absolutely loving! With this program, you can organize your projects into work spaces, so you can keep track of everything in one place. It is really simple to import other webpages, ideas, photo's etc into the Workana site to stay organized. I love it for my debate cases as it is simple to link to evidence that I find and want to return to later. I have also started workspaces for vacation ideas and book lists! This is a real powerful tool and I am sure I have not even scratched the surface of it's capabilities yet. Check it out here: https://workona.com/

Google docs: I am sure by now every high schooler knows what Google docs is and what it can do. I especially like how I can invite others to the documents that I am working on and collaborate in real time. It goes without saying that Google docs is a lifesaver for the need-to-be-organized high schooler.

Google calendar: and all other things Google for that matter!

Trello: Trello is nifty because it allows you to make 'cards' for projects and import data. I love the interface and the number of add-ons available to really help me streamline my work. For example, I have added a calendar to Trello which then keeps track of all of my due dates and adds them right to my ical so I never miss a deadline. You can also invite others to collaborate on your Trello workspaces which has been great!

Otter: this is a great iPhone app that captures voice notes in real time. This is a great app for the hearing impaired community as you can directly import your notes into different programs and then further annotate them.

Notes: If you have an iPhone I find the Notes app is real simple to use. It has been a lifesaver for me.

DropBox: I have not used this too recently, but it is another great program to keep track of your work in one place, as is Evernote.

There are tons of apps to help you stay focused and on track, these are just a few of my favorites. I hope they help you save a few minutes and stay organized in your school work! 

Best,
Ryan