Time and Attention Management: Videos and Apps

Researchers are becoming more concerned with what phone addiction is doing to our brains and bodies. This video explains the up-to-date research on what creates phone addiction, how to tell if you are clinically addicted to your phone and the top three scientific tips for decreasing phone use.

Find below the recording of a session on Alternative Ways to Study, which dealt with text-to-speech, speech-to-text, apps and plug-ins to stay focused and other tips to study smart using technology. 

 A LinkedIn Learning Video on incorporating AI in everyday work tasks. 

How to Boost Your Productivity with AI Tools - LinkedIn Learning Video

Do you like the help from technology? Find out about study apps on the Digital accessibility: Study apps page

Follows a selection of our favourite recommendations:

To-do lists:

• Microsoft To Do is a to-do list maker and task manager. It enables you to manage your to do list online and share your lists.
• goblin.tools can break down a task into a series of suggested steps, and it can also estimate how long it might take to do a task
• Notion can do Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and to-do lists.
• Trello to manage team work
• Todoist task manager and to-do list app

Timers and focus:

• Clock app in Microsoft is a time management app with five key features: alarms, world clocks, timers, a stopwatch, and focus sessions.
• Forest: Whenever you want to stay focused, plant a tree. Your tree will grow while you focus on your work. Leaving the app halfway will cause your tree to die.

Content blocker apps:

• Flora blocks distracting apps, such as Facebook, Instagram or games, in a pleasant way to help you focus on what's more important in real life.
• Cold turkey blocks distractions like social media, games, apps, Youtube or even the entire Internet.

Study materials organisation:

• MS OneNote gathers users' notes, drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries. Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network.
• Mendeley is used to manage and share research papers and to generate bibliographies for scholarly articles.
• Motion: Create a dedicated workspace for each of your classes, like Finance, Biology, History, or any subject you're taking. These workspaces serve as centralized hubs for organizing assignments, notes, and important deadlines, allowing you to focus on each subject with ease.

Generative AI Tools for Time Management

Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) can complement your own time management strategies. Here are some ways to use it safely:

• Generate & prioritise to-do lists: Enter tasks with details and ask AI to order them efficiently.
• Break down large tasks: Use AI to create smaller, manageable steps with milestones.
• Create study or revision schedules: Include modules, deadlines, available study time, and breaks for personalised schedules.
• Set SMART goals: Use AI to draft or check goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely).

Always review AI outputs and adapt them to your personal context. Avoid entering sensitive information.