Student life is fun but it’s also hard. There’s a lot of work, many of you are away from home and living independently for the first time and learning how to manage your own time and money. So given how tech-savvy most of you are, it makes sense to use technology to help wherever you can. Here are some ideas to get you started.
An all-in-one tablet/PC
Problem: You want a MacBook and an iPad Air but you aren’t made of money.
Solution: For lots less you can get yourself a Microsoft Surface. This, with the addition of a relatively inexpensive keyboard, turns into a fully-fledged mini-laptop, more than capable of being your main go to for both work and entertainment.
Stay organised
Problem: Your notes are never where you need them to be.
Solution: Sign up to a free online note-taking service like Evernote which has clients for almost every device you’ll ever own. In this way you can jot down a few notes in a web browser in the library, make some additions on the way home on your smartphone before editing the finished text at home on your laptop. And because Evernote synchronises your work automatically between devices you’ll always be working on the most up to date version.
Online subscriptions
Problem: You need music and movies
Solution: A subscription to a music service like Spotify will give you access to more than 20 million songs without having the hassle of downloading them and transferring the music to your phone. Similarly, subscribe to Netflix and you can watch thousands of movies and TV shows when it suits – and you don’t even need a license. So long as you’ve got an Internet connection, you’re good to go.
A budget
Problem: You need to manage your money
Solution: Get a nice, simple app for your phone that lets you type in a budget at the start of each month (or week) and then tracks your expenses against that figure so you always know where you are. BUDGT on iOS is a perfect example of this.
Stay focused
Problem: It’s really easy to get distracted from your work by everything that’s going on around you.
The solution: Pop on a pair of headphones and tune into Noisli. This free website generates background noise to help you concentrate, whether it’s the gentle sound of falling rain, the crackle of a fire, a train rolling over the tracks or the sound of the sea lapping on a beach. Just try it and you’ll find your concentration levels go through the roof.
The super pan
Problem: Getting a good breakfast.
Solution: Minimise that pesky washing up courtesy of an all-in-one frying pan which comes with up to six difference compartments so you can make the perfect cooked breakfast with a single pan. Constructed so that higher heat in the middle cooks meat, while gentler temperatures at the edges heat beans, eggs and so on, this makes a perfect hi-tech breakfast, every time.
Meditation
Problem: Getting stressed during exam season.
Solution: Recent studies prove that mindfulness can have a positive impact of stress, anxiety, focus, creativity and relationships. Which is where Headspace comes in – it claims to help you improve your focus, exercise mindful awareness, relieve anxiety and reduce stress. From two minute exercises to full-blown one hour meditation sessions it’s an app available for both iOS and Android devices which you can use it as much or as little as you want. And as those end-of-year exams come along this might just be what’s needed to keep those stress levels in check.
At Enterprise, we’re big fans of using technology to help us to get things done more efficiently and we use some of the best tech in the business. If you’d like to find out what kind of graduate opportunities, internships and jobs are currently available, why not check out them out here?
