Digital tools to help you study
Explore digital productivity tools to support you as you study
There are many free digital resources available online to help you study more effectively, for example by planning your time and keeping you focused on your tasks, making and using notes, or supporting your revision.
This page showcases some of these free apps and websites, split into planning and note-taking, staying on task and testing yourself and revising.
Staying on task
Marina Timer
This free website allows users to keep track of their study-to-breaktime ratio using Pomodoro timers or a custom timer. The Pomodoro technique is a well-known focusing hack that has been shown to improve your productivity. It gives you a prescribed period of 25 minutes of focused work, followed by a 5-minute break. After four work intervals, there is a 15-minute break.
Try it out at marinaratimer.com
YouTube: ‘study with me’ and Pomodoro timer videos
There are thousands of Pomodoro timer videos available on YouTube, meaning there will be one to suit every need. These timers are great to keep you on task when studying, giving you timed breaks to make sure you don't burn out and lose focus.
But if a simple timer isn't your style, YouTube has many great 'study with me' videos. These often feature long, authentic videos of students studying in places like coffee shops, libraries, and even at the top of skyscrapers! They often have atmospheric background noise or calming music, too.
6-Hour Study with Me - Pomodoro Timer, Lofi Relaxing Music
2-Hour Study With Me - Tokyo-Skytree at sunrise
Pomodoro Technique 4 x 25 min - Study Timer 2h
Flora - Green Focus
If your ever find yourself distracted from work by your phone, Flora is the app for you!
Flora offers a whimsical productivity tool that helps you to stay on task. It promotes focus time by asking you to start a timer to grow a virtual tree, and then it blocks distracting apps. But if you leave Flora before the timer has finished, the tree will die. You can also add friends on the app and stay focused together, making this a fun way to keep yourself and your colleagues accountable for your time.
A new feature on the app allows you to track your to-do tasks and set reminders to complete them (you can tag your timers / trees with a to-do item to track progress towards each goal). Flora also generates statistics on these, so you can track your productivity habits.
Flora's core functionality is free to use, but you can also upgrade to a premium version that plants real trees when you remain focused.
Testing yourself and revising
Quizlet
Quizlet is a free app that enables you to make your own flashcards and practice tests to develop memorisation and understanding. You can also search Quizlet's 'Expert Solutions' database of thousands of resources developed and checked by subject specialists, and share your resources with classmates. Quizlet also offers a range of interactive games and tests to make your learning experience fun and engaging.
Available on PC, Mac and Android and Apple Store so you can take your flashcards anywhere!
GoConqr
GoConqr is great if you prefer to visualise topics when learning. Its free online learning platform allows you to create and share slides, mindmaps, flowcharts, flashcards, quizzes and study planners. GoConqr prides itself on its online community where you can share resources you've made and foster collaborative learning.
GoConqr is available via web browser on any device.
Planning and note-taking
Notion
Notion is an all-in-one space where you can think, write and plan anything. It's one of the fastest growing productivity apps, and it boasts a range of features that make it a great resource for any student. You can use Notion to take notes for any subject, and it supports maths equations and computer coding. The app offers flexibility, allowing students to organise and navigate notes in various ways. You can embed documents within each other, visualise them within a table or calendar, and much more.
Notion is available through your web browser on any device. You can also download a free app on Mac, PC, Apple and Android app stores.
RemNote
RemNote is a free online app that facilitates note-taking, flashcards, and spaced repetition testing. It enables you to store all of your university notes and make flashcards directly from them, saving you a lot of valuable time. You can create a range of different flashcard styles, including multi-answer, list and picture cards. And once you've created your flashcards, RemNote's built in spaced repetition algorithm tests you more frequently on the cards you struggle to remember - a learning method that's proven to be effective!
RemNote is available via web browser on any device.
If you want to find out more, explore our digital note-taking resources.