Managing coursework, things to do, upcoming exam pointers or maybe even a checklist for planning trips away with friends can all seem overwhelming. Even if you have a notes apps that you use to manage your studies, having a task app can help better manage your list of things you need to get done and beyond.
Task are different from notes and they can help you be more action-orientated towards a piece of coursework assigned by one of your teachers, or maybe even bringing people together on a piece of group work that you're focusing on.
Why get a to-do list app at college or university?
Here's a few reasons why you need to get your hands on a task management app whilst you're at university or college and some the reasons why we'd recommend it:
- Open-Loops: Inside of GTD (Getting Things Done) by David Allen, a very nerdy productivity book written in the 1990s, he focused on something called open loops. The tasks that are uncompleted that your brain just stores. Open loops are better captured in a to-do list application instead of just having them stored in the noggin (head).
- Action Focused: Surprisingly those who have to-do list apps in an environment like college or university are more likely to succeed. Writing stuff down can dramatically increase your chances of accomplishing it - so do this with your tasks and become action-focused on your school work and career development.
- Post-University or College: After college or university, the opportunities for those who have a to-do list app and know how to capture things down for later will play dividends. Think of the meeting notes you need to make, tasks you need to capture from your boss and even the emails you'll need to go through - capturing tasks is a great skill to have.
Let's unpack the to-do apps we've chosen for better organizing and getting stuff done:
5 Best To-Do List Apps for Students in 2024
These are the best to-do list apps for students looking to get more done:
- 1. Todoist - All round to-do list application with boards, lists & sharing
- 2. Notion - Great for building your to-do list and adding notes & projects
- 3. TickTick - Lower budget to-do list app with habit-tracking & more
- 4. Sorted 3 - Auto-scheduling and one-off cost makes Sorted 3 interesting
- 5. Twos - Perfect for task and note management in one base
1. Todoist
All Round Task App for Students
- Pricing: Free with $3.99 per month upgrade
- Education Discount: No discounts
- Best Student Feature: Boards & sharing for 5 people per list
Why Todoist is good for task management as a student?
Todoist comes as a great all-round task management experience that you could use as a student and beyond in your career. It has lists for managing checklists, reminders (premium) that help you keep track of tasks with a nudge, board for planning in a kanban-like style, inbox for capturing things in and a simple priority system for better aligning your tasks in your list. This is probably the best all-round to-do list app for students.
Here's our review of Todoist to check out.
2. Notion
Flexible Base for Tasks, Notes & Class Projects
- Pricing: Free, with $10 per month upgrade
- Education Discount: Free and removes $10 upgrade costs
- Best Student Feature: Databases
Why Notion is good for task management as a student?
Whilst we normally don't add Notion as a to-do list in the case of students, this application can be moulded to a to-do application, notes app, and class project management base. This might take some time to learn and adapt to, however, for those who know Notion or have heard of it, the results and impact it has made of organizing student's lives has been incredible because of the nature of the no-code flexible nature.
Use cases we've seen have been class projects using databases to take notes, collate ideas and bring images into one place, manage calendar and upcoming social events, tasks in a simple to-do list checklist style and much more.
Here's our review of Notion to check out.
3. TickTick
Lower Budget To-Do App
- Pricing: Free with $2.99 pricing per month
- Education Discount: None
- Best Student Feature: Habit Tracking
Why TickTick is good for task management as a student?
TickTick is a super student to-do list app because of the price and the additional features they provide beyond task management. First, the pricing is cheaper than Todoist if you wanted to upgrade the premium. The premium has the calendar view which is super, one because apps like Todoist don't have this (yet) and that you can connect Google Calendar so you can add your tasks into your calendar app.
TickTick also has a habit-tracking mode which helps to better keep an eye on your daily routine and healthy habits alongside all your checklists.
Here's our review of TickTick to check out.
4. Sorted 3
Auto-Scheduling Tasks
- Pricing: Free with upgrade priced at
- Education Discount: 20% for education
- Best Student Feature: Auto-Scheduling
Why Sorted 3 is good for task management as a student?
Sorted 3 is a cosy to-do list app with powerful auto-scheduling abilities great for organizing your tasks into a timelined order. This is a practice some people like to see and allows you a bit more structure into your day. The upgrade to Sorted 3 Pro is $14.99 with 20% for education on iOS and for the bundle it is $31.99 which is reasonable as this is a one-off fee meaning you don't have to pay again.
Here's our review of Sorted to check out.
5. Twos
Notes & Tasks in One
- Pricing:
- Education Discount:
- Best Student Feature:
Why Twos is good for task management as a student?
Whilst Twos focuses more on notes, it does serve as a note and task app that many students have fallen in love with. It has a section for to-dos that you can manage into upcoming, to-do today and completed allowing you a simple, yet helpful system for managing those tasks on mobile and desktop. Simple yet powerful.
Twos also has a review feature which serves as a flashcard like memory system for your notes, tasks or even academic learnings as you go.
Here's our review of X to check out.
The best task app for students?
If we had to choose, we're recommend the following app as the best on for all-round use:
- 1. Todoist
- 2. Notion
- 3. TickTick
- 4. Sorted 3
- 5. Twos
- The best task app for students?
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Francesco D'Alessio
Francesco D'Alessio
Francesco D'Alessio
Francesco D'Alessio
Francesco D'Alessio
Francesco D'Alessio
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