Here’s How Your Apple Tech Can Help Your Study Smarter, Not Harder

If 2023 is set to be a big year of study for you, there’s a chance you’ve entered into these first few months feeling a little apprehensive about what’s to come. If that sounds like you, take a breath, and consider these studying and productivity tips we’ve pulled together with the help of Apple and a couple of studying pros.

Alicia Wong and Sarah Rav have both teamed up with Apple for its Study Smarter series which is running via Today at Apple until March 9.

Alicia Wong is a medical student who has amassed a following of over 200,000 people on YouTube where she shares tips on productivity, studying and creative note-taking.

Reinvent Your Study Routine with Alicia Wong is slated for Wednesday, February 8 at Apple Broadway. During this session, she’s going to go through ways to use your iPad as a study planner; how to boost productivity and how to smash study goals.

Sarah Rav is also in the medical field, working her first year as a practitioner. Rav is also a study pro who has gained 2.7 million followers on TikTok and Instagram.

How to Prepare for Exams with Sarah Rav will be a virtual session running on Thursday, March 9 at 7:00 pm AEDT. Rav focuses on ways to juggle multiple commitments as well as prioritise wellness, so expect some advice on this during her session.

Studying tips from Alicia Wong and Sarah Rav

Ahead of their Study Smarter sessions, Wong and Rav have each shared a couple of their most effective studying tips with us. Check them out below and give them a go the next time you’re struggling to stay on top of it all.

Wong shared the below:

• Use your learning style to your advantage. I am a very visual learner, so I like to use iPad and Apple Pencil to add drawings, annotate diagrams and lay things out in a visually appealing way.
• Plan ahead to create more time to do the things you love. Being a full-time student doesn’t mean you have to give up your hobbies or other goals. Planning out your days and weeks ahead can help you maximise your productivity and free up more time.

Rav’s studying tips are:

• Focus Mode – on iPhone, iPad and Mac allows you to continue using your device for work and study, without distractions from social media and other apps
• Time Blocking – plan your day out in advance using Notes or the Calendar app, and assign specific times of the day to complete each task
• Timelapse your day – film a timelapse of yourself studying, doing chores, or working in order to stay off your phone and motivate you to keep going with your work by providing your “main character” moment. You can then watch it back and be proud of your hard work!

Other Apple tools to boost productivity

If the above isn’t quite enough, Apple being Apple, has loads of other tools that can help with studying and general productivity throughout the day.

Try Collaborative Messages

• Tap on the share button in apps like Notes, Reminders, Keynote, and Safari and send an invitation to collaborate via Messages. Everyone on the thread will automatically be added to the document, spreadsheet, or project.
• When someone makes an edit, you’ll see activity updates at the top of the Messages thread.
• Tap the updates to get back to the shared project.

Shared Tab Groups when studying

• In Safari, you can easily share tabs and collaborate on a project with other people. Everyone can add their own tabs and see the Tab Group update instantly as you work together here.

Try out Stage Manager on iPad

• In iPadOS 16, Stage Manager is a solid option for multitasking. The tool will automatically arrange your apps and windows into a single view. You can adjust the size of windows or bring two apps together to create a group. You can also add a new window or navigate to your most recent apps by taking a peek on the left of the screen. Stage Manager can be activated by tapping its corresponding icon in Control Center. Just keep in mind this is available on iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) and iPad Air (5th generation).

Create a ‘Focus’ Home Screen while studying

• Rav suggested taking advantage of the Focus settings on your iPhone or iPad, but you can expand on that by setting your Home Page so that it will match the Focus setting you’re using. Organise your apps and widgets in a way that reduces temptation by making only related apps visible. The page appears when you’re in a Focus and hides everything else.

Notification Summaries

• Rather than getting a pop-up for every little thing, you can schedule your notifications to be delivered daily, at the times you choose. Once you receive your summary, you can scroll through and see what needs your attention.

Get more out of your Notes when studying

• In the Notes app, you can organise your notes into folders and pin important notes to the top of the list.
  To create a folder: Tap the folder icon, choose an account (if you have more than one), tap New Folder, and then enter a name.
  To create a subfolder: Touch and hold a folder, then drag it onto another folder.
  You can also lock your notes with your passcode if you need some security.

You can also use the new Freeform app for studying practices, especially with a group. So read all about that next here.