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This section links to resources that explain how to increase your productivity. The 'strategy' section links to resources that explain techniques to increase productivity, while the 'application' section links to specific tools that can help increase productivity. <\/p>\n\n

Strategy <\/h3>\n\n
Pomodoro Technique<\/a> \u2013 This time management technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals of 25 minutes (pomodoros) separated by intervals 5 minutes (short breaks). After completing four pomodors, users may take a 10 minute (long break). This technique is intended to improve focus and promote productivity. <\/p>\n\n

Application<\/h3>\n\n
Tomato Timer<\/a> \u2013 An easy to use Pomodoro Technique timer. It is automatically set up to track 25 minute intervals along with 5 and 10 minute intervals for breaks. <\/p>\n\n
Forest<\/a> \u2013 A productivity app that encourages users to stay off their phone and manage their time. Users can earn credit by not using their cell phones and plant real trees around the world. <\/p>\n\n
Cold Turkey Blocker<\/a> \u2013 A website blocker that allows users to block websites and applications for a specified amount of time. Cold Turkey Blocker works with both MacOS and Windows. <\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","subContentId":"5decd051-634b-4f2a-8493-c11bb76939b1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"}},"title":"Productivity"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"
This section includes information on how to take notes effectively. The 'strategy' section provides links to resources that explain different ways of taking notes, while the 'application' section links to specific tools that can help you take notes. <\/p>\n\n

Strategy<\/h3>\n\n
Annotating and Taking Notes for a Journal Article or Book Chapter<\/a> \u2013 This blog post explains how to read, annotate, and take notes effectively when working with an article or book chapter. <\/p>\n\n
Taking Notes for a Lecture, Meeting, or Conference<\/a> - This blog post explains how to take notes effectively, especially when information is being presented orally <\/p>\n\n
Using Index Cards for Taking Notes<\/a> \u2013 This blog post explains how index cards can be used to take notes <\/p>\n\n
Using a Notebook for Taking Notes<\/a> \u2013 This blog post explains how to use a single notebook to organize all your notes <\/p>\n\n
Cornell Note Taking Explained<\/a> - This blog post also explains how to use the Cornell Notes methods, a system for taking, organizing and reviewing notes devised by Prof. Walter Pauk of Cornell University. <\/p>\n\n

Application<\/h3>\n\n
Evernote<\/a> \u2013 An app designed for note-taking, organizing, task management, and archiving. The free basic plan allows users to sync notes across two devices, share notes with friends and colleagues, and clip webpages, images, and pdf files. Notebooks can be accessed offline from a desktop app.  <\/p>\n\n
Microsoft OneNote<\/a> \u2013 An app that allows users to organize their notes into notebooks with divided sections. Users can add tags to notes for important items or to indicate a task. The OneNote Web Clipper allows users to save content. Users can also annotate content and easily share with other students. All McMaster students have access to OneNote as part of the Microsoft 365 Suite.  <\/p>\n\n
Squid<\/a> \u2013 An app that allows users to make hand-written notes on compatible devices. Users can also import and annotate PDFs, presentations, and other documents.  <\/p>\n\n
Pen and Paper - Sometimes taking notes by hand is still the most effective method. This is especially true if you're trying to minimize screen time. <\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","subContentId":"8df393be-2d7c-4897-9f6d-2d5928f51b01","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"}},"title":"Note-Taking"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"
This section includes links to resources that can help you organize your schedule, manage your tasks, and plan groups meetings. <\/p>\n\n

Calendars<\/h3>\n\n
Google Calendar<\/a> \u2013 A time management and scheduling calendar service that can be synced across devices. You can set up reminders for events scheduled in your calendar, colour code events, and share your calendar with others. You can also set up your Google Calendar to automatically add events with meeting links for web-conferencing platform<\/a>s like Zoom, WebEx, and Teams. <\/p>\n\n
Fanstical<\/a> - A time management and scheduling calendar service that can be synced across devices. You can set up reminders for events scheduled in your calendar, colour code events, and share your calendar with others. You can also poll other users to set up meetings. <\/p>\n\n
Planner - Just because you are learning online, does not mean that you need to use an online calendar. Using an online calendar can be useful because it will send you automatic reminders and you can add links to synchronous sessions. But pen and paper is still more than sufficient to help you keep organized if you want to give yourself a break from screens. <\/p>\n\n

Task Managers<\/h3>\n\n
Habitica<\/a> \u2013 A gamified task manager that can track both habits and specific tasks. Habitica rewards the completion of tasks with gold and experience to level up your personal avatar.  <\/p>\n\n
Microsoft To Do<\/a> \u2013 A cloud-based task management system that can be accessed from multiple devices.  <\/p>\n\n
Clockify<\/a> \u2013 A free time tracker and timesheet app that lets you track work hours across projects. You can use the app to visualize how you are spending your time.  <\/p>\n\n
Pen and Paper - Sometimes keeping a simple checklist on a piece of paper is the most effective way to organize your tasks. This is especially true if you're trying to minimize screen time. <\/p>\n\n

Collaboration Tools<\/h3>\n\n
Doodle<\/a> \u2013 A free application that allows you to poll users for possible meeting times. This can be useful for scheduling time to work on group assignments.  <\/p>\n\n
Calendly<\/a> \u2013 A free online appointment scheduler that makes it possible to schedule meetings without the back-and-forth emails. Calendly works seamlessly with all major online calendars (Google Calendar, Outlook, iCloud) to help make sure you are never double-booked. Instructors can integrate Calendly directly into Avenue to Learn.  <\/p>\n\n
Trello<\/a> \u2013 A free collaboration tool that organize projects into boards with assigned tasks. Trello can you help you tell what is being worked on, who is working on what, and where something is in a process. This tool is particularly useful for group assignments.  <\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","subContentId":"d3d09826-1cb3-46a6-b495-bb8763fd4cf3","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"}},"title":"Planning and Task Management"}],"hTag":"h2"}

Resources for Online Learning

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