Since the start of grad school, I’ve realized that success depends heavily on time is used. With the flexibility granted in grad school and the many responsibilities you’re likely to take on, it’s easy to slip into time-sinks and misguided priorities. To help combat this, I made this list for myself to keep track of the various tools available that can help me be as productive and time-efficient as possible.

The best advice in grad school I received so far was from a senior grad student before my first semester even began. It was to start early with planning how you want your ideal work-life to look like. In other words, set your default day/week early.

This involves things like your work schedule, gym schedule, healthy eating habits, etc. The purpose of doing so is to set your “default” as early as possible so that when the inevitable crunch time comes around and throws off your schedule, you can quickly regain control after. Otherwise you take on a risk of gradually lowering the bar as to what your day looks like and allowing days to become chaotic and your actions, as a consequence, reactionary instead of proactive*.

  • *The pivot from reactionary to more proactive scheduling of time is a key step from David Allen’s Getting Things Done. I highly recommend this book.

tl;dr:

  • Trello
  • Anki
  • Overcast
  • Twitter
  • Notion
  • Papers
  • BeFocused
  • Headspace
  • Nike Training Club

For Time-Management

Trello (App)

  • What: Kanban-style list making app
  • Why: Simple to use, flexible
  • Guide: Trello + GTD

For Learning New Things


Anki (App)


Overcast (App)

  • What: Podcast app
  • Why: Passive way to keep informed on topics in and outside your research
  • Recommendations: Talking Machines (ML), Gradient Descent (ML), a16z (Tech), The Readout Loud (Biotech)


Twitter (App)

  • What: Social media
  • Why: Following people in your field is a great way to learn about new research as it comes out

For Knowledge Management


Notion (Desktop App)

  • What: All-in-one knowledge management system
  • Why: It’s incredibly flexible and has great integrations with Slack and GDrive. It also has a nice user interface


Papers (Desktop App)

  • What: Reference manager
  • Why: It helps me organize the million article pdfs I’ve accumulated. I’ve found it to be easy to label and organize topics into collections. It can also sync across devices.

For Focused Work


BeFocused (App)

  • What: Timer app.
  • Why: I like to use the Pomodoro technique when I study. It helps prevent fatigue when studying for long periods of time

For Other Things


Headspace (App)

  • What: Mediation app
  • Why: Meditation is a great way to relieve stress and reorient yourself at anytime during the day. I also have found their sleep content to be great for getting a good nights rest.


Nike Training Club (App)

  • What: Workout app
  • Why: It’s a great alternative to the gym as the workouts are both challenging and engaging. It’s also free for now due to COVID-19.


I’d love to hear from you if you have any recommendations for apps or tools that help you stay productive.