Ashley Mo

Apps like Clearspace focus on setting limits on screen time, adding a layer of intentionality to device usage. When opening an app blocked by Clearspace, users first receive a message to breathe in and out for up to fifteen seconds so that they can reevaluate whether they want to use the app or not.

In the hectic cycle of high school life, students like sophomore Joyce Zhang struggle to find time to complete all of their work. This issue arises from multiple compounding factors, including scheduling challenges and social media overuse. Joyce and other students use productivity apps to counter these problems and make extra time in their busy schedules.

Apps like Clearspace focus on setting limits on screen time, adding a layer of intentionality to device usage. When opening an app blocked by Clearspace, users first receive a message to breathe in and out for up to fifteen seconds so that they have time to reevaluate whether they want to use the app or not. Joyce observed that this feature helped her reduce time on social media.

“I used to set a screen time for myself, but I kept clicking ‘extend fifteen minutes,’ so now I use Clearspace, and it’s really helped,” Joyce said. “Whenever I open an app, it gives me the message to breathe in, so I’m like, ‘I don’t need to go on Instagram that badly.’ So then I just don’t open it.”

Project Reboot founder Dino Ambrosi spoke on the benefits of productivity apps in a recent assembly hosted by the Living with Intent, Focus and Enthusiasm board. In his session, he highlighted the reasons behind why social media becomes so addicting. Although these apps may not solve the issue completely, they provide a stepping stone for people to become less reliant on social media and have more time for productive work.

“A lot of the times that we go to these apps, we’re literally not conscious of the fact that we’re doing it,” Ambrosi said. “It’s this ingrained response to discomfort. In order to retrain that, we have to be made aware of it, and this forces you to confront the times that you’re doing it without a purpose.”

Besides apps restricting screen time, students also use productivity apps to plan their time and schedule. Notion provides a workspace that compiles webpages and has features like calendars, goal trackers and roadmaps. Joyce considers the calendar helpful in day to day planning.

“I use the Notion calendar to time block my day when I’m really busy, and it helps me stick to the schedule,” Joyce said. “Sometimes if I’m studying for a class, I can get carried away and spend two hours on an assignment, but I actually have other things to do. If I time block it, then I can see how much time I can spend on every task that I need to get done. It helps me plan my time more accordingly.”

Along with the calendar feature, junior Yena Yu takes advantage of the customizable headers on Notion to make her studying experience more enjoyable. 

“I like it because you can customize the headers on the top, and then that makes me more motivated to work because everything looks really aesthetic and pretty,” Yena said. “For example, for history I’ll just put in like an image of the Declaration of Independence or something like that. It’s a psychological thing—when I see that image, I just get into the mindset of doing the work.”

While Notion has many helpful features, Yena acknowledges it can prove difficult to navigate at times. Alongside Notion, she uses Apple Reminders on her phone and another app called Tot for quick note taking. She finds these apps to be a convenient way to fulfill her scheduling needs with more ease of use than Notion.

“I highly recommend using a blend of a lot of productivity apps,” Yena said. “There’s not one app that can satisfy all of your needs, so it’s a lot better to just have a couple that you use all the time. They’re really convenient and have definitely helped me be more productive.”