Windows outperforms any other operating system when it comes to features. Be it customizing themes, wallpapers, or anything else, you can easily do so with Windows.
As a student, you may get the most out of your Windows PC with just a few tweaks. Want to know some useful ones? In this article, we’ll show you some of the best ways to set up your Windows PC like a pro.
1. Create an Organized Folder Structure
Like any workstation, keeping your files nicely organized helps enhance your productivity. However, things may quickly get disorganized with Downloads, Documents, Pictures, and other folders. Your notes may be scattered across multiple folders, making it difficult to remember where files are located.
Let’s set up an organized folder structure to organize all your college-related files much better:
Here is an overview of how the PARA approach can help organize student materials:
Now that you have the structure, you can logically group related files.
2. Set Up Google Drive for Cloud Sync
As a student, you likely use Google Drive on your smartphone to store college notes, PDFs, or other such things. If you use your PC most of the time, setting up Google Drive will help you get the most out of its cross-platform functionality.
Follow these steps if you need help with that:
We asked you to create the main folder (in the previous section) for a reason. Now that your main folder is synced live, whatever files/folders you save to that, you can access all of them from your smartphone.
3. Use Focus Sessions
If you actively use your Windows PC, repeated notifications may make it difficult to focus on studying. Fortunately, Windows 11 offers a Focus session feature to help you block out all such distractions for a specific time.
Depending on your needs, you can customize sessions as short as 5 minutes or as long as multiple hours. You can access this feature from yourWindows Settings > System > Focus section. Click theStart focus sessionbutton to start a session for the set amount. If you want to change the default timer, click thePlusorMinusbutton to adjust it.
4. Install Useful Browser Extensions
Our web browsers are one of the most essential apps we visit daily. But did you know that adding extensions (or add-ons) can further improve their functionality and optimize your note-taking workflow?
Here are some must-have extensions for boosting your productivity while browsing:
For non-Chromium based browsers, you can visit the official websites of the respective extensions to download supported add-ons.
5. Annotate Your PDFs With Drawboard PDF
Wouldn’t it be great if you could annotate and take notes directly on PDFs, just like you would on paper? There’s a helpful app called Drawboard PDF that makes this possible.
Drawboard turns PDFs into an interactive canvas. It offers various built-in tools to highlight, comment, draw, fill forms, sign, and do more on your PDF files.
To get started with Drawboard PDF:
6. Take Digital Notes With Obsidian and OneNote
Transcribing handwritten notes digitally can be tiresome with time. But the good thing is powerful note-taking apps that even support the use of AI technology now exist.
Two great Windows options are OneNote and Obsidian. Both help create and organize notes easily. OneNote’s expandable canvas and sections make note-taking with a stylus easy. Check ourtips to get started with OneNote.
Obsidian is perfect for long-form writing and connecting concepts. It uses backlinks to display a knowledge graph of your notes. We have ahow to get started with Obsidianguide for those who want to go deep into note-taking with it.
As a student, keeping track of classes, deadlines, and college activities can quickly become chaotic. You’ll surely agree that managing academic life requires organization. This is where Notion can help.
Notion is a productivity tool to organize every aspect of your college life in one place. It’s not just for taking notes but is useful across multiple fields.
You can view a sample college student template in Notion to understand its usability. You can not only track your current semester’s classes, notes, and materials; but can also manage your exam schedules in one searchable place.
We already have abeginner’s guide to get started with Notion. Besides, you can also browseNotion templates for studentsto start with an attractive setup.
8. Install ChatGPT on Your PC
ChatGPT is making a buzz in the education industry. It is gradually changing the way you gather information and write documents.
As it’s a web-based service, you must open your browser and visitchat.openai.comto use it. But, If you don’t want to open your web browser every time, learnhow to install ChatGPT as a Windows app. Once done, you may one-click to open it and use it to brainstorm ideas, helpful resources, and draft outlines for your next project.
Besides, if you don’t know how to use ChatGPT for note-taking, you can refer to our guide onhow to use ChatGPT to take notes.
Your Windows Productivity Hub Is Now Ready
Drawboard PDF, Google Drive, Notion, and Obsidian are just a few apps to add to your productivity workflow. The best part is some of them use AI to help you further in your studies.
With your student life still going on, keep yourself updated with the AI field, as it will revolutionize your study pattern soon. But, make sure not to over-rely upon such futuristic things as it may impact your personal growth in the long run.
