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Web tools for university students: Digital Focusing Tools

This guide will feature an overview of some of our favourite Web tools and how you can use them in your studies

Request a Literature Search

Need sources for your literature review? Struggling to find sources for your assignment, research proposal or thesis?

The Library can assist with a literature search, which is a systematic and comprehensive search for published, academic material on your specific subject/topic. How do you request one? Simply go to Request a literature search .

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Digital Focusing

digital focusing

Library Support

Digital Focusing Tools

Microsoft 365 Tools

requires you to sign in with your myUnisa login 

Online Tools

ms365 myAnalytics logo

MyAnalytics

Provides insights by analysing two key factors in personal productivity: how people spend their time and who they spend it with. ​

 

MyAnalytics Dashboard 

See how you spent your time over the past month, productivity insights about your work patterns, helpful suggestions for improvement, and information about your network, top collaborators, and collaboration activities.​

 

Focus Plan 

Helps you schedule up to two hours of uninterrupted time on your calendar each day to focus on top-priority work.​

 

Wellbeing

Shows how well you are disconnecting from work during your time off and suggests ways to reduce stress and burnout.

Sometimes technology isn't the distraction - maybe you need help clearing your mind. Try these tools designed to help enhance focus.​

Focusing and white noise

White noise is any steady or repetitive background noise, e.g. the sound of rain, a washing machine, a fan, the radio. It blocks out other distracting sounds which helps you to concentrate and it can have a calming effect.

                                     my noise logo

myNoise 

This white noise app block aural distractions and help focus thoughts.​

Contains sounds for when you need to focus, or sleep, need white noise, need sounds for meditations, feel down or even need to feel you are in a café.

 

Meditation and relaxation

 

                                     

Insight Timer

This app offers free guided meditations that can help you learn how to meditate and clear your mind. Meditations are available for sleep, anxiety relief, stress relief or even mediations with music. ​

 

Tech blocking 

Sometimes you might need a little more help than simply turning your phone off or placing it on silent.

 

                                   

Cold Turkey

Block an unlimited number of websites with locking features and statistics to keep track of the biggest time-wasters.

You can schedule blocks when you need them or simply reduce distractions by adding pomodoro-style breaks or allowances.

Start one block and it will affect all supported browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, MicroSoft Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi (for Windows and macOS).

 

Indebted to: 17 Tech Tools for Online College Students: Boost Productivity and Better Manage Your Time (Purdue University Global)