Off to College or Uni with Gotstado

We’re going to just put it out there, college and university is fun. New friends, adventures, living on your own, parties… But it’s also a time to to learn new life skills and really get stuck in to a subject that interests you–suddenly you’re in a brand new environment where you have to be self-sufficient, willing to collaborate and eager to learn. It’s a great learning curve and one that we hope you love. But sometimes it’s hard to make the transition between school and college or university, so today we’re here to show you how you can use Gotstado to easily process some of the new challenges you’ll come across in your first few months.

1. Collaborate the smart way

You’ll be meeting new people from all walks of life and you’ll be working together on lots of different group projects. When you don’t know each other or your working patterns well it can sometimes put a strain on your blossoming friendship. The key is to have clarity. Create a list for your project in Gotstado and share it with your classmates. Break your project down into clear and actionable to-dos–the smaller, the better. Assign each to-do to a person in your group and set deadlines. As questions pop up on a to-do you can use comments to clarify certain points. Each time you meet up you can then see exactly what has been done and who, if anybody, isn’t pulling their weight.

Shortcut: Use Smart Dates to set your deadlines as you type, e.g. ‘Research Marxism tomorrow’ and in a flash your start date and reminder will be set for tomorrow.

2. Access your reference list at the touch of a button

Speaking of Marxism, there’s a lot of reading to do in college. Researching Marxism could take you all year and there’s nothing more frustrating than finding a good reference book and quickly losing it in that stack of books on your desk. Solution? Use Gotstado as your reference list. As soon as your professor mentions a relevant book, note it down and then next time you’re at the library you can just pull out your Gotstado and track it down on the shelves.

Done with the book? Don’t tick it off your Gotstado just yet. If you think you’ll need it in future then keep it in your list. You can use tags to tag it with the relevant topic e.g. #subculture, and when it comes to writing that essay on Subcultural Theory you can find all the relevant books by simply clicking on the tag. Click on the to-do and in the Detail View you can note down all the relevant pages within the book. Is there an interesting image? Take a photo of it and attach it to your to-do. Your classmates will be in awe of your organization skills.

3. Take Gotstado home with you

For some of you, college might be the first time away from home–the new-found freedom, the fun… and the dirty plates are all a part of the experience. If the messiness of living with a group of students is all a bit too much then we’re here to help. Before you start flipping tables in anger at the mess surrounding you let’s take you back to point 1: Collaborate. Collaborating on a list isn’t just for assignments. It also comes in handy when Mark hasn’t washed his dishes yet again, or when Jessica forgets to clean the bathroom. Create a shared list with your roommates and put down all the chores that need to be done each week. Each person can assign themselves a chore and harmony can reign again. Want them to do it each week? Just set it to repeat on a weekly basis.

Love to eat together? Then share a Groceries list that you can all add to. On your next group shopping trip the supermarket can ring out with ‘ding’s as you stock up your kitchen full of tasty treats.

4. Have fun and more

College and University is about fun. Yes, there’s a lot of learning to be done, but there’s also a lot of downtime. Get to know your friends and roommates better by sharing some fun lists, ‘Bands we want to see’, ‘Movies we should definitely watch’, ‘Games I’m going to beat you at’, ‘Where we should go for Spring Break’. You get the idea… and don’t forget to customize your lists with emojis!

So now you should have a solid basis to help you navigate your new adventure. Every program is different and we’d love to hear your tips and tricks for what works best for you. Let us know in the comments, or on Facebook and Twitter. Want to show us your set-up? Then just tag us on Instagram @Gotstado.