Some of my favourite gadgets are not fancy at all but are things that can help improve little aspects of your day whether from being more productive and focused while studying to not losing your most important belongings on campus.
Air tag/Chipolo/Wireless location tags
If you’re an AU student who has classes in person or even work part-time during the school year, this gadget is for you. Airtags or wireless location tags designed to help you track your belongings. If you use an apple phone or device you can use the “Find my device” app to help you locate items with air tags attached to them. Personally, I don’t use an Apple device, which is why I utilize something similar purchased off Amazon. The same idea applies and helps me locate my keys, my wallet, and my backpack in the situation where I lose them. It makes finding items easy as a busy AU student. It’s inevitable that we wonder if we lost our keys from time to time. However, if you “page” your keys from your phone, it’s an easy way to figure out if you indeed lost them or they’re at the bottom of your bag.
Ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones
When studying in public places such as libraries or in local cafes, I like to have either ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones. If you’re on a budget, I find ear plugs work phenomenally to block out 90% of the noise and makes you concentrate much better. I also find that, in addition to some helpful studying “hygiene” tips such as turning off my phone or leaving it in a harder to reach location, noise blocking or cancelling makes a big difference in my productivity.
Mini wireless printer
For busy students who are always on the go, sometimes access to a printer isn’t always easy. Maybe it means you have to physically go to the closest library and pay a quarter per page, or it could also mean having to commute home or to a Staples to print your documents. Mini wireless printers are compact and lightweight making them highly portable. They are typically connected via wireless to your devices (with either Wi-FI or Bluetooth). This eliminates heavy cables and you can even print from your phone. Even for projects such as printing photos, they are so handy to have. If you’ve edited a term paper that needs to be re-printed, you can simply take it out of your backpack and get it printed rather than wait to find a printer. It is self-sufficiency at its finest.
Label maker
Another one of my favorite items in my backpack is the handy label maker. I find that with the bustle of life, there are so many things to remember, and organization can be easily compromised when schedules are cluttered. When you have a portable label maker, you can keep your belongings, documents, and spaces well-organized. You can label items such as folders, boxes, drawers, cables, and more, making it easier to find what you need. For example, you can label different binders or folders to keep your notes clean and tidy.
