A Virtual Study Space for Productive Work

Featured app, note-taking, Tips, writing

I was inspired to create a Notion template that mimicked a virtual study space after researching and writing about online study websites and virtual work spaces. I’ve previously written about LifeAt, Bindr, Fiveable, Study Together, and StudyStream. These sites aim to provide aesthetic and functional online work and study spaces and are increasingly popular.

Notion is also gaining traction from diverse audiences, including students, freelancers, and small to large-sized teams. Notion is considered an all-in-one workspace and many people do their work within the app. I’ve written previously about the Notion templates that students may find useful.

The Notion Study Lounge

I worked with Notion template creators at Hypen to develop the Notion Study Lounge, a virtual Notion template for productive work. The template offers many different features and is customizable. The workspace includes:

Inspiring daily quotes
An editable pomodoro timer
24/7 lofi radio station
A task list
A reminders section
A notebook for quick notes
Quick links

When you log in, you will get a greeting with the current date and time. You’ll also be able to add external and internal quick links.

The internal workspace links will allow you to jump from one section of your work space to another.

We included toggles so that your workspace remains uncluttered.

This is great if you are easily distracted. With one click you can hide other areas.

The workspace can also work as a daily productivity dashboard. It includes a table where you can drag and drop your task lists. You’ll then be able to sort, group, search, and track your tasks over time.

This template also includes a customizable timer and a 24/7 Lofi station — we absolutely love these two features!

You will likely need to jot down some quick notes and reminders. We have a section for that too.

We wanted to create something that would also look good in dark mode, with different fonts, and in full width. This template achieves all of that!

Get the template ($10.00 USD) here and reach out if you have questions about the template or ideas about future ones. The template includes our credits section–we give credit to the creators that make the widgets we use possible.

Buy on

Mention mystudenthq when purchasing here to get 10% off.

If you are looking to try Notion, you can use my affiliate link for a Notion Plus account.

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Select the best way to display your data with the data visualisation catalogue

Coding, Featured app, Tips

Have you ever wondered if your data would be best displayed as a bar chart, line graph, or scatterplot? If so, The Data Visualisation Catalogue might help you decide.

The catalogue helps you to choose the right kind of visual presentation for your data.

The tool, developed by Severino Ribecca, started as a project to create a library of different ways to display information.

Severino initially began the project as a way to develop his knowledge of data visualization and as a reference tool for his own work. Now, the Data Visualisation Catalogue allows users to explore the best ways to graphically present information.

Using the Data Visualisation Catalogue

The various visualization choices allow users to decide on the best chart type for their needs. Users can search the catalogue by function or by list.

The catalogue provides new ideas for how to visually relay information to an audience. Once you select a chart type, it provides:

The description, anatomy, and functions of the chart
A display of similar charts in the catalog
Tools to generate the visualization
Examples of the chart
A reference guide for using the chart

An example of how the venn diagram is cataloged on the site.

With all of this information, I can decide how I want to create the chart and what tools I might need if I decide to modify how the chart is displayed.

Conclusion

If you have ever been stuck when deciding what type of chart to create to best display your data, the Data Visualization Catalogue will be helpful. The site is beneficial for individuals who are often deciding how best to present information or data.

The tool is incredibly useful and I hope to see more visualization charts for displaying qualitative data in the future.

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Copying and pasting text containing Microsoft Word track changes

Tips, writing

Copying and pasting text with Microsoft Word track changes is not as straight forward as simply copying and pasting text in other text editors.

I recently needed to copy text from one document to another, while retaining track changes and could not figure out why my changes were all accepted in the new document. However, a simple google search resolved my confusion.

Here are the steps to copy and paste text with track changes from one Microsoft Word document to another.

Turn off track changes in document #1 (Do not skip this step)
Select and copy the text you want to reuse in document #1
Paste the copied text in document #2 (Make sure track changes is also off, here)

These steps should maintain the track changes in the new document. Keep in mind that I am using a mac. Though I believe these steps should also would on Windows computers.

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Use Snip by Mathpix to convert math images and PDFs

Featured app, Tips

Snip is an AI-powered document conversion tool that allows users to convert images and PDFs to LaTeX, DOCX, Markdown, Excel, and many other formats. The tool simplifies working with documents that contain math.

Snip is developed and maintained by Mathpix, a company that uses document conversion technology to make digital science available instantly.

My use case

I was looking for a way to automatically generate the equation below without retyping. I uploaded a screenshot and was able to download the formula for use in Microsoft Word.

The equation represents a common measure of residential segregation. More details about the equation and residential segregation are available on the U.S. Census Bureau website.

Snip is accessible on any device

Snip is available for mobile, tablet, desktop, and web browsers and allows automatic syncing across all devices.

The mobile version allows for handwritten equations, and the desktop and web versions are best for taking and uploading screenshots.

Pricing

Snip is free for up to 10 snips and 20 PDF pages a month.

Their educational offer for students and educators is free and includes 100 Snips and 35 pdf pages. Those who want to get started in this tier will need to sign up with an institutional email.

The $4.99/month cost (at the moment) includes 5,000 Snips and 250 PDF pages. You can also claim two free months with their annual plan.

Conclusion

Overall, I am impressed with the app. It was simple and easy to use, and I plan to use it more frequently.

Recreate my Snip workflow

I recently started using Scribe, and I am enjoying it. I used it to create this workflow and plan to use it more regularly. If you want to try this tool, please use my referral link. I’ll unlock 7 days of Scribe Pro for free, and you’ll also get to try the app for free.

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Microsoft Word displaying old text in new document

Tips

I recently had an issue with Microsoft Word where it kept displaying old text when I opened a new document. It took me a while to determine why this was happening. It turned out that I had accidentally saved the text in my Normal.dotm template.

The Normal.dotm template opens each time you start Microsoft Word. It includes default styles or any customizations you may have made to the document. It is important to note that any changes you make to the Normal.dotm template, whether intentionally or not, will be applied to all of the new documents that you create.

I consulted this post on answers.microsoft.com and applied it to Microsoft Word for Mac to resolve my issue.

Here are the steps I followed

Open Microsoft Word
Go to preferences–>Personal Settings–>File Locations to confirm where the template is stored on your computer. I was able to find the Normal.dotm Template on my computer at this path: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content.localized/Templates.localized/Normal.dotm

Close Microsoft Word
Open Finder–>Click Go on the menu bar–>then Go to Folder. Paste the path for the Normal.dotm file.

Move the Normal.dotm file out of the folder.
Re-open Microsoft Word (a new Normal.dotm file should be created)

I hope this post helps someone else who encounters this issue.

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