How I Use My MacBook Air

I use my laptop every single day, either for school or for pleasure (blog, Netflix, etc). I watch Youtube videos from a variety of different people on various subjects. I like to read the news sites and keep updated with what’s happening in the world.

But the best thing about how I use my MacBook Air is how I was able to customize it! I made my laptop entirely my own with my preferences. I also wanted to share the applications I use for school and business.

For School

Pages

I used Pages for when I wrote my first novel and for all of my school notes and papers. However, for some of my assignments that needed to be turned in online I had to use Microsoft Word. But if I had to choose which app for all of my writing, I would choose Pages because I like the layout of the settings and how they’re on the side of the document instead of all at the top like in Word.

Browsers: Google Chrome and Safari

I use Google Chrome as my main browser. I like the layout and I have two add-ons that I use daily: Momentum and Ad-Blocker. Momentum is a home screen for every new tab opened with a To-do list and a beautiful image and quote at the bottom of the page.

The image changes every day and so does the quote. I like the layout and how it’s easy to be efficient with it. The ad-blocker simply blocks all advertisements from the website you’re on, which comes in handy on sites like YouTube and Facebook.

Calendar

I like to use the Calendar app for keeping track of due dates and other events I need to attend. Being a collegiate athlete comes with having to do a lot of scheduling between weight-lifting, practices, games/tournaments, meetings, watching film, and more. Having a calendar app makes it easy to track where I need to go and where I need to be.

Folders

On the desktop of my laptop, I have all the different parts of my life organized into folders. I have seven different folders, labeled for Misc (miscellaneous), all of my writing, my blog, anything to do with volleyball, and all of the folders marked with years are full of more folders dedicated to the semester of school I was in during those years. It stays nice and clean and I update this system almost daily as I finish my schoolwork.

Grammarly

For huge papers, I like to use Grammarly as an assistant for making sure my writing is absolutely perfect. While being an expert writer, I tend to have a unique writing style that differs from the academic tone expected of collegiate papers. I use the free version to insure that I am putting my best words forward and earning those A’s.

For fun

Spotify

I love listening to music while doing schoolwork or relaxing. Spotify is great because I pay for Premium with a student subscription ($4.99 a month) and get to use Hulu for no additional charge! I love that I can see my friends’ playlists and what they’re listening to. There are thousands of playlists to chose from and I can download any song I want to listen to for when I’m offline.

I’ve been using Spotify since high school and I have loved it every second. I have no complaints for this service!

Siri

I like to use the Siri function because not only is it efficient, it’s fun to see how much it can do for me. Ever since Siri was introduced to the iPhone, I’ve liked using it. When they added it to laptops, I was ecstatic because it could add to how much work I got done on my laptop.

You can ask questions and Siri will automatically pull up a Google search with all of the results. You can also ask for any document stored on your hard-drive and it will be pulled up for you. It’s so easy!

YouTube

As I mentioned before, I love watching YouTube. Some of my favorite people to watch are Sierra Furtado, Amanda Rach Lee (who I use for inspiration for my bullet journal!), Aspyn Ovard, and Lauren Elizabeth. I think they’re all amazing women who inspire me to be myself and give great advice about makeup and life.

I also like to watch YouTube for learning how to do things! I learned how to French braid my hair through a video and I have also learned how to some mathematics from videos. The website can be used a guilty pleasure or for practicality. It’s quite useful and I’m so happy that I found so many amazing people to subscribe to.

Netflix

I love Netflix. They have so many amazing shows (Scandal, New Girl, How to Get Away with Murder, to name a few gems) and I love that they don’t have any advertisements! They also have a lot of great Netflix originals (some flops, too, but they have a good percentage of successful shows) that are fun to watch. I simply love Netflix and get excited when they add new seasons of my favorite shows.

Hulu

Hulu is reliable because if Netflix doesn’t have the show you’re looking for, Hulu most likely does. They have shows like Drake and Josh for the throwbacks and new episodes of shows the next day after they air! I don’t have cable right now so I’m watching Season 7 of New Girl on Hulu and the new Bachelorette on Hulu and I’m living for it. I’m so happy with Hulu except for the advertisements. However, for everything they offer, it’s a pretty fair trade.

Those are all the things I do/use on my MacBook Air. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment! I love hearing from everyone.

Thanks so much for reading!

Love,

Kaitlin