As we all know, a big part of the world population had to adapt to a new lifestyle. We had to go through some changes and we jumped into the unknown when having to switch from working from an office to remote working, usually from our homes.
Everyone had to adapt, change their habits and routines, so that they can still work efficiently, even from a different environment.
However, being in the comfort of our own homes, things can get a bit too relaxed, and we can very easily lose our focus and productivity. While it can get hard to stay motivated, luckily there are a few tools that can help with that.
We have recommended and assisted a lot of companies in South Africa to set up these resources with great results. No matter the size of your team, we are available to assist you configure these listed resources and more. These being said, here are the top four applications that can help employees work in a productive and efficient manner, even when working remotely:
Slack
Being maybe one of the most famous real-time communication apps, Slack is a tool that can represent the main way in which you keep in touch with the rest of your team.
The advantage of this app is that it not only supports direct messaging, but also audio or video calls. You are also able to start sharing your screen while you’re in a call, which is a feature that comes in very handy.
The application supports file sharing as well, so you can forget the old and classic email method, as the files can be sent directly from within the app.
You are able to create channels (public or private), search through conversations or messages and create threads so that you keep the discussions as organized as possible.
One big advantage is that the app can integrate with plenty of third-party tools (such as Google Drive/JIRA/Pager apps and so on), which can really help you be very efficient and productive while working remotely.
Google Drive
The application that comes next in this top is Google Drive. This is one of the most well-known file storage apps. You can create and files such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations and so on. The files will be stored in a cloud, so you will only need an internet connection to access them, which is very convenient, especially for remote workers.
Besides organizing your files in folders, you can also collaborate with others and work on the same documents simultaneously. You have 15GB of free storage, but, of course, you can upgrade at any time, as they offer a variety of paid plans.
Trello
So far in this article, we’ve presented an app that’s great for communication, and one that will provide a solution for storing your files. This next app is going to help you stay on track and keep your tasks well organized.
Trello is another online, web-based tool. This is a list-making application in which your tasks can be arranged in a very efficient way. The app is a Kanban-style one, meaning that the tasks are spread into a visual board, and thus you will be able to see the status of a task at any given time.
This app, too, will let you collaborate with people. You can create and assign tasks, move them around from “To-Do”, to “In Progress” and, later on, to “Finished”. Using a task tracking app will really up your productivity game.
It has also been researched that using apps such as this one will help remote workers mentally as well, as you tend to get motivated when you have a visual representation of the tasks that you’ve managed to complete. For example, as a content writer for ninjaessay, you will be able to write all of the upcoming articles into different tasks placed in the “To-Do” board, and have a very organized tracking method that will help you finish them before their deadlines. Once the articles get posted on the website, you can move them to the “Finished” board. By the end of the week/month, you will have a very exact report of the tasks that you’ve finished and the ones that are still in progress.
Desktime
Last but not least, it will also be helpful that you use a timeline app, so that you can easily track the time that you’ve spent actually working.
Desktime is a great tool for that, and it can come in very handy especially if you’re a freelancer working by the hour.
The app will give you complete breakdowns of the time spent working, and you can also add your co-workers as well. You will see how much each employee has spent on each task/project.
Author Bio
Rosa Hemming is a blogger and professional content writing expert from the United States. She is keen on movies and serials. Her blog consists of lists of the best films divided by genre and for different moods. Find her on Twitter.