10 tools to make remote work easier

Now that some restrictions have been eased, Ireland can start to see the end of the pandemic lockdown on the horizon. A lot of work still needs to be done to make sure the country will pass the five phases of our roadmap to reopen the economy safely. While many of us are still working from home, we’ve selected 10 tools that will streamline your experience and make remote working a lot easier. 

To keep focused: 

If you haven’t heard any of your co-workers struggling with time management and staying focused during the pandemic, you’re probably the one facing issues. Time management is indeed one of the hardest parts of maintaining work expectations while working from home, so the struggle is real and perfectly normal. Here are some remote work tools that will help you manage your time better, even after the lockdown:

• Tomato Timer: We have talked about it before, but today we want to remind you of a tool that helps you manage your time, focusing on activity and your break times. The Tomato Timer is a free and always accessible tool that helps you manage your focus in each activity. Just click the link above and thank us later.
• Harvest: Focused on helping you organise the time split between each project, Harvest has options to create projects or to-do lists and track the time spent working on each one. You can see how much time you spend on each task, improving your time management and helping with prioritisation. You’ll never find yourself racing against the clock again.
• Time Zone Converter: The current reality might have increased the chance of working with a colleague in a different time zone. To avoid seeming inconsiderate and scheduling a meeting that’s way too early or late for a colleague at the other side of the world, use this online Time Zone Converter. Simply add your current location and your co-worker’s location, and it’s done. Be a nice person and add this to your bookmarks now.
  

Remote working tools to manage projects: 

If you work in a big team full of different people with a variety of responsibilities, what you need is a tool to help you manage everyone’s times, while sharing tasks and communicating appropriately. Here are some options:

• Basecamp: Project and time management in a single tool, that also allows separate group chats. Sounds like a dream, but it’s only Basecamp. With this project management tool, you can collaborate with your team, sharing projects, tasks, messages and scheduling deadlines, among others. The tool also includes a file-sharing area, reports tools and search functionality, so everything is on hand when you need it.
• GitHub: The most loved tool in the web development industry, GitHub’s project management features are also extremely useful. It’s possible to create repositories where all the team members can collaborate while working together. The tool also offers the possibility to assign and track tasks, create chats and much more.  

Creating and sharing documents: 

Most of the time, a suite of installed software doesn’t give us the flexibility needed to work in separate environments, so we need to turn to online solutions, like those below.

• G Suite: The most widely used option, Google’s G Suite offers a pack of online software solutions for all office needs. With Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar and others, you can easily share files, edit documents together with your colleagues and schedule online meetings, among other tasks.
• Microsoft Office Online: The Microsoft version of G Suite is perfect for companies that use Microsoft as their leading software provider. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, everything is here, all online. Enjoy!
• Dropbox: Focused more on shareability and storing bigger documents, Dropbox can be used as a server or a cloud storage space, to host important files. Use it to store artwork, ongoing projects, client files up to 100 GB and much more.
  

To improve online meetings: 

We know, it’s not like it was before and we are missing brainstorms and also the meetings that could have been an email. Here’s what we are using to make your online meeting experience close to the real deal:

• Miro: If your meetings include presentations or workshops (we do a lot of workshops!), Miro is the tool you’re looking for. With Miro, you can empower your video chats with whiteboards, sticky notes, tags for each participant to collaborate and edit the content live and much more. It’s perfect for workshops but works well enough for brainstorming and creative meetings, among others.
• Zoom: You heard of it before, but Zoom is one of the easiest solutions out there to launch virtual meetings. The platform allows you to schedule meetings in your calendar, launch and record them with a click of a button. You can also join meetings from your smartphone, desktop or via dial in a phone. 

We hope the list of tools above help you find a better balance between your workload and your personal life. Drop us a line if you think you can benefit from our assistance with your online presence.

Do you need extra help with your online presence? Contact us today!