The comfort of working from home is unmatched, but so is the struggle. When you can’t walk over to someone’s desk and hand them a folder or have them come to your computer to read a document, you have to great creative. Luckily, there are certain work from home tools out there that can help you be productive and get things done as if you were actually in the office, without the hassle of going.
- Google Docs
One of the must-have tools when working from home is a way to create documents. Microsoft Office exists. Libre Office and Open Office exist. Why use Google Docs? Well it’s cloud-based for a start. You and another person can work on the same document at the same time, comment, make suggestions and change whatever you want.
Google Docs is also cloud-based so you don’t have to worry about file storage, transfer and losing data if a program crashes. And on top of all that, it’s free if you use the personal version, which many businesses do.
- Fiverr
You might already know about Fiverr. It’s a website where you can get almost anything done for as little as $5. Although, if you want something great, you might have to pay more. And by almost anything, really you can order up almost anything. From strangers painting your company logo on their backs to tech-experts helping you fix a crash in your website, you can likely find what you’re seeking on Fiverr.
Remote teams may not have someone from every department employed, so Fiverr is a great place to outsource some work to freelancers for a low price. The best part? Many of the freelancers have decades of experiences in their niche(s) and deliver work promptly.
Some things you could outsource are:
- Graphic design
- Technical help
- Advertising to get traffic to your website
- Blog/article writing
- Task management
And so much more. Really, if there’s a need for it then there’s someone in Fiverr who’ll do it.
- Slack
When you need to communicate with your team about various topics quickly and efficiently, Slack is the tool for that. Slack lets you create multiple chats for your company. For example, #general, #announcements, #off-topic and more. Many are private, invite-only groups you can utilize for a specific workforce, such as IT people, writers, graphic designers, finance workers and so on.
There’s also a private messaging function and the ability to have group calls. You can even go through a library of apps to post automated messages, and there are commands that trigger certain actions depending on how you set them.
- Zoom
Zoom is an easy-to-use video conferencing app that lets you talk face-to-face with members of your team. Foregoing that, you can use the voice and text functions, share your screen and record entire conferences.
There’s even a fun function that allows you to change your background, so if you want to look like you’re on top of a cliff or hanging out with celebrities while working, you can.
- Monday
There are tons of project management websites and programs out there. Monday is just one of them, and it lets you manage projects by creating a board for each. You have to invite team members to the board individually, but other than that, it’s an incredibly flexible tool.
The dashboards are intuitive and very visual, and it’s a great way for any company to manage a number of projects and tasks.
- Clockify
Does your employer, or do your clients, wonder what they’re paying you for? Well, Clockify can let them know. It lets you clock your time in detail, and it’ll measure how long you spent doing what. This lets people know if their investments were well spent or worth it, and it’s great for paying remote employees who are on an hourly payroll.
Another bonus of this is that when you feel like you’re being timed, it might encourage you to work faster. The faster you get work done, the more productive you are and the sooner you can clock out.
- Todoist
Do you struggle to keep track of your projects and tasks and when everything is due? Todoist can help you with that. It can help with managing both professional and personal projects and tasks, but it’s best used for tasks without sub-tasks.
Todoist also lets you collaborate with other people while you’re working remotely. It’s a useful tool to have on hand.
- Google Drive
Does your company have documents that everyone should have access to? Google Drive lets you store a certain amount on the cloud for free, and more if you pay. Google Drive keeps documents where everyone can see them, without cluttering up everyone’s computers and getting lost in hard drives that are never cleaned.
