When you’re working remotely, you need a couple of essential tools to increase your productivity and keep up with your work. The must-have tools have to cover basic needs such as seamless communication, task management, automation, note-taking, and more. I prepared a list of productivity tools to get you started right away.
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7
Slack
Probably the most popular communication tool
The first thing you need is a good communication tool to keep in touch with your team, and Slack is one of the best out there. It has strong message management features, and you can even use it for many projects with separate channels for every need.
However, its strongest advantage is its seamless integration with other productivity tools, such as file-sharing platforms, video conferencing, and project management.
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Moreover, you can use Slack completely free, albeit with message load limitations. Lastly, Slack is a cross-platform tool that syncs your messages on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. This means you will be updated with all the information instantly on any of your devices.
6
Thunderbird
One of the best email clients
If you’re a remote worker, you most likely have multiple email accounts. Switching between them for different clients can be time-wasting and even annoying. Thunderbird not only integrates all your email accounts into one dashboard, but it can also merge all your folders into a unified one.
The email client ticks all the boxes for secure communication, with end-to-end encryption and scam email protection. It also disables remote content by default. Besides that, it has great calendar integration and can be customized to the font.
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Thunderbird has unified folders, exceptional search features and a great calendar, all you need from an email client.
Finally, Thunderbird supports many add-ons and extensions for seamless integration with other productivity apps. If that didn’t convince you, know that it’s free and open source, so you might as well give it a try without any commitments.
5
IFTTT
Seamless automation between your apps
IFTTT stands for “If This Then That,” a tool that links your productivity tools smartly and intuitively. Best of all, you don’t need APIs or programming to use it. IFTTT comes with a simple UI with step-by-step instructions for any type of automation.
For example, I use it to get all the Asana tasks into a Google Sheets document, sync my to-do lists with voice assistants, or save my Evernote notes into a Google Drive folder.
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The usage scenarios and possibilities are almost endless, and the app works on any browser and any platform. You don’t even have to bother thinking of automation because you also have access to a huge library of applets configured by other users.
4
Asana
Project management at its best
If you’re working remotely with a small team, Asana is probably the best project management tool you need. Right on your home page, you will see all the tasks for different projects, including their due date, upcoming or overdue.
You can configure its appearance to match your other environments, integrate widgets for goals, get status updates, and much more. Of course, Asana also has basic collaboration features that include feedback and communication for tasks.
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The tool also supports various project views besides the simple list, like Gantt charts, Calendars, and Boards. With Asana, you may also integrate Slack chats into trackable chats, which can be excellent in some cases.
Some users prefer Trello over Asana, which is also a powerful alternative tool. You should definitely try more solutions and see which one better matches your needs.
3
Obsidian
It’s a lot more than a note-taking tool
I recently started using Obsidian because I was looking for a good note-taking app, but I wasn’t expecting that level of complexity. Obsidian is a lot more than that; it’s a personal planner, a project management tool, or a place where you can organize your thoughts.
It’s initially intimidating due to the unlimited realm of possibilities, but once you get a grip on it, you will thank yourself for the choice. You can build graphs and diagrams, link your notes, share them, create unexpected connections, and create a knowledge base for all the information you need for your projects.
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It’s hard to describe Obsidian in a few words, but I can tell you it works on most platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, and it’s free, so you can at least try it.
2
Grammarly
No mistakes on your part
Grammarly is probably the most popular word correction tool out there. It manages your spelling on any text you write on your device, and it was recently updated with AI tools for summarizing and a lot more (if you’re ready to pay for a premium account).
Don’t get me wrong, Grammarly is not perfect, at least in its free version. It struggles with complicated phrase structures, and sometimes it just doesn’t make up its mind whether to include a coma or not. However, it’s a must-have if you want to check some texts for errors on the fly.
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I highly recommend paying for the Pro version if you’re aiming for academic language correction or complex revisions on long texts. It will provide a lot more help with revising your phrases. It includes the plagiarism tool, and it even adjusts the writing tone.
1
Canva
For your creative needs
Do you need to create some banners and images for your remote work? How about presentations? Well, you can do all that with Canva, and its free version is pretty potent for many applications. You can use it for all sorts of projects, from simple set-resolution images to Christmas or birthday cards and anything in between, and the best part is that you can get them for free without those pesky watermarks that most image editing tools apply in their free versions.
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Another big advantage is that Canva also has prebuilt templates for anything you want to create. It also provides access to a pretty big library of free images and graphic elements you can add to your project. The cherry on top is that you can use it on any device with a browser.
These tools are just the start if you want to get things done
If you want to increase your productivity while working remotely, these tools will at least get you started. Most of the apps I listed above are free, so you just have to give them a shot, but I only scraped the surface.
In case you’re working with images, you will also need a good editor, and if you’re writing, you will also have to grab a word processor. Don’t forget about data sheets or databases when dealing with data management.
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source: https://www.xda-developers.com/must-have-productivity-tools-remote-workers/
