Now more than ever, being able to stay productive and focused while working from home. With the world facing the COVID-19 pandemic and more and more countries entering lockdown and enforcing social distancing policies, countless non-essential businesses are being forced to implement remote working for employees. But for anyone not used to the particular challenges and requirements of working independently, it can be difficult to navigate your new work routine. Staying organised and enforcing discipline is essential to keep your head above water while working from home. Fortunately, there are countless apps and programs available to help you stay on top of things and be more productive than ever during lockdown. Here are some of our top picks:
Evernote
Evernote is a very popular app to help you organise your working world and keep on top of everything that comes your way. And it is popular for a reason – it is more than just a note-taking app, it also allows you to write out your to-do lists, collate your research, insert images or diagrams and drawings, attach clippings from web pages, and so much more. You can completely customise your digital workspace by integrating your other devices, apps, and platforms, including your Google calendar, Google Drive, and other Google apps, as well as Dropbox and many other apps you use to get your work done.
Trello
Trello is another hugely popular productivity app which is especially helpful for project management with process-based projects and tasks. Trello is fantastic for organising your work and your team and uses a user-friendly visual workspace based on a system of ‘cards’ and ‘boards’. Each ‘card’ represents an individual step, item, phase, task, or idea – you can then place each card on the relevant ‘board’, each of which represents a larger phase or category in which the cards are organised. You can then move and/or edit the cards as you work and your goals and responsibilities change to track how they move through the overall process. Everything is categorised and organised by colour, dates, etc. so your tasks and items are easy to find and edit.
You can schedule dates for meetings and deadlines and set reminders; the intelligent software can even set automatic reminders and deadline updates for you and your team based on the information and tasks you provide. Trello makes working collaboratively with your team very easy as you can invite other members to join your boards. You can then type up messages and notes for your team to see attached to certain steps or tasks, add attachments, set priorities, and seamlessly plan, track, and organise different phases or elements of a project.
ToDoist
ToDoist is the most advanced app of its kind on the market. It does what it says on the tin – and then some. It uses automatic intelligent software to organize each item on your to-do lists according to categories and even sets automatic reminders. This app is great for team organisation, project planning and management, assigning tasks and responsibilities, and monitoring progress and deadlines. ToDoist is time management at its finest – whether for personal and business purposes, it is easy to assign tasks and deadlines and track your progress and stay on target with this user-friendly visualization of your workflow.
Slack
Slack is one of the most widely-used and successful apps for communication and collaboration. Slack helps you organise communications in a searchable format, creating unique channels to set up for individual projects, teams, or clients – it is easy to share documents, images, and other files, as well as schedule and host video calls. Slack also allows for streamlined platform integration with other productivity tools including Dropbox, Google Drive, and CloudApp, among others. If you are tired of trying to track various communication channels from email to cloud storage and data sharing, Slack is the one-stop place for all announcements, discussions, chats, and video calls, all together in one interface for the members of the group. It even has social media integrations if needed.
Zapier
Zapier is essential for anyone working on many different platforms or apps simultaneously. Not only does it fully integrate them, it goes one step further by connects them to allow them to communicate with each other – integrations and automations can be set up quickly and easily without any specialty knowledge of how to code for such actions. Zapier does all the heavy lifting by processing tedious and time-consuming tasks like downloading/uploading files, or data entry, so you can focus on the big ticket items on your to-do list. With over 1,500 compatible productivity software tools, including Gmail, Dropbox, Slack, Google Drive, and countless more, your workflow will be efficiently simplified across all platforms.
Strict Workflow/RescueTime
Depending on your personal preferences for structuring your workday and staying focused, there are countless apps and programs available to help keep you on track by limiting your access to distracting content. Strict Workflow is one such program, as it is designed around the popular method for boosting productivity which involves working for 25 minute chunks of time and taking short breaks in between. You can set it up to restrict access to certain sites or pages that are not conducive to your work during your allotted work phases.
RescueTime is a personal favourite for use on both your desktop browser and on your mobile devices – it provides insights to your browsing habits, tracks your behaviours online/on your phone, including the sites/apps you use, when/how often you take breaks or get distracted, and classifies the apps/sites by productivity and type/function. It also block non-productive sites and apps and allows you to set personal goals for productivity. RescueTime is also highly customisable, which makes it easy to personalise your experience.
Malia Nickerson, a travel blogger at Lastminutewriting, says: “Most iPhones also now have screen time analytics, performing essentially the same function on a basic level as the above programs.”
OneNote
OneNote performs a very similar function to Evernote, the only major differences being that it can sync with other Microsoft products if you use them (Outlook email/calendar, OneDrive storage, etc.) and it is very different to interact with. Charles Martin, a lifestyle writer at Researchpapersuk, explains: “It is just as easy to use and organize and comes with plenty of clever features, so it really comes down to your personal preference here.”
Focus@will
Apps designed to provide unique soundtracks to help you stay focused and motivated can be incredibly effective in boosting your productivity during the workday. Focus@will builds you a personalized sound profile based on how you work and a range of personality traits, providing tailor made backing tracks to help you remain focused and productive.
There are so many useful tools available online now, with countless productivity apps and software on the market and more being developed every day. These are just some of the best apps available, so explore your options to find what works best for you.
Catherine Meisner is an article writer at Gumessays.com who takes great personal interest in social media marketing. Catherine loves writing about topics related to health, food, and beauty. In her spare time, she enjoys going to the gym and exploring new places and cultures.
