One of the biggest changes sparked by the new normal is the rise of remote work. This is, for the most part, a good thing as working from home can increase productivity while lowering costs. The adjustment can be a bit of a challenge for some, but the right tech tools can help you navigate this new setup.
Fortunately, there are plenty of mobile apps that can turn you into a more efficient worker at home. Without further ado, open up your Google Play Store and look for our top picks for the best apps for remote workers:
Communication is one of the foundations of successful remote work. There's less face-to-face time, so you need to stay in constant contact with your team virtually. Plenty of communication software and apps are promising, like Zoom and the ever-reliable e-mail, but Slack is best for day-to-day communication. It's a messaging-platform specifically designed for workspaces.
You can direct message a colleague, share important documents, and even use it as a voice conference tool. The biggest advantage of Slack is that it lets you create different channels to organize topics of discussion. An article on Slack by HP notes that you can create a read-only announcement channel to loop everybody in with important updates while minimizing unnecessary comments. Slack is an all-around tool for collaboration, even when the entire team is apart.
More than a note-taking app, Evernote is a tool to organize your work life. The Verge's guide to using the app highlights that you can use it to jot down ideas complete with visuals, audio, web clippings and other attachments. The app also lets you create multiple to-do lists so that you can stay on top of what's important. You can even share notes with other users, which makes it great for collaboration and project management.
Knowing how much time you spend on each task is key to increasing productivity. That's exactly what Toggl, a handy time-tracking app, is for. It's definitely a good addition to the '6 Best Apps to Track Your Habits in 2020' list because tracking your hours helps you change your habits for the better.
Toggl is very easy to use on mobile, and it syncs with all of your devices, too. It also provides you with a detailed report of how you spent your time each week, which you can use to identify the biggest killers of your productivity.
Computers and smartphones let us connect with people from all over the world which is essential at a time like this. However, the constant pinging of those devices can be incredibly distracting. That's a major productivity killer given that it takes 23 minutes to recover from a distraction. Every time you get a notification, you're wasting away potentially hours of your day.
This is where Daywise comes in. It's an app for scheduling notifications into batches so you can avoid being interrupted from what matters. You get to pick a time you want to receive all of those updates which should really be scheduled into your day.
5. Headspace
Although Headspace is not technically a work-specific app, this meditation tool has become essential in today's world. Headspace has many free guided meditation sessions that are open to beginners. Modern-day workers are under huge amounts of stress, and they need to find an outlet like meditation to avoid burnout. HR Daily Advisor adds that meditation increases focus as well as creativity. All in all, these can help professionals stay more disciplined, focused, and motivated to work.
