There’s no denying that the last few weeks have brought a great many changes to our personal and remote-working lives. For some, the practicalities of remote working have been a breeze to adopt, for others, however – and three weeks into the coronavirus lockdown - it can still feel a somewhat unnatural and uncomfortable environment.
Certainly, coronavirus has played the lead role in disrupting the workplace, leaving many individuals without definitive and prescriptive processes, structures or tools.
But best practice can be achieved to ensure that the future ahead, whether that be under coronavirus lockdown or not, will ensure teams are remote-ready and that they have a professional set up at home that helps productivity and improves work-life integration.
The following apps will go some way towards helping a remote-based worker and are popular tools that we know our remote-working teams use on a daily basis, whether here in the UK or globally.
Stay organised, create a routine and get things done. Google Keep allows users to make quick to-do lists with useful tick boxes. Every morning, priority lists can be created to ensure actions are prioritised and achieve on that day, no matter how small the task.
The app can also help to organise any notes with labels and colours, store voice memos, set reminders, write shopping lists and insert photos or audio with ease.
Sometimes, life is better with music – especially when remote working.
And, whether it’s a favourite artist, ‘concentration music’ (yes there is such a thing) or a podcast, some sort of background noise can help to disrupt the silence of remote working and help to lift the spirits.
Toggl helps users to keep track of time – something that we know many workers may be struggling to do in these early transition phases. Toggl allows team members to discover what tasks are being lost to time and will help them to become accountable for actions instead.
Whether juggling family and work – and feeling overwhelmed with the delicate balancing act, this app will help to destress and keep spirits lifted.
The app provides guided meditations to help work through any obstacles being faced in the current climate and will help to improve the daily life challenges of sleep, stress and anxiety.
Struggling to stay away from the phone when working from home? This app could be a perfect remedy.
Whenever users begin work, they can simply go on to the app and plant a virtual tree, and the tree will grow whilst focusing on work.
The clever aspect of this app is, if you do happen to get side-tracked and go onto your phone while the tree is growing, it will die. Therefore, this simple app is motivation to keep you off your phone and help you concentrate on your work, while building a forest simultaneously.
Google Documents, Sheets and Slides
Google Documents allows users to make notes, insert diagrams and pictures. However, through Google Documents links can be sent to colleagues and clients for them to either view or edit the document together, all whilst working remotely.
These apps eliminate the worry of losing files, as they’re all online and cannot be lost if a computer breaks down or a home connection is lost.
Daily Yoga: Workout and Fitness
Keeping body and mind healthy is so important during a remote-working day. There’s only so much sitting that can be done so ensure exercise or movement is scheduled throughout the day. This Daily Yoga app helps users to physically relax – whether sitting or standing and will leave anyone feeling fresh and revived for the next job on the to-do list.
With all of the changes that we’re experiencing right now, remember that we’re in one of the most connected moments of time that we have ever been in. Feeling lost at times is quite normal but with all of these apps at our disposal and perhaps a renewed mental adjustment, remote working could just become the perfect antidote to a perfect work-life balance.
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