These are the best apps you can use to work home from home during the pandemic.
These are the apps you can use to work from home during the pandemic. Most people have been forced to work from home and that can be destabilizing however during these digital times you really don’t have to slow down operations. With this in mind, it’s important to consider the challenges of getting tasks done from the comfort of your own home – as well as any implications this might have.
Whether you’re an employer or employee these are the best ways to ensure that your employees are still working.
1. Serene
The biggest role Serene plays is blocking access to distracting websites and apps during work sessions while also silencing your phone. Separate studies find it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on track after being distracted. This gives you an idea of how much time those email notifications can cost you throughout the day.
Serene asks you to set a daily goal, which can be broken up into multiple work sessions or tasks – as long as they all contribute to the day’s end goal. These sessions run for 20-60 minutes, another feature based on studies that show the human brain tens to start losing focus on a task after 20 minutes.
2. Slack
Slack is a massaging platform designed for teams and it’s the ideal communication tools for remote workers. Instant messaging is organised into channels, which team members can join and leave, as needed, so nobody receives messages or notifications irrelevant to them.
Team members can also chat outside of main topics in separate threads which prevents these messages from interfering with the most project-centric conversations.
3. Zoom
Group video meetings and voice calls are made easy with Zoom. Once again, there’s a free version of Zoom, which will be enough for a large chunk of smaller teams.
Crucially, paid versions only require hosts to pay a monthly fee rather than everyone who attends meetings. A host is someone who invites people team members to join meetings but up to 100 participants can join and you (or your company) will only need to upgrade to a paid version if meetings last longer than 40 minutes.
4. Chrome remote desktop
Chrome Remote Desktop allows you to access your computer securely from your phone, tablet or another computer.
Essentially, this means you can access your machine from anywhere, at any time without worrying about any security risks. You can access your computer by typing in an access URL into a web browser or download the mobile app for iOS and Andriod.
The other key function of Chrome Remote Desktop is to connect your device with fellow teammates. This means you can provide access to your computer and receive remote support, allowing colleagues to see your screen and control your computer – perfect for getting technical issues resolved.
5. Google calendar
While Google Calendar is a great free digital calendar, it doesn’t provide some of the advanced features remote workers typically need. A more feature-rich alternative is the aptly named Calendar, which connects all of your calendars into a single interface.
Aside from integrating all of your calendar apps, Calendar’s star feature is the way it handles meetings. Instead of arranging video chats or other meetings with arranging emails between multiple team members, Calendar allows anyone to choose and book meeting times during your availability hours while ensuring there are no conflicts with existing meetings or tasks.