While working from home is packed with some great perks (comfortable couches, comfortable clothes, abundant snacks, and flexibility), it does make it tough to stay structured and create an environment that is conducive to being an efficient employee.
For those who have not done so before, there are some obstacles that come along with working from home. You have to learn to be diligent about your daily tasks without a boss nearby, mitigate distractions which you would not have in the office, and strangely enough for some of us, remember to take breaks (many people spend hours working, only to realize more than half the day is gone). These days, how long you will work from home is not clear, so it’s important to create a sustainable work-from-home environment to help you along.
Luckily, some very helpful apps to help keep you organized and focused are just a download away. These, in a variety of ways, can help you create a more productive, focused, professional environment in your home. Here is a list of 6 helpful ones.
Wunderlist
Most people benefit from structure in their workday and like to have coherent lists to remind them of things that need to get done, as well as to prioritize their day. Wunderlist is an app that allows you to aggregate all of your lists (not just for work) into one place, organize them according to deadlines or with specific tags, and share interactive lists with others. You can share work-related lists with coworkers. For non-work matters, like grocery lists, you can share these with the grocery shopper in your home to communicate things that need to be purchased.
myNoise
Listening to music helps a lot of us concentrate, but for many, music is too distracting when trying to focus. If music is not helpful, try myNoise.This app allows you to create a way to drown out any ambient distractions with a customized white noise soundtrack. If you share your workspace with a family member or roommate, pets, or even noisy neighbors, myNoise will help you find your own isolated “Soundbooth” to help you keep your mind on your work.
Timer +
If you are very prone to distractions around the home, setting a focus or task timer can help you get through some of the challenging times and assist in sustaining your attention on pressing tasks. Timer + even allows you to have multiple timers going at once. If you are feeling particularly stumped with a task, try setting a timer for a short period of time and give it your full effort for that burst of time. If you need a break, set a 5 – 15 minute timer, and stretch your legs. You will be able to use your time more efficiently when you are aware of how much of it has passed.
Slack
Simply not being in the office shouldn’t mean that you cannot meet with your team, or stay in touch throughout the day. Slack is a way to create a virtual chat room. It allows you to communicate effectively and also is a great option for sharing attachments, sending files, and posting links. You can even create custom Slack channels, tailored specifically to communicate with different groups of people. Even better, you can navigate to historical archives of older conversations in case you forgot what was talked about.
Zoom
Zoom has skyrocketed in popularity since the world largely moved to remote work. It makes sense, as it is a high definition video conference app that allows communication with a large number of simultaneous participants on your team (up to 50 in fact). It is so useful because it allows you to screen share, as well as a multitude of methods to view the meeting participants. You can choose from seeing only the person who is speaking or a group “Brady bunch” type display. If you want to be playful, you can create a background simulating a more “professional” office environment, or make it seem like you are Zoom-ing from the middle of a hoard of zombies, Disneyworld, or Mordor.
Freedom
If the rabbit-hole of the internet is your vice, and you are someone who is too easily distracted by jumping on a search engine and finding unnecessary “sidequests” during the day, you may benefit from the Freedom app. This app allows you to create a custom list of sites that you can block yourself from accessing during the work day. If you don’t trust yourself to do so on your own, Freedom can take away your favorite browsing vices and let you devote more of your workday to being productive