35 Best Tools for Remote Workers: Are You Sure You Know Them All?

1. Review of 25 Best Tools for Remote Workers
   1. Time-Tracking Tools
   2. Project-Managing Systems
   3. Tools For Remote Interviewing and Remote HRs
   4. Screensharing Tools
2. 4 Unique Ways Remote Designers Can Stay Inspired
   1. Go outside
   2. Choose your ideal work hours
   3. Customize your workspace
   4. Listen to the best productivity apps podcast
3. Conclusion
4. FAQ

Today the world is gripped by a pandemic of a cruel and dangerous coronavirus COVID-19 that can infect more than half of humanity and kill millions of people. Many countries are taking severe isolation measures to block the spread of the virus. Coronavirus plunged the world into a new reality with closed borders, work from home, and canceled concerts.

In such conditions, businesses need to be flexible. One of the most necessary measures to limit the impact of coronavirus on business activities is the limitation of business trips and providing remote work. With the development of the Internet, interest in remote work has increased, and during the coronavirus epidemic, it has become a very important measure.

Even abstracting from the present unpleasant situation all over the world, we can see the changing needs of users. The line between work and home has almost blurred. People want to access their data from any place, from any device, with no need to go to the office to open a file from their work computer. The most progressive companies have already accepted this trend and are implementing proper solutions and developing policies that regulate the rules of remote work.

What are the benefits of remote work? Working away from the office places more responsibility on you, but at the same time, you learn how to be organized and self-disciplined. Communication with managers and bosses will mostly be remote, so you will be less stressed out. No need to say you do not have to spend time and efforts on the way to get to the office.

Among the disadvantages of remote work, you can point out the lack of live communication. By default, the atmosphere in the office is more conducive to work. Besides, you can get all the information faster: ask a colleague directly or arrange a meeting in a meeting room.

Anyway, you can easily enjoy the benefits of working remotely with a set of great tools that we will talk about today.

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Review of 35 Best Tools for Remote Workers

Time-Tracking Tools

Worldtimebuddy

World Time Buddy (WTB) is a web service that transforms, otherwise tricky, tasks like time zone conversion and international meeting or conference call planning into an intuitive, super-quick and painless experience. Carefully thought out design lets it effortlessly compare multiple time zones at a glance, plan conference calls, webinars, international phone calls, and web meetings.

More features:

• Both free and premium versions
• Mobile app
• Organizing locations
• Scheduling time
• Personal customizing
• Money-back guarantee

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Hubstaff

Say hello to Hubstaff and goodbye to inefficiency, wasted time, frustration, uncertainty, clunky timesheets — you get the idea. Track time wherever and whenever your team works with lightweight Hubstaff desktop and mobile apps. Record employee hours and view online reports to optimize your company’s performance.

More features:

• 14-day free trial
• Idle time control
• Screenshots
• Activity levels, App and URL tracking
• Weekly budgets
• Mobile app

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Hivedesk

HiveDesk was the first time tracking software that allowed users to schedule automatic reports. The reports are emailed to designated users in PDF and Excel formats automatically, saving time for everyone. Many people use HiveDesk to prepare accurate invoices or their clients.

More features:

• 14-day free trial
• Time-tracking
• Screenshot storage
• Keyboard and mouse activity
• Project and task management
• No mobile app

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Workpuls

Employee monitoring and time tracking should be sophisticated. This is an intuitive employee time tracking software for smarter project organization, proof of work and budgeting.

More features:

• Regular reports
• Employee login
• API
• Raw data about activities
• Screenshots
• Project management

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Project-Managing Systems

Asana

Asana gives you everything you need to stay in sync, hit deadlines, and reach your goals. Do not waste time on tedious manual tasks. Let automation do it for you. Simplify workflows, reduce errors, and save time for solving more important problems.

• Task Management. There are many things to do with the tasks you create. You can organize them into lists or boards, divide into subtasks, convert to projects, set due dates, vote, and more.
• Communication. Asana allows you to comment on tasks and projects to explain what needs to be done.
• Tracking. Check on the progress of all your projects in an intuitive dashboard and find the necessary ones via a built-in search. You can also track due dates of tasks in a calendar.
• Team Management. Specify task assignees to make sure everyone knows about their responsibility. To get updates about important tasks and projects, you can follow them.
• Private Projects. The premium plan enables users to limit access to some of their projects and create hidden teams.

More features:

• Project management
• Workflow management
• Calendar
• Kanban boards
• Agile & Scrum
• To-do lists

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LastPass

Just remember your master password and LastPass remembers the rest. The product is adopted by professionals and leveraged by small to medium-sized businesses the world over who are looking for increased insight into their customers' journeys, simpler internal and external collaboration, and a more empowered workforce.

More features:

• Browser extension
• Password manager vault
• Strong encryption algorithms 
• Multifactor authentication
• Easy installation
• Free and premium plans

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Pivotal Tracker

With a shared view of team priorities, a process that fosters collaboration, and dynamic tools to analyze progress, your team will deliver more frequently and consistently. Easily visualize scope, focus your teamwork, and stay nimble when circumstances change.

More features:

• 30-day free trial
• Mobile app
• Creating projects
• Managing projects with Workspaces
• Integration with other tools (like Jira, Bugzilla, Lighthouse, etc.)
• Project and task management

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Jell

Jell was launched late in 2015, with a mission to help managers build happy, productive teams. They are building tools to help you cut the mess of emails and meetings that plague most teams today. All while helping you communicate effectively, and focus on work that matters most.

More features:

• 14-day free trial
• Mobile app
• Daily updates and reminders
• Slack, HipChat and Flowdock integration
• Custom team and individual status report
• Managing goals and OKRs

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Jira

Jira Software is built for every member of your software team to plan, track, and release great software. Use an out-of-the-box workflow, or create one to match the way your team works. Save time, do more and integrate your tools with Jira automation.

More features:

• 30-days free trial
• Mobile app
• Project and issue tracking
• Document collaboration
• Team chat, video, file sharing
• Git code management

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ProofHub

Easily plan, collaborate, organize and deliver projects of all sizes, on time, using one project planning software with all the right tools put in one place. Replace 6-7 apps that all charge per user with one project planning software.

More features:

• 30-days free trial
• Mobile app
• Task management and time tracking
• Discussions, reports, file sharing
• Third-party integration
• Calendar, notes and so on

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Kanbanery

Meetings are faster and reports are unnecessary when you can see at a glance exactly what is happening in your project. Communicate with your colleagues by writing comments, chatting or using markers like ‘ready to pull’ or ‘urgency’.

More features:

• 30-days free trial
• Mobile app
• Create and copy task boards with templates
• GitHub integration
• Third-party integration
• Advanced reporting

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Basecamp

Basecamp is more than just a project management tool — it is a better way to work. Teams that switch to Basecamp are more productive and better organized. They communicate better and require fewer meetings.

More features:

• 30-day free trial
• Mobile app
• Task managing
• Reports
• Keeping docs and files organized
• A message board

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Trello

Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible, and rewarding way. They collected all of the necessary tools you need to succeed in one handy resource. No matter where you are, Trello stays in sync across all of your devices.

More features:

• Both free and premium plans are available
• Mobile app
• Task managing
• Reports
• Keeping docs and files organized

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Citrix Podio

Try this customizable work management solution that leaders trust and employees love working on. With content, conversations, and processes structured and together on one tool, Podio creates the focus and clarity your people need to get their best work done.

More features:

• You can book a demo
• Mobile app
• Task managing
• Third party integration
• File sharing
• Feature index

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Monday

With Monday.com, you will be able to work in a way that suits your needs while still keeping remote teams closely aligned and highly empowered. Bring your team together, anywhere and anytime, to collaborate, manage and track your work.

More features:

• Code-free automation
• Various tools integration
• Timeline view
• Time-tracking
• Guests permissions
• Calendar view

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Toggl

Toggl is kind of a peculiar bunch of very different people from all corners of the globe. One thing they all share is a belief that software should empower people, and not get in their way. Remote work, open communication, constant improvement - this is all about Toggl.

More features:

• 30-day free trial
• One-click timers
• Over 100+ app integrations
• Project dashboard
• Billable rates
• Scheduled alerts

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Tools for Remote Interviewing and Remote HRs

Namely

Namely was founded to create an HR platform as intuitive as social media, but powerful enough to support the complexity of today’s workforce. The software solves the challenges from talent management to time management, benefits administration to payroll.

More features:

• You can book a demo
• Mobile app
• Goal setting
• Third-party integration
• Employee profiles and feedback surveys
• Benefits provision, management, and administration

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BambooHR

When it comes to building strong cultures and creating great places to work, being small makes everything easier. That is why the company is obsessed with crafting solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. BambooHR is intuitive, clear, and easy to use.

More features:

• You can book a 7-day trial
• Mobile app
• Employee onboarding and offboarding
• Tracking and reminders
• In-depth reports
• Benefits provision, management, and administration

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GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is a mobile leader according to the most important critics — the customers! Across iOS and Android, this online meeting app has the highest overall rating when compared to other competitors. They are the go-to provider for any small business or large enterprise.

More features:

• 30-day trial
• Mobile app
• Employee onboarding and offboarding
• Video conferencing
• Desktop/application sharing
• Toll-free option

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Screensharing Tools

Screenhero

With all  your communication tools in one place, remote teams will stay productive no matter where you are working from. Productive teamwork happens in channels — organized spaces for everything related to a project, topic or team.

More features:

• Mobile app
• Multiple mouse cursors
• Voice chat
• Lightning-fast screen sharing
• Cross-platform
• Customer support

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Join.me

This is a collaboration tool designed to cut through pointless processes, politics, and protocols with a single click. They will help you, your team and your company by making collaboration simple, instant and continuous.

More features:

• Both free and premium plans
• Mobile app
• Screen sharing
• Webinar
• Video Conference
• Free conference calls

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Hackpad

It is a tech application that will ensure that key ideas or business plans are never forgotten. When remote workers need to make a note of something that is important, HackPad comes in. Everyone who works in a remote team can participate.

*Pricing is provided upon request.

More features:

• Available in free and premium plans
• Mobile app
• Capturing code, notes, videos, images
• Organizing pads and sharing pads with specific people/making them public
• Moderating the content

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TechSmith

TechSmith screen capture software and solutions are perfect for anyone who wants to create and share images and videos for better training, tutorials, lessons, and everyday communication. The products are easy to use by people who are not content creation experts.

More features:

• Mobile app
• Capturing the image
• Recording the video on the screen
• Sharing a screenshot or a video
• Royalty-free stock videos, music, etc.
• Efficient support

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Appear.in

Appear is dedicated to designing and producing world-class solutions for the delivery of professional video services. Their mission is to deliver unique products that open up new opportunities for visual communication around the globe.

More features:

• Mobile app
• Creating a room and inviting up to 8 friends
• No installation required
• Video conferencing 
• Real-time chat
• Sharing a screenshot or a video

*Pricing is provided upon request.

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Zoom

Unlike any other systems, Zoom connects easily across room systems, desktops and mobile devices to seamlessly bring together our various campus sites and long-distance participants. This is a great solution for any business looking for an all-inclusive video conferencing service.

More features:

• Unparalleled usability
• Syncing with your calendar system
• Internal and external communication
• Recording and transcripts
• Team chat
• End-to-end encryption for all meetings

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Google Drive

Payment: starting at $1.99 for 100 GB of storage per month
Freebie: yes (15 GB of storage)

When you run your business remotely, you need a safe place to store your files and access them from any location. Google Drive is what you need in such a case.

• Any Type of Files. Google Drive lets you store files of any type. It can be literally anything, e.g. an image, video, audio, PDF, presentation or any other stuff you have.
• Team Collaboration. You can share files with your team members, allowing them to view, comment, and edit them.
• Previous File Versions. If you don’t like the changes your team brought to your file, you can restore its previous versions.
• Data Security. Due to SSL encryption, your files will stay safe even if you lose your PC or mobile device.
• Powerful Search. This feature can help you find any specific file by a keyword. The system recognizes text in documents and objects in images.
• Offline Work. You can get offline access to your files. It’s helpful when you’re on a plane or have problems with the Internet connection.

NoMachine

Payment: starting at $794.50 for enterprises
Freebie: yes

As a rule, entrepreneurs are so busy that they can forget important documents on their PCs when they travel somewhere. With NoMachine, there’s no need to worry about that. This tool provides access to any remote computer with a few clicks. You can work on it as if it was in front of you.

• Use Any Content. You can use your remote PC in any way you like, whether you want to edit your documents, watch videos or listen to audios.
• Team Collaboration. Feel free to provide your team members with remote access to your PC. In that way, you’ll be able to work together on your documents or, say, share files with each other.
• Workflow Recording. NoMachine lets you record what you do to show your team how you achieved that result.
• Access to Other Devices. Besides your PC, you <u+0441>an use your printer, scanner, pendrive, etc. as if they are within reach of a hand.</u+0441>
• No Cloud Storage Limits. With NoMachine, you get the same storage space as your remote PC has.

HipChat

Payment: $2 per user per month
Freebie: yes (unlimited users)

Whether you’re in the office or many miles away, you still need to hold conferences from time to time. So, the next on our list of remote business management tools is HipChat. It’s an affordable and secure solution to communicate with your team or partners.

• Multiple Chat Rooms. You can create as many chat rooms for group conversations as you need.
• Screen Sharing. Let your teammates see everything you see on your screen.
• File Sharing. Share your files from email, Google Drive, desktop or any other place by simply dragging and dropping. Chat members will be able to preview each file.
• Secure Guest Access. When you invite customers or any other third parties to your chat room, they will see only what you let them.
• Searchable Chat History. You can save all the conversations to the chat history and search it by a keyword
• Security. All your online conversations are protected by 256-bit SSL encryption.

YouCanBook.me

Payment: starting $10 per month
Freebie: yes (all the basic features)

When you are away from your office, customers can’t make appointments with you. But you can still let them know when you’re available and schedule an appointment online for that period. YouCanBook.me will help you embed an appointment booking page to your site.

• Fixed Dates and Duration. Set start and end dates, when customers can schedule appointments. You can also let them choose from different pre-determined appointment lengths.
• Confirmations. Send a confirmation message to people who complete your booking form.
• Personalization. Upload your logo or custom images like team photos to personalize your booking page.
• Mobile-Friendly Grid. You can easily track your schedule on any portable device.
• SMS Reminders. Send a reminder a few hours before the scheduled appointment to make sure customer won’t forget about it.
• Cancellation or Rescheduling. When you and your customers can’t meet on a specified date, it’s possible to cancel or reschedule an appointment.
• Fully International. The service has auto-detection features, which will let customers see your availability in their timezone.

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ZipBooks

Payment: no
Freebie: yes

Running a business remotely, you must have a tool for online invoicing and accounting. ZipBooks is a completely free solution for bookkeeping when you are far away from your office.

• Accounting. ZipBooks lets you create accounting reports, categorize your expenses and check them all in one place. You can also link your bank account to your ZipBooks account to track your income and revenue.
• Invoicing. Create unlimited invoices and customize them with tasks, projects, team members, etc. When customers miss due dates, the system will automatically send them late payment reminders.
• Billing. You can accept all the major credit cards, checks, and PayPal money transfers.
• Extras. ZipBooks has extra features for project management, team management, and time tracking. With their help, you can make the most of your bookkeeping.

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IDoneThis

Payment: starting at $9 per user per month (billed annually)
Freebie: yes (hobby plan)

Although you are away from your company’s office, you still need to know your workers cope with their tasks. IDoneThis is a remote business management tool to keep track of your teammates’ productivity.

• Team Progress. Learn what tasks are completed, in progress and can’t be completed.
• Daily Status Updates. Let every worker check in every day via email or right in the browser.
• Detailed Reports. Get insights into your team work with easy-to-digest reports.

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Uptime Doctor

Payment: starting at $7,95 per month
Freebie: yes (5 tests with a one-minute interval)

Managing a company from abroad is not an excuse to let your official site go down. With Uptime Doctor, you can monitor your site to make sure it’s always available to visitors. You don’t have to install anything - you can use the tool in your browser.

• Non-Stop and Global Monitoring. Uptime Doctor keeps an eye on your site 24 x 7 x 365, from 30 worldwide monitoring stations.
• Notifications. When your site or server has problems, you’ll learn about that via email, SMS or push notification.
• Maintenance Scheduling. When your site is in maintenance mode, the system won’t send you alerts.
• Reporting. You can track the uptime and performance of your servers and sites in detailed reports.

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Hide.Me

Payment: starting at $5,42 per month
Freebie: yes (3 locations, 2GB data transfer)

Some countries put restrictions on using social networks or other sites. But, fortunately, there are VPN services that will let you lift those restrictions and visit any site you like. Hide.Me is one of them.

• Anonymous IP. You’ll get an anonymous IP to hide your personal information.
• Security. You stay safe from hackers, species or any other virtual hazards.
• No Logs Stored. Hide.Me doesn’t store any logs of your Internet activity.
• Multiple Locations. The service has servers in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East.

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PowToon

Payment: starting at $19 per month (billed annually)
Freebie: yes (100MB of storage)

Did you decide to leave your office to get inspiration for a special project? Then, you’ll need a tool to create project presentations on the go and at any time. PowToon is a cloud-based service that makes it possible.

• Charts and Graphs. Illustrate the figures in your presentations using animated charts and graphs.
• Royalty-Free Music. PowToon comes with a library of royalty-free audio files to complement your visual content.
• Original Styles. There are also royalty-free styles and animations to use in PowToon videos.
• Drag-and-Drop Templates. If you need to speed up the process, you can use pre-designed templates.
• Privacy Control. Decide yourself who can view your presentations.
• File Export. The tool allows you to download your presentations as PDF and PowerPoint files.

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As you can see, these tools for remote business management serve multiple purposes. Whether you need a place for file storage, online appointment scheduler or web conferencing solution, this TemplateMonster roundup includes all of them. What’s cool, all these tools have free plans that you can start with. So, choose the place you like to visit, grab these tools, and hit the road, Jack.

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4 Unique Ways Remote Designers Can Stay Inspired

When it comes to design, it’s rarely the case that your ideal work environment for maximized productivity and inspiration is a bland, gray-walled cubicle in a crowded, noisy office. If such a workspace does get you inspired and cranking out work, kudos to you, but if not, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

Luckily for those of you who must seek other means of inspiration, there’s the option of remote work. Now that it’s been proven that remote workers can be more productive than their in-office counterparts, more and more companies are allowing employees to work outside the office, which is good news: it saves the business money and allows you to seek out the ideal working environment. This opens up a whole world of possibilities. Your favorite artists did their best work in studios, cities, and landscapes that best fit their creative needs, so why shouldn’t you be able to do the same?

Here are three unique ways to keep your remote work inspired.

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Go outside

Many experts will tell you to prioritize the human element in your design. People often create “user personas” to imagine how a group of users might respond to a certain design or product, but as a remote worker, you don’t have to dream up user scenarios. You can go outside, into the real world, and see how humans are interacting with various physical interfaces and designs. Given that the most natural way for a user to interact with a digital interface is one that mirrors some kind of action the real world, whether that’s as simple as swiping a finger the way you would flip through a magazine or having your attention drawn to a certain use of font, layout, and content on a billboard, the real world can bring you all sorts of design inspiration. If you are able to work remotely, go outside and see how people are interacting with the world around them and with each other. Optimizing for the human experience will only help your design work.

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Choose your ideal work hours

One of the nicest things about remote work is that you don’t have to punch a clock and report for duty for a certain set of hours every day. As long as you meet your weekly goals and can communicate easily with your team, you’re in good shape. That means that you can optimize your work hours to suit your preferences. Are you a night owl who has the best fits of inspiration after the sun goes down? Do your brainstorming and prototyping at night, and then the following morning, you can review your work while your brain is still getting the juices flowing. Remote work allows you to schedule your time so you can do the most creative design tasks during your most creative hours, a luxury you might not have in the standard office.

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Customize your workspace

Similar to the way remote work allows you to pick your best hours, the remote option also allows you to work from wherever you please. Maybe you have a desk at home and a bookshelf full of various books to keep you inspired. Maybe you like the business of a coffee shop, where you can people watch and be fueled by the ambiance (and caffeine).

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Listen to the best productivity apps podcast

There are many task management applications available to you. However, it’s important to find something that meets your requirements perfectly and that’s where our best productivity apps podcast can help you. It’s not short, but it has some important information that can help you go through this challenging period. It’s an easy-to-follow podcast, which you can listen to when you have some time. 

Working remotely can be quite challenging. It’s important to preserve your productivity. It’s hard to focus on your tasks when you are at home. You may always want to have some rest or waste your time checking your favorite websites. Therefore, you start procrastinating and then you suddenly find out that you don’t have time to do something you were supposed to. 

Luckily, there are some tools that can help you stop procrastinating and start working.

This podcast would be perfect for people who aren’t used to work from home. There are numerous challenges that you need to deal with. For example, how can you share large files? How to keep notes? What should you do if you need Photoshop?

The podcast is focused on all those challenges. It also provides you with various solutions, tips, and tricks that will help you stay productive. Therefore, if you don’t have any experience working from home, then our podcast would be extremely useful for you. Learn how to be productive using the available tools. 

We also included the list of the best apps that can help complete your tasks. We divided the applications into several categories, so it will be easy to find the application for a particular task. Here’s a brief look at the categories of the best productivity apps:

• Workflow management apps
• Applications for video calls
• Time trackers
• Keeping notes
• File sharing
• Etc.

Each category includes several options, so you can find a solution that works for you. We included all the links, so you can start using those applications right away. Some of them are universal. For example, Slack is great when you need to cooperate with your team and assign tasks. It’s a truly powerful and flexible application. It’s free, small, and easy to use. You can share files using Google Drive or have multiple groups, etc.

Some of the applications are online, so you don’t need to download or install anything. 

Working remotely can be quite difficult, especially if you don’t know what software to use for certain tasks. Our podcast is a great way to learn what tools are available to you. By using advanced applications you can start working even more effectively. Some applications may even improve your workflow. You can optimize certain processes and decrease the time you need to complete various tasks.

It’s also a great chance to learn about various useful applications. Maybe they will become a part of your workflow.

If you liked this podcast and then please subscribe – we still have much to tell.

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Perhaps you want quick access to your favorite landscape—beach, mountains, wherever—for a quick, refreshing break. Or maybe you want to hole up in a coworking space where you can brainstorm with and feed off other like-minded people’s creativity. With remote work, the possibilities are nearly endless. Down to creating the most ergonomically comfortable desk space to the most comfortable clothes you wear to the city you work and live in, you should have no shortage of factors contributing to your inspiration in the workplace.

Are you a designer working remotely? What other ways do you stay inspired on the job? Let us know in the comments!

P.S. Don't forget that every designer needs a portfolio, so feel free to consider any of these personal WordPress themes.

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Conclusion

Every manager's nightmare is he cannot get through to his employees, it takes twice as long to complete the work, or they forget about their tasks and duties. This is what many people associate remote work with. Now companies are massively changing their format and start to work from home whenever it is possible. But how not to lose grip and make sure all business processes will not suffer?

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FAQ