What tools do you use to stay productive?

Interview with Lauren, a content marketing team lead and hybrid remote worker

Slack and Asana. Slack keeps me connected to my team during my WFH days and keeps me accountable to the rest of my coworkers. It bridges that feeling of disconnection when you’re away from the office. Asana is our project management tool and that keeps me focused on the actual work that needs to be done. Between those two things, it’s pretty easy to keep on track.

For Lauren, remote work was a non-negotiable arrangement—see how she manages a hybrid remote work situation and her tips for those on the remote job search.

Read full interview from Interview with Lauren, a content marketing team lead and hybrid remote worker.

Interview with John, an international business writer sharing 15 years of insights

My laptop of course is essential. But I also use Microsoft Office Suite, PayPal, online banking and a variety of services related to travel. I also use Skype, Google Docs, earphones, and a smartphone. Whatever supports remote work—I’m always interested in learning more about it.

For over a decade, John has worked as an international business writer. See his insights on the state of remote work, freelancing, and attracting clients who are the right fit.

Read full interview from Interview with John, an international business writer sharing 15 years of insights.

Interview with Alyssa, a copywriter and content strategist

My favorite tools are AND.co for admin, Trello for project management and Zapier for automation.

Alyssa has found her rhythm as a freelancer and founder of the blog, Freelancing Flow—see her tips for keeping it all running smoothly.

Read full interview from Interview with Alyssa, a copywriter and content strategist .

Interview with Phil Strazzulla, an entrepreneur enjoying the health benefits of remote work

Zoom, FocusMate, Ahrefs, iMessage, and plain old Gmail are my weapons of choice.

A curiosity for remote work led Phil to make it a primary work arrangement. Hear how it has helped to improve his health and impacted his approach to rest.

Read full interview from Interview with Phil Strazzulla, an entrepreneur enjoying the health benefits of remote work.

Interview with Kati, a co-founder shares her tips for juggling multiple side hustles

​I use any free tool available! Slack, text, Skype, FaceTime, email, G Suite, MS Office, coffee, Zoom, HubSpot....

We use Google Docs quite a bit to internally create, edit, and share documents such as client information, needs assessments, and to collaborate on social media posts and marketing.

Also, within G Suite, we are creating forms for clients to fill out.

Skype and FaceTime are valuable if we need to communicate “face to face” or if a text isn’t getting a creative idea across.

Sometimes tone and facial expressions are better when they can actually be heard and seen.

We use Slack if a client uses it to collaborate and share files and ideas. So far, not many clients use Slack, but we like to be set up for whatever they are used to using for communication.

Kati has made a career at using the internet and gig economy to her advantage—see how she successfully manages multiple side hustles and a business.

Read full interview from Interview with Kati, a co-founder shares her tips for juggling multiple side hustles.

Interview with Mindi, a content manager and social media strategist

I'm a nerd when it comes to productivity tools. Some of my favorites include:

• Asana, for managing projects with my team
• Slack, for instant communication with my team and clients
• Mailplane, best email application I've found that integrates with OmniFocus (and allows me to create hyperlinks to emails, so I can reference them later!)
• OmniFocus, my personal project management system
• Toggl, time tracker for myself and my team
• Calendly, for making it easy to share calendars and schedule calls
• Zoom, my go-to application for all my video or audio calls with clients

A ten-dollar per hour social media gig got Mindi hooked onto remote work—see how she meets her client and business goals and manages time zone differences.

Read full interview from Interview with Mindi, a content manager and social media strategist .

Interview with Laurent, an introverted remote worker & engineer

Our current software stack is :

• Whereby: For video calls & meetings.
• Twist: For text messages. All the discussions about product development need to be there in public channels.
• GSuite: For email and documents.
• Trello: Product & engineering management.
• GitLab: Our git repo and CI/CD pipeline.
• Fellow: For meeting agenda sharing.

On the hardware side, I've got a MacBook Pro, a Newsoul USB C Portable Monitor, Macally solar-powered keyboard, and a Jelly Comb wireless mouse.

In this interview, this VP of engineering shares his strategies for managing family time and organizing meetings as an introvert.

Read full interview from Interview with Laurent, an introverted remote worker & engineer.

Interview with Grainne, a professional writer and content marketing manager who works remotely

I use Buckets.co every day for managing my tasks, brainstorming with other peeps, and collaborating on projects.

It's my main work hub, and I can't imagine organizing my work via any other medium now. I also use Slack on a daily basis to communicate with the team I'm working with.

Grainne's freelance work led to her landing a remote work job—see how she manages distractions and balances her work with Buckets.co and her clients.

Read full interview from Interview with Grainne, a professional writer and content marketing manager who works remotely.

Interview with Josephine, an integrated content producer traveling the world

Slack, Zoom, Trello, Airtable, G Suite, WhatsApp and Hubspot are my go-tos. Use each every day.

I also use the Adobe Creative Cloud for my production and post-production needs. And Sketch. Holy crap, I use quite a fair bit of tools!

Josephine got a dream gig of traveling while engaging in her passion for digital storytelling. Hear about the work she is doing to bring awareness to remote work.

Read full interview from Interview with Josephine, an integrated content producer traveling the world.

Interview with Wilbert, an ESL teacher that remotely teaches English to kids

Most of it is actually being provided by the client. The software, the logins as well as the materials, which would make it start working.

Though when you are teaching kids, those tools are not exactly enough. You need to add more personal touches, such as using 3rd party apps to add animations that you can use in your class as well as making visual aids or handheld puppets.

This helps to make the class more entertaining for your students as well as making it easier for you to manage them.

The other tools that I used for documentation purposes are Google Docs and Microsoft Excel. This is in order for me to track the lessons that I have handled on a daily basis.

Wilbert is an ESL (English as a Second Language) Teacher that made the jump to remote work to gain more freedom from his office job.

Read full interview from Interview with Wilbert, an ESL teacher that remotely teaches English to kids.