What tools do you use to stay productive?

Interview with Ayush, a CEO and avid remote team builder

Slack, emails, and shared docs are the primary tools. Nothing fancy.

As an organization, we work on monthly goals.

Every month we have our company’s goals defined. The company goals then transcend into individual objectives.

Eventually, at the end of the month, one gets measured on goals that they were able to accomplish.

Ayush is a CEO that is committed to helping companies build successful remote teams—see his process and tips for developing location independent teams that thrive.

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Interview with Paul, a remote product designer who has found his zen

The main tools I use are the Bullet Journal, supported by Google Calendar and the Time Timer. In my search to find a way to take better notes and to-do lists, I discovered the Bullet Journal (BuJo). This brought order and structure to how I captured notes and to-do lists that had previously been random and sometimes chaotic.

It looks like just a regular dotted notebook, but it's actually an analog system that helps track the things I need to do, the things I have done, and schedule them.

The act of physically writing things down is quite mindful and helps me be more intentional about what I need to do.

I also use the BuJo to write my daily gratitude log. When I am in the flow of using the BuJo, I feel in control of things. When I fall out of the flow, I don't feel as in control.

I use Google Calendar to support entries in my notebook and block out time for things that are important to me. At a high level, this breaks down to Personal / Family Time, Laser Focus Time, and Open / Collaborative Work time.

This helps to balance my week and understand when I have time to focus on things. These tools also allow me to know when I can schedule meetings or collaborative work, and when I can be with my family or have some time out.

The Time Timer is a little clock that sits next to my monitor and helps create a sense of urgency for each task.

After that, it's GSuite for communicating and collaborating with colleagues, Figma for design work and Miro for virtual whiteboarding.

I wrote more detail about this approach in "Building Blocks of Time Creating Balance and Structure for Work & Life Under the Same Roof" published on Medium

The COVID-19 pandemic drove Paul to embrace remote work. See how he has adapted his routine to this new normal, and the one tool that keeps him organized.

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Interview with Liz, a UI/UX designer and cowork advocate

I have several Trello boards going at one time, and I use Asana to keep track of my freelance work projects. I’m also an avid user of team chat software Slack and Flowdock. They are both integral to being able to communicate effectively with a fully remote team.

Liz is a traveling UI/UX designer—see her strategy for thriving as a digital nomad and her efforts to promote coworking.

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Interview with Betsy, a head of content and remote work routine expert

I like to keep things pretty simple so I only use a few tools.

In terms of organizing tasks and ideas, I think that my paper planner is still my #1 way of staying productive but I also really like Evernote and Trello. Since I work with so many different teams, I find that Evernote is great for keeping each of my separate projects organized.

For my blog, I love using Trello to organize my editorial calendar and brainstorm new ideas.

For communication, I use Zoom for meetings and conference calls and Slack for updates and quick messaging.

Betsy Ramser is a content manager, blogger, and teacher who helps other remote workers thrive while creating a daily routine that works.

Read full interview from Interview with Betsy, a head of content and remote work routine expert.

Interview with Digital Nomad Sage, an entrepreneur and UX consultant

I use a ton of tools to stay productive. Here are a few:

• Microsoft Office for when I do benchmarks on companies or write UX reports.

• Hootsuite for social media marketing.

• Canva for creating social media posts quickly!

• Survey Monkey for when I reach out to users when I conduct UX Research via surveys.

• Adobe Creative Cloud for when I need to make graphics and edit videos. This software suite is amazing!

• Publisher Rocket for when I need to do keyword research for my ebooks.

• Divi for when I need to create new websites quickly. No need to code!

• Udemy to learn new skill sets. Super cost-effective way to invest in yourself! You can often find discount coupons on the internet to where you can get courses for only $9.99

• Balsamiq Wireframes for when I need to make Wireframes of apps or websites.

• Amazon Advertising for running Sponsored Ads for my ebooks.

From e-books to blogging, Digital Nomad Sage has become an expert on making money online—see his advice for developing an online business.

Read full interview from Interview with Digital Nomad Sage, an entrepreneur and UX consultant.

Interview with Saibu, an HR content writer for a remote company

Personally, I don’t use tools like timers, reminders, or webpage filters. But when it comes to working at Remote Team Inc, we use a lot of tools – from Slack and Zoom to Google Docs and Desktime.

I actually answered this question recently on Quora about the tools we use to stay productive.

Hear how Saibu, a thriving HR content writer, navigates the complexities—and perks—of working with a remote team from Ghana.

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Interview with Tyler, a director of customer success models how to start a remote work career

Physical hardware:

• Lots of screen space (27" iMac + 24" second screen);
• a studio headset and microphone plugged into a powered USB audio interface;
• a great webcam;
• and noise-canceling headphones for when others are in the house or when I'm traveling.

I can't say enough about taking charge of your environment and schedule.

As a customer-facing people leader, I highly recommend investing in your A/V setup. Every penny has been worth it for the increased bandwidth on video and audio calls.

Software tools: I have a typical stack.

Internal comms:

• Slack for chat;
• Zoom for calls.

External comms:

• Calendly for scheduling;
• Zoom for calls;
• Gmail for email.

We use GSuite for internal documents, and our external knowledge base is built using WordPress.

Hubstaff runs on Hubstaff, so we track our time using our tool, and I really love Hubstaff Tasks for managing projects. Hubstaff Tasks is exactly what you would expect from a PM tool: project boards and task cards.

However, Tasks has an Agile layer of standups, sprints, epics, timelines, etc. that make it really great to break big tasks down into manageable chunks that really move the needle in a flexible and adaptable way. I've been exploring lots of other tools, but that's the core.

From networking to land a remote work gig, to building out an exceptional remote work tool stack, Tyler has quickly figured out how to thrive in remote work. See his tips for starting strong.

Read full interview from Interview with Tyler, a director of customer success models how to start a remote work career.

Interview with Vaishali, a content marketer and a productivity tool expert

Time Doctor: I used to freelance before joining Time Doctor. However, I never used any productivity tools then. I was reluctant to use Time Doctor when I joined this company. Eventually, I found out that I was wasting so much time even on a short coffee break. So Time Doctor has proved to be a great productivity and time management tool for me.

Slack: Many believe that Slack is a productivity killer, but for me, it is an app that makes me work faster. I can set reminders, share docs with my co-workers, and take surveys and easy polls.

I also use various online collaboration tools like Google Docs, Skype and a few others to work efficiently. On the marketing tech side, I use apps like Buzzstream, Ahrefs, LinkedIn and Quuu which enable me to be productive.

Vaishali persevered until she found the right remote work job for her lifestyle—check out how she uses productivity tools and time management strategies to stay productive.

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Interview with Kirsten and Jay-Allen, remote team coaches & collaboration experts

• Google Calendar (and it’s reminders)
• Music apps
• Standing desk and ergonomic chair
• Putting phone and Apple Watch on silent
• Trello

It might be worth mentioning our favourite remote collaboration tools here too:

• Google slides for interactive workshops (the barrier to entry is low, the co-editing limit is high, and accessibility is easy)
• Zoom
• Mural
• Asynchronous communication - while it’s not a tool, it is a method that is really useful in remote teams, especially when there are many timezones at play.

Remote team coaches, Kirsten and Jay-Allen, offer three pieces of advice for new remote workers and reveal the one question every remote job seeker should prepare to answer.

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Interview with Laura, a communications specialist and travel writer by night

I rely heavily on customized reminders from Slack known as Slackbots to remind me to do things. I like to play music while I work, too. Sometimes I play new age ambient type of stuff to keep me calm, centered and focused.

Other times I'll play upbeat music for motivation. Coffee is also a must-have for productivity. Oh! And strawberries. Strawberries keep me happy.

Laura Coronado discusses her method for juggling her career as a communications specialist by day and her side hustle as a freelance travel writer by night.

Read full interview from Interview with Laura, a communications specialist and travel writer by night.