In the business world, it all boils down to how productive individuals and teams are. Successful businesses thrive on high productivity while many businesses struggle to stay afloat due to below-par output from their workforce.
Even though every individual and team aims to achieve maximum delivery, being at your productive best consistently is easier said than done, especially while working remotely. Even though WFH offers flexibility, a large number of remote workers struggle to achieve the high levels of productivity expected by them.
Distractions, while working remotely, are aplenty. These distractions can hamper your productivity and keep you from meeting those crucial deadlines.
A Joblist survey shows that 53.1% of respondents believed that working remotely had made it more difficult to separate work and nonwork life.
What are these distractions that we’re talking about here? Read on to know more about it.
The Most Prominent Remote Work Distractions
- Running errands
- Cooking
- Watching TV
- Handling kids and pets
- Internet surfing
- Laundry and cleaning
- Power cuts
- Unstable internet connection
- Lack of proper schedule
- A poor working environment
- Mobile phone notifications
Now, you can see that the list of remote work distractions is long. Many remote workers struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance while working from home.
Why Blame Remote Work For Low Productivity?
While remote work comes with many distractions, many people have successfully overcome the challenges and they continue to be at their productive best without working past normal work hours.
What? How’s that possible? I have to work beyond scheduled hours to meet project deadlines, so how can one stay productive without pushing itself to the brink?
If these questions are on your mind then it’s clear that somewhere, somehow, you have transitioned from in-office work to remote work, but haven’t changed your approach.
Are you using the right productivity tool that will help you create a work schedule, collaborate better with other remote team members, and enable you to keep track of your work progress through workflows, boards, and timesheets?
If your answer is “NO” then you only have yourself to blame for the turmoil you find yourself in as a remote worker. However, it’s never too late to make a wise decision.
Let’s take a look at what is meant by a productivity tool and how it can help remote workers achieve more while navigating WGH distractions successfully.
What Are Productivity Tools?
In simple words, online productivity tools are programs and applications that offer a list of powerful features to users, which enable them to organize, schedule, and track their tasks and projects, and collaborate with others on a single platform.
Productivity tools can be categorized into time-tracking tools, project management tools, communication tools, task management tools, etc. These tools have revolutionized the way we manage work on a day-to-day basis.
How Productivity Tools Boost Remote Workers’ Efficiency
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Simplify collaboration
Productivity tools make it easy for distributed workers to collaborate on work as these can be used on desktop/laptop/tabs/mobile devices from any location. The host of features like task management, board/table views, online proofing, discussion boards, etc. further boost coordination among remote team members.
For example, project managers can subscribe the entire team to the tool and keep every member on the same platform for better coordination. Every member stays updated on all activities across the project.
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Enables timely communication
Communication is probably the single biggest factor that keeps remote teams united. Productivity tools make sure that all team members stay in the loop by exchanging vital information at the right time through emails, chat, audio/video calls.
For example, remote workers can use live chat to send/receive direct messages, add emojis, attach files, and @mention people to loop them in discussions.
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Better organization and management of tasks
Many remote workers spend more than necessary time on low-priority tasks, which leaves them with inadequate time for high-priority tasks. Productivity tools allow you to create & allocate tasks to the right people, organize and categorize tasks according to their importance. This enables people to optimally utilize tasks that matter the most.
For example, project managers can create tasks, assign them to chosen people, and label them as urgent, high-priority, important. This will enable task assignees to prioritize tasks.
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Secure file management
Remote work means virtual collaboration on shared files and documents. Cloud-based productivity tools make it possible for remote teams to create, store, organize, and collaborate on their digital files and folders in a single location.
For example, a productivity tool offering Google Drive integration allows users to upload, store, organize files in one place, and collaborate in real-time.
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Can be used on any device connected to the internet
One of the main benefits of using online productivity tools is that you can use them on any device connected to the internet, manage your work and collaborate with others from anywhere. Most tools offer mobile app versions for iOS and Android phones.
For example, a project manager needs to track the project progress while he’s traveling. He/she can do so on the mobile app version easily.
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Improves time management
People who manage their time smartly are more productive. Productivity tools allow users to track how much time they are spending on different tasks. They can also set time estimates for tasks, which gives a clear indication if the time taken exceeds the estimated time.
For example, a user can set a time estimate of 2:00 hours for a certain task, and after the task is completed, they can check whether it was completed within the set timeframe or not.
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Real-time notifications
Real-time desktop, email, mobile, and in-app notifications in productivity tools keep remote team members updated on all the activities that happen in the tool.
For example, when a task is assigned to the assignees, they get notified instantly so that they can schedule their work accordingly.
Best Productivity Tools For Remote Work Professionals In 2021
1. ProofHub
ProofHub counts among the most functional yet affordable team collaboration and project management tools available today. Used by more than 85,000 teams and businesses across the globe, ProofHub has proved to be of great value for remote workers who want a powerful productivity tool packed with a broad array of features put in one place.
Be it task management, time-tracking, project scheduling, file management, group chat, custom fields, or project tracking, ProofHub empowers you to manage all aspects of your project with remarkable ease and pin-point accuracy. A simple learning curve, intuitive interface, and affordable, fixed pricing plans make ProofHub an ideal productivity tool for both in-office teams and remote teams.
Best Features Of ProofHub Are:
- Online proofing
- Timesheets
- Group chat
- Real-time updates
- App integrations
- File management
- Reports
- Custom fields
Pricing: The Ultimate Control plan is priced at $89/month, billed annually.
2. ProProfs Project
ProProfs Project is rated among the top productivity tools available today. ProProfs Project is an easy-to-use project management software that allows users to plan work and always deliver work on time. You can collaborate with users on the go and share crucial information related to your project to keep everyone on the same page.
ProProfs Project has a powerful dashboard to keep both in-house and remote teams on the same page. By setting due dates and dividing large tasks into subtasks, users can set the pace of their work accordingly. Share project files easily and connect ProProfs Project with Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. to make communication within teams seamless.
Best Features Of ProProfs Project Are:
- Task timeline
- Powerful dashboard
- Project tracking
- Real-time updates
- Discussions and Sharing
- Reports and Analytics
- Shared calendar
- Invoice generation
- Time tracking
Pricing: The Paid plan starts from $2/user/month.
3. Chanty
Chanty is a powerful team communication and collaboration software that enables remote teams to communicate with each other through swift and seamless messaging, audio calls, and video conferencing in one single place. With Chanty, you can start and join calls from anywhere, create new tasks, and turn any message into a task to enjoy a smarter collaboration.
The document attachment feature enables remote teams to share briefs and procedures, and integrate workflows with apps your team members already use. Enterprise-grade data protection keeps your data secure, and video conferencing enables remote users to show what you’re working on through screen sharing.
Best Features Of Chanty Are:
- Teambook
- Conversation actions
- Code-snippets with dev-friendly formatting
- Task management
- Organized notifications
- Voice calls and video calls
- A unified communication platform
- 24/7 support team
Pricing: The Free Forever plan is available. The Business plan is priced at $3/user/month.
4. Clockify
Clockify is the most popular free time tracker for free teams that is used by millions of workers across the globe. Remote teams can track work hours across projects, track productivity, attendance, and billable hours with a simple-to-use time tracker and timesheet. Clockify works across all devices, which means you can track time from anywhere and all data is synced online.
Using Clockify, remote teams can increase productivity as they can see how much time they are spending on what tasks, and improve their time management skills. Project managers can also track their team’s activity, see who works on what, and manage workload to improve not just productivity but also the work-life balance.
Best Features Of Clockify Are:
- Time tracker
- Timesheet
- Dashboard
- Calendar
- Reports
- Integrations
- Reports
- Integrations
Pricing: Free
5. Zoom
Zoom is a hugely popular video conferencing tool that has become a quintessential communication application for remote workers post Covid-19. With over 300 million (both free and paying) daily meeting participants as of April 2020, Zoom continues to be the favorite video conferencing tool of remote workers across the globe. Ease of usage, a free pricing plan, HD audio/video calls makes Zoom a quintessential productivity tool for remote workers.
How does Zoom help remote workers to stay productive? The tool makes it effortless for users to join video calls and collaborate on work within minutes; you don’t need to sign up to participate. A click on the invite link from the host is all it takes for you to join virtual meetings from any device, from any location. The Basic plan is free, which allows up to 100 participants, unlimited group meetings for up to 40 minutes, and unlimited one-to-one meetings with a 30-hour time limit per meeting.
Best Features Of Zoom Are:
- HD video and audio collaboration
- Integrations and bots
- Video webinars
- Enterprise cloud phone system
- Events
- Chat
- Rooms and Workspaces
- Developer platform
Pricing: A Free plan is available. The Paid plan starts from $14.99/month/license.
Conclusion
Given the widespread implementation of remote work on a global scale, we can say that this work model is not just the new normal. Remote work or WFH, as it is widely known, is also the future of how millions of professionals would be doing their jobs as they enjoy the flexibility and convenience of this type of work model.
That said, remote workers can struggle to stay productive due to a plethora of distractions. You will have to find a reliable way to efficiently deal with these challenges and using top-rated productivity tools is the best way to do that.
