10 Apps Every Work From Home Worker Needs

Remote working has become one of the most popular ways of working lately. With so many people working remotely and so many companies supporting remote work, it is obvious to say remote workers need tools to make their job easier and more organized. There are many well-designed applications available that will not only save remote workers a lot of time but also make them more connected, efficient, productive and creative as they work on their projects/assignments/tasks.

Serene (Mac)
Zoom (iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web)
Slack (iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web)
Google Drive (iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web)
Spark (iOS, Android, Mac)
Daywise (Android)
Zapier (iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web)
Google Hangouts (iOS, Android, Web)
Google Docs (iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, And Web)
Asana (iOS, Android, Web)

Work-from-home workers have a copious amount of tools they can choose from. These tools are meant to help them manage their time and make them more productive.

Downloading some of these applications to your tablet or your smartphone will help you schedule your meetings, record your expenses, share files, gather notes and communicate with your co-working team no matter your location.

Using these applications often will help you exercise your work flexibility, it will give you more free time to be at home and spend it with your family and friends.

Serene | Supported By Mac

If you wish to maximize your productivity and do it all for free, Serene is surely one of the applications you will want to try out. Serene gives you a chance to set your daily goal and helps you achieve that same goal as a priority throughout your working day.

While Serene works great as an application that encourages you to focus on your most important tasks, it also helps you get less distracted meanwhile you work. Serene is designed to block your access to all of the distracting applications and websites you usually check and get stuck on as you work. It will silence your phone and ensure you are not being distracted until you finish working on your daily goal.

Serene makes sure you focus on your tasks, Serene will also break your goals into multiple sessions. This means you will also have regular breaks as you normally should whenever you work on an assignment. Usually, Serene will make your sessions run for 20, up to 60 minutes and then give you time for a break.

Did you know? According to various studies, it takes approximately 23 minutes to get back to your work after being distracted.

Serene and its key features

Phone Silencer – Puts your phone on silent mode while you work and helps you avoid all of the distractions
To-Do Lists – Helps you manage your tasks and ensures everything gets done on time
Distraction-Free Sessions – Gives you 20-60 minute long session including regular breaks in order to increase your productivity
Website Blocker – Blocks all of the websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Mainly websites that are considered social media and news
Day Planner – Start working on your goal of the day
Focus Music – Plays background music that helps you focus on your tasks
Application Blocker – Blocks all of the applications that usually take a lot of attention away when you work. Mainly your email application, social media applications and everything else that gets in the way of your work

Zoom | Supported By iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web

If there is anything remote workers truly need, it is a good video and communication tool. Zoom is great for that, it offers a full suite of communication tools and video conferencing tools for businesses of all kinds. Zoom features a free version of the software, which is just enough for small working teams, while paid versions of Zoom are a monthly fee for the host. This means not everyone who attends the meetings has to pay a monthly fee, only the host himself/herself. The host can invite up to 100 participants and will be required to pay only if the meetings last longer than 40 minutes. Zoom is currently the leader in modern enterprise video communications and meetings. It is reliable, easy to use software that is designed to be your top choice when it comes to collaboration, audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across various devices.

Zoom and its key features

Voice Calls – Allows you to create a group call, as well as one-to-one voice calls.
Webinars – Zoom can be used to host webinars
File Sharing – Allows file sharing outside and during voice/video chats for easy collaboration with the co-working team and potential clients
Video Meetings – Allows you to create a video meeting with your co-working team, as well as one-to-one video calls
Messaging – Zoom can be used as a messaging application

Slack | Supported By iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web

Slack is an awesome messaging platform developed to be a great communication tool for all of the remote workers out there. Slack offers a free version of its software and allows you to create a single workspace that works well with small teams.

However, if you wish to create a fully collaborative workspace, you will be required to pay $6.78 monthly per active user. Even with the free version of Slack, small working teams can use it to improve their workflow and collaboration without having to share the same environment. Knowing Slack is such an amazing collaboration tool/application, it is surely one of the best choices for all of the remote workers who struggle with collaboration with team members located in various places in the world.

Slack and its key features

Statuses – Co-workers can set their availability statuses and focus on important tasks if needed
Voice And Video Calls – Allows video and voice calls within Slack
Screen Sharing – Allows screen sharing so that team members can show off their work and help if needed in real-time
File Sharing – Allows drag-and-drop file sharing for various file formats such as images, videos, PDFs and most common file types out there
Instant Messaging – Provides live communication for every team member

Google Drive | Supported By iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web

Most remote workers use Google Drive services as their services never lag and members can be share documents with their team members and work on the same task using a spreadsheet or document in real-time. Users can observe live changes on their computer screens.

Google Drive is an application that never crashes and the only true downside of Google Drive is the fact that you need to be online to actually use it. To make things even better,

Google Drive is free to use and it gives you 15GB of free space right away. In case these 15GB are not enough for you and your team, you can always upgrade your storage plan by getting G Suite that is actually better known as Google Drive for business needs. G Suite will charge you from $12 a month per user and it is surely one of the most affordable options for business needs.

Google Drive and its key features

Collaboration – You can collaborate using Google Docs without any lag at all. It is done in real-time and is an amazing alternative to Microsoft Drive people used back in the days
Documents – Spreadsheets, presentations, and word documents are all found right here, all of it for free
Cloud Storage – Cloud storage of Google Drive is one of the main things that make it a great application for remote workers. Share, create, upload and allow your team to use the files as needed

Spark | Supported By iOS, Android, Mac

Emails are known to be one of the biggest productivity killers for most remote workers out there. Spark makes it all better. This awesomely designed application will deal with all of your email interruptions, it will collect and categorize your emails for every account you own and allow you to prioritize those that are most important to you.

Not to make it all about emails, Spark also features many other collaboration tools. With Spark, your team can work on the same email in real-time! Spark features a free version that is most likely enough for most individual remote workers and for small business teams. However, if you want to bring in advanced collaboration features, you will be required to pay $6.39 a month per user.

Spark and its key features

Team Email – Provides you with shared drafts, instant chat, template replies and comments
Reminders – Sends reminders helping you follow up on important tasks and emails
Send Emails Later – Allows you to schedule and send emails when it is needed
Assign Emails – Helps you assign emails so that the right co-worker is always managing the tasks as they should
Smart Inbox – Use smart search and silence down the emails that are not important enough.
Smart Notifications – You will be receiving notifications only for the important emails

Daywise | Supported By Android

Daywise makes sure you feel free after your workday and it unplugs you from all work-related applications after the hard work you have done.

Daywise is designed to allow you to turn off your work-related notifications after a specific time and keep them off until you get to work once again. Using this application and Serene together will help you stay focused when your working and also ensures your private life is undisturbed by work when it is not needed.

Daywise and its key features

Phone Usage Reports – Helps you figure out how much time you actually spend on your phone and which applications take most of your precious time
Inbox – Daywise gathers up all of your notifications and keeps them in one place
Batch Scheduling – Allows you to select multiple applications to schedule
Scheduling Notifications – Allows you to pick the time when not to receive and when to receive notifications from specific applications
VIPs – Pick contacts that are always allowed to contact you even if an application has been blocked

Zapier | Supported By iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, And Web

Zapier is a true time-saver for most remote workers out there. This application allows you to create Zaps that will automate simple tasks such as switching the applications and completing basic functions such as sharing the files to your co-workers.

Automation is key for remote workers as it allows them to maximize their productivity and Zapier is certainly one of the applications that help. It features a simple design and sends all of the data between applications as needed.

Zapier and its key features

Custom Automation – Create automation even if they are not found in the library of commonly used Zaps
Zaps – Search Zapier’s library of pre-built automation
Application Linking – Link all of your important applications and share their data in order to save uptime
Automating Tasks – Repetitive tasks can be automated between various applications

Google Hangouts | Supported By iOS, Android, Web

Most remote workers have used Google Hangouts. Google Hangouts is the chat application providing you with an amazing video calling service. Video chatting using Google Hangouts is something everyone can do. Featuring a smart and very fast interface, Google Hangouts Chat is a great collaboration tool for any business team out there unless your team has more than 25 people.

If your team features more than 25 people, you will want to try using Google Meet. Just like Google Hangouts, Google meet allows group video calls but this time with an expanded capacity.

Google Hangouts and its key features

Integration With Other Apps – Allows integration with other applications such as Zapier. Helps you build a bot without any coding and send notifications to your team chat
No WiFi or Data Required – You can use a dial-in phone number if you have no WiFi or Data.
HD Video Calls And Group Conferencing – HD video calls make the collaborating via Google Hangouts a better experience
Screen Sharing – allows you to share your screen and show off your current progress on a specific task you have been working on

Google Docs | Supported By iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, And Web

Back in the days if you wanted to create a formatted document, you would need to install Microsoft Word that usually comes as a part of the Microsoft Office Suite and pay $100 or even more. Today, you just open a new tab in your browser and go to Google Docs page. Google Docs is free for everyone and it is currently one of the most used formatting document tools.

Google Docs and its key features

Import And Export Word And PDF Files – Allows you to import and export all of the word and PDF files on the go, as well as share them to a specific person or to the public
Real-time Editing Between Co-Workers – Editing has never been easier. Allows real-time editing and various people working on the same document
Working Offline With Chrome Extensions – Does not require an internet connection in order to work with Chrome Extensions

Asana | Supported By iOS, Android, Web

If you are looking for a great project management application, Asana is one you will want to give a try. Asana is developed to help the organization, team, and individuals track their work.

Asana is mainly a tool for remote workers who need to work on multiple projects at once. This lovely application features task assigning, basic reporting, collaboration tools, notifications, task management as well as a customer portal. Just like most applications on this list, Asana’s Basic plan is fully free, but it also offers a 30-day free trial for the Premium plan. Each plan has its own perks and provides you with more and better collaboration tools.

Asana and its key features

Simple Interface – Features a very simple interface that allows you to set up your profile and get started in a matter of a few minutes
Portfolios – Portfolios are available only to those with a Business plan, but they can also be used to track all of the projects your team has done
Harvest Time-Tracking – Allows you to track time spent and your budget.
Integration With Apps – Easily integrated with other applications such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zapier, and many others.

10 Apps Every Work From Home Worker Needs