Remote work, distributed work, whatever you want to call it, we now may have no choice. With countries in Europe going on COVID19 lockdown, we have curated some of our favorite tools and resources that we use for working from home.
Asana
So we might be a bit subjective here, but we love Asana. As a distributed workforce from the get-go, Asana has helped us stay organized and get work done, plain and simple.
Free Video Conferencing
As far as video conferencing tools go, there are a lot. We have done our due diligence and tested out many platforms, as far as free conferencing goes, some of our favorites are Skype (an oldie, but a goodie), Google Hangouts and Zoom. This one really boils down to preference though, with Skype, Webex and paid platforms like BlueJeans and GoToMeeting, consider things like; how many attendees will be in the call? How long will the call be? How frequent will calls be?
Slack
“Where work happens” is their motto and that’s definitely true for us! From channels, to threads, to hashtags and even custom emojis, Slack is our home base for a lot of our work. You can make channels private, have a channel to yourself (because who doesn’t like to talk themselves?) and install integrate apps like Sli.do, your Outlook Calendar and HubSpot.
Dashlane
We first started using Dashlane as a team a few months ago, and we’ll be honest, we were initially a bit hesitant to add yet another tool. That being said, now that we have it, we love it. Dashlane is a super easy password manager for work and/or personal accounts. Oh yeah, and it’s free!
Headspace
Your mental health is important. If you’re stuck inside, make sure to take time to clear your mind and your thoughts. Anxiety during any crisis is expected but try not to let that overtake you. We have been using Headspace for a few years now, and love how it starts you off slow, especially if you are new to meditation.
As an honorable mention, Brightmind is currently offering a free year of their service (normally $94.99) as an effort to help those seeking to ease their mind during these turbulent times.
Nord VPN
Listed as one the top VPN service for 2020, Nord VPN ranked number one out of 78 VPNs. Making sure your network is private, especially when you are working some place other than your office, is very important. A good VPN will allow you to access any work drives, while also not compromising the overall security of your company’s information.
