Remote Work Apps That Help You Focus, Plan and Stay in Sync

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Most remote workers get the best results from four kinds of app: a task manager, a time tracker, a team chat and video tool, and a focus blocker. Pick one app for each job, agree with your team where each type of message lives, and review the setup after a few weeks.

Which kinds of apps does remote work actually need?

Working from a home office or a coworking desk removes the casual cues of a shared office. Nobody sees what you are working on, and nobody overhears a quick question. Apps fill those gaps, but only if each one has a clear job.

• Tasks: a single place for what needs doing and by when.
• Time: a record of where your hours go.
• Communication: chat and video for questions, updates and meetings.
• Focus: a way to keep distractions out during deep work.

How do I choose a task manager?

Match the tool to the complexity of your work, not to what is most popular.

• Todoist is a straightforward to-do list, a good fit for one person managing daily tasks.
• Trello uses boards, lists and cards, so a project reads as columns you move work across. Its own Trello 101 guide explains the board, list and card structure.
• Asana suits projects with several owners and handoffs. It supports task dependencies, which mark one task as waiting on another.

If you work alone, a list is enough. If three people each wait on someone else's output, you want dependencies.

Do I need a time tracker?

It depends on whether anyone needs the numbers. Freelancers who bill by the hour do. Employees who feel busy but unproductive may find a short experiment useful.

• Toggl Track and Clockify are manual start and stop timers with reports, useful for billing and project reviews.
• RescueTime works in the background and shows how your time splits across apps and sites, as described on the RescueTime site.

Run a tracker for a couple of weeks, look at the report, change one habit, and decide whether you still need it.

How should a remote team use chat and video tools?

Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom cover messaging and meetings. Teams makes the most sense if your company already runs on Microsoft products. The tool matters less than the rules around it:

• Questions that need an answer today go in chat. Work that needs tracking goes in the task tool.
• Write messages so they make sense when read hours later, since teammates may be in other time zones or offline.
• Keep video for conversations that need it, and skip it for status updates that fit in two lines.

Video calls also depend on a stable connection, so see our guide to fixing unreliable Wi-Fi as a remote worker.

Which apps help with focus?

Focus apps work by making distraction slightly harder.

• Forest grows a virtual tree while you stay in the app, and the tree is lost if you leave early. Details are on the Forest site.
• Freedom blocks chosen sites and apps for a set period.
• Brain.fm offers music designed for concentration. Whether it helps varies from person to person, so try it before paying for it.

In a coworking space, noise-reducing headphones and a blocker together do more than either alone. A comfortable, well-planned desk setup also helps; our piece on a portable home office kit covers the basics.

How do I keep the stack from getting out of hand?

1. Name the problem first. Missed deadlines call for a task tool. Unclear handoffs call for shared boards. Constant interruptions call for a blocker.
2. Try before you pay. Many apps offer free plans or trials. Check the current terms on each vendor's site.
3. Prefer tools that connect. If your task tool links to your calendar and chat, you enter information once.
4. Start small. One app per category is plenty at the start.
5. Review after a few weeks. Remove anything you stopped opening.

How do I know the setup is working?

Look for plain signals rather than a score. Are deadlines being met more often? Do you spend less time searching for information? Do teammates know what you are working on without asking? Do you finish the day with less of a sense of scramble? If the answers stay no, change the habit before you change the app.

Teams that meet in person sometimes also use a shared space for workshops and planning days. Our article on hosting workshops in coworking spaces shows how that can fit with remote routines.

What else improves a work-from-home setup?

Software only goes so far. A good chair, a decent webcam and a tidy desk make long days easier. For hardware ideas, see Mavigadget's gadgets for working from home collection.