5 tools I love more than Netflix (for business)
Working remotely is a dream come true.
You can work with flexibility (most of the time), avoid travel time, get house chores done, do a meeting in your pajama pants (if you want), knock things off your to-do list and pause to play Lego with your littles all in a day's work.
But, not having a good structure to keep you organized, and manage your time effectively can let other things fall through the cracks.
Working at TVA PTBO inc., I have been able to take full advantage of the benefits of remote work while still maximizing my time efficiently without jeopardizing the quality or integrity of my work.
But how you might ask?
Well, you know how people can’t function without coffee?
I can’t function without these 5 apps.
These apps help me manage my time effectively, collaborate seamlessly, and keep our information secure. Keep reading to find out what magical 5 apps I can’t work without!
NOTE** This is not a paid advertisement. I do not have any paid partnerships listed with the apps below. This is my list why I simply love these apps and hoping you find some answers you may be looking for.
ClickUp
ClickUp is an all-in-one solution for enhancing efficiency and teamwork. It’s a project management and productivity tool designed to help teams and individuals plan, organize, and collaborate on work. Essentially, it helps people get sh!t done!
With ClickUp, you can create, assign, and track tasks using a number of different views making it easy to visualize and manage your workflow. It’s highly customizable allowing you to make sure it functions exactly how you want it, while also looking exactly how you want it! You can set custom statuses, create custom fields, create templates, automations etc. It allows you to comment, mention, edit, create dashboards, track performance etc.
What we use it for
EVERYTHING! Ok but seriously - we do. We use ClickUp to run TVA PTBO Inc. From onboarding to social media, to book launches to invoicing… we have a task for it. If it’s something we have to do, it’s in ClickUp.
Why I like it
I love ClickUp because everything can be put in 1 place. Each task has its own home. I can see everything related to what I am working on, from attachments to prior conversations. It makes my life so much easier because I don't have to scramble to 7 different places to find all the things I need to get started on something.
It is super helpful when you are waiting for responses from clients to just jump back and do a review of where you left off, add in whatever new changes are needed and pick up where I left off.
My personal favourite feature is the Dashboard option. It helps me keep track of due dates and prioritize my work so I don’t miss deadlines. This function alone has been a game changer for me!
ANNNNDDDD it doesn’t hurt that Olivia is VIP Verified. She is a ClickUp Guru which makes our lives so much easier. Thanks Olivia!
Clockify
Clockify is a time tracking app that let’s individuals and teams track their time. It allows you to track a ton of details: client, project, rates (billable, cost, profit), limits, tags etc.
What we use it for
Clockify is how we track your time and make money! We charge our clients on an hourly basis (no packages for us here) so it’s essential to track everything we do. Not only does it help for billing our clients but we also track all our internal tasks so we can make sure we are using our time efficiently. We can pull detailed reports and review where we could make better use of our time!
Why I like it
Clockify keeps track of my hours for me so I don’t have to! I work on so many different projects for different clients in a month. I don’t have the brain capacity to remember how much time I spent on each client, for each task, each day. Clockify takes the pressure off of me! All I have to do is push start, enter what I am working on and press stop when I am working on a project and at the end of the month I can pull a report to see who I worked for, on what, and for how long.
Google Drive
Google Drive is a cloud storage service provided by Google that allows users to store files online and access them from any device with an internet connection (or in offline mode if you’ve set that up).
What we use it for
We use Google Drive to store all of our documents. We have a system of shared drives and folders internally and with our clients to ensure we can seamlessly share and collaborate on documents without having to email, Slack or carrier pigeon documents back and forth. Not to mention the version history to make sure we have a trail of everything that happens! Google Drive is an essential part of being able to work from anywhere - you never have to say “I’ll have to wait until I’m at my computer” again!
Why I like it
I like that we can share documents all in one space. It’s really helpful not having to direct someone where to find the document, or having to send someone the file, or saving it to 17 different folders outside of the drive! Bonus is that I can link anything I am working on to the ClickUp task to easily access it when needed and know it’s always the most recent version.
Slack
Slack is an instant messaging platform designed for team collaboration and conversations. It allows you to have group conversations and 1:1 conversations. It also integrates with a number of different apps to streamline communication.
What we use it for
Slack is how we reach team members with time sensitive questions & updates, ask about something that doesn’t have a ClickUp task, see resources that are available and share funny memes, GIPHYs and life updates.
Why I like it
I like that different channels can be created with specific subjects to keep everything in 1 place. It’s really helpful to find past conversation histories and get in touch with each other directly for more urgent things. It’s also a space where we can all keep in touch as a team aside from shop talk. We routinely say good morning, share our stories, what happened in a day, our triumphs or funny things, and I love that it keeps us connected since we don’t work in an office together!
LastPass
LastPass is a secure password manager that allows you to store and share passwords and sensitive information. No more remembering passwords (or trying to remember where you wrote it down)!
What we use it for
We use LastPass to store and manage all passwords securely (for us and our clients). It ensures that our login credentials are safe and easily accessible to authorized team members. We use the Chrome extension so when we visit any website (or app) we can select the user name and password we want to use. Easy peasy!l
Why I like it
Only needing to remember one password is one of the most brilliant inventions of modern times. Sometimes (ok most of the time) I think this was made for me specifically!
I can’t, for the life of me, remember my own personal passwords, so how am I going to remember the password to 57 different apps for 20 different clients (totally over exaggerated but feels like that many)??
Before when an app decided to boot me out for fun, it f*cked me every time! NOT ANYMORE! Thank you last pass for remembering all the passwords I cannot. Aggravation averted and I still have a job.🙌🙌🙌
These apps create structure
My morning starts with opening these 5 apps. They are a necessity for me to work through my day with ease. Not coffee, It’s THESE apps. Some may consider this a biased opinion because I don’t drink coffee. But regardless of your opinion I still stand strong this 😉 (don’t tell Chris I said this… she would DEFINITELY put coffee first).
Working remotely has its perks. But those perks are only beneficial when everything works seamlessly.
Having the right apps in place creates a good structure when working remotely.
Work smarter not harder.
P.S if you feel you need help utilizing apps more efficiently we can help! Contact us to get started:)
