Top 6 Apps to Boost Work-from-Home Productivity

Work-from-home has become the norm, and companies worldwide have implemented work-from-home policies, especially since the onset of Covid. While moving from a controlled office atmosphere to working remotely may seem appealing to some professionals, doing so can be difficult in unexpected ways. Some of the challenges many of us are familiar with are frequent interruptions, lack of face-to-face interaction, and a spirit of professional camaraderie that working in an office automatically facilitates.

How can professionals tackle these issues and be their best version while working from home? We asked our employees what applications they use to overcome interruptions and boost productivity while working from home.

• Time Management Applications:
  Time tracking is an essential aspect of work-from-home scenarios, and using a time and productivity tracker is an intelligent way to track time management. At Exalogic Consulting, employees use DeskTime to monitor productivity, improve performance, track attendance, and efficiently manage workflow. DeskTime has demonstrated that automatically recording every activity on one's timeline when working remotely can increase employee productivity by 30 percent during the first few weeks of use. Our employees can now estimate task durations, tackle distractions, and determine the optimal times to work.
  
  
• Email Management Applications:
  The average employee spends roughly a quarter of their day checking and responding to emails, making email one of the most significant tasks for everyone to attend to. Email management tools like Boomerang can remove emails from the inbox if they don't require immediate attention or are irrelevant. Additionally, it assists staff members with planning meetings, automatic email sending at pre-determined intervals, scheduling repeating messages, and setting non-urgent emails to "boomerang" back into the inbox later. 
  
  
• Focus Oriented Applications:
  In the scenario of multiple interruptions and diversions when working from home, staying focused can be challenging. In a study conducted in 2013, almost 50 percent of surveyed employees who worked remotely mentioned a lack of privacy as a significant issue with performing routine organizational tasks. Fortunately, technology has made it simpler to overcome distractions, manage calendars, and refocus priorities. 
  
  Applications like Dewo and Isolator help control digital interruptions and create a force field for work. Dewo, in particular, uses AI to detect when workers enter a flow state and instantly activates "Do Not Disturb" mode on chat applications like Slack or Teams. Additionally, it can automatically plan meeting hours with little to no influence on worker productivity, outsourcing all meeting coordination to save time.
  
  Another excellent tool is Isolator, which reduces interruptions by directing workers' attention to their current window. Isolator can blur the windows behind the active window, totally conceal windows other than the one currently open, hide your dock bar, and more, depending on the settings that employees select.
  

• Digital Planners: 
  Digital planners help improve team management and daily tasks. The variety of innovative tools available can enhance productivity, goal monitoring, and organizing tasks. It can be used on various gadgets, such as phones and desktop computers, and it frequently syncs with other people's calendars to keep everyone up to date. 
  
  An excellent tool for personal organization is the Friday Digital Planner. It offers a straightforward one-view so users can quickly see what needs to be done on a given day and encourages users to schedule time for contemplation and goal-setting regularly.
  
  Another helpful digital planner is MindNode, which lets employees write down all their ideas and organize them coherently. Employees can create their own "mind map" using visual brainstorming to help organize their thoughts and ideas and maintain a clean, organized, and uncluttered mind. This helps to approach tasks in an organized manner.
  
  

The above mentioned applications have helped all Exalogic Consulting teams build a robust remote working culture. We have created a cohesive remote team focused on consistently improving project delivery and enhancing client and employee experience while achieving business goals.