Apps to make remote work easier

Photo by Rami Al-zayat

As an intern, this may be your first stint in the workplaceand if you are working remotely, you may have a few challenges in getting used to the work environment. Unlike in person working, whereby you will have an opportunity to meet, int

eract and collaborate with your colleagues about projects in real time and face-to-face, remote work poses the challenge of physical distance and differing time-zones. There are 5 areas in wh

ich you will need added assistance to make sure that you have a smooth and efficient work life: communication with your team, time and project management, productivity and focus, efficient writing, as well as self-care.

The following are suggestions that you can use to make your internship experience more fulfilling and successful.

Communication with your team

Photo by Ben Collins

Communication with your remote co-workers is essential for the efficient day-to-day running of a business. As an intern, you will need to communicate with your manager and other colleagues in order to: get instructions for new tasks, give updates on on-going projects, ask questions and receive clarifications. As a team, you would also need a platform to have regular meetings and briefings.

For effective messaging across the team, apps such as Pumble and Slack are great! They enable teammates to send each other messages, documents and even voice notes as they collaborate on communal tasks. They even allow for one-on-one meetings that help colleagues communicate in real time.

Zoom and Google meet are great resources for group meetings. They enable a large number of people to attend virtual meetings simultaneously while also enabling the participants to use a chat feature to ask questions and get more information without interrupting the meeting.

Time and project management

Photo by Luke Chesser

Managing how you spend your time and keeping track of your work is a great way to see your progress, find out the areas you need to improve and discover how to make the most of your time. There are wonderful apps available to help you with just this.

Doodle is an online calendar app meant to help you keep track of your deadlines, as well as organize your tasks, meetings, and other activities.

Evernote is a cloud-based note-taking app that can help you keep notes on their important tasks, meetings, and activities. It is great for you to jot down notes or ideas that you may have or even to-do lists to effectively manage your tasks and projects.

Productivity and focus

If your job requires you to time yourself and track your productive time, Clockify is the app for you. If your remote internship requires you to provide proof of your work and performance within deadlines, this app helps you stay on track and keep records of the hours you work.

Efficient writing

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Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes are usually the biggest turn-off to all written work, no matter your field. You need to submit well-written, well thought out pieces of work that are error-free for people to take you and your work seriously. Using Grammarly can help you with this. It helps catch grammatical errors, typos, and can even help you rewrite your sentences to make them more accurate and concise. The beauty of this app is that it can be used in a variety of areas of your life, even in your school work.

Self-care

Working remotely poses the challenge of isolating you. You may find that you operate from your bed, kitchen and workspace, all day, every day. This can lead to a very sedentary life that can result in mental and physical health problems.

Seven is a great mobile app that helps you stay active while working from home by offering you 7-minute workout challenges. It boasts that it has features that:

· make working out a habit with daily challenges

· help you compete with friends and

· helps you get support and bragging rights by challenging friends.