Whether working from home is your new normal or temporary, these tools will help your team thrive from the comfort of their house. Read our 10 top picks here.

With everything that’s going on in the world at present making things a little uncertain, most of us are choosing to work from home to avoid Coronavirus. For many, this has been a non-negotiable change that has been enforced by the powers that be as businesses choose to protect their employees and send them home on short notice.

This means that for the first time (maybe ever!) people who have never worked from home, or don’t necessarily have the perfect infrastructure in place to do so, are having to go with the flow and learn how to work from home.To help you navigate this change, we’ve pulled together some of our favourite tools to help you work from home. Share it with your friends, family and colleagues as we collectively kick coronavirus’ ass.

1. Trello

On mobile or desktop, Trello is one of the best ways to keep boards, lists, and cards between teams. Trello enables you to organise and prioritise your projects in a fun, flexible, and rewarding way. If you need to keep on top of things, or help your team manage their tasks, Trello is ideal.

2. Asana

Just like Trello, Asana offers a great way to keep a to-do list and mark tasks as done within the team. You can also manage calendars and project timelines so that everyone is clear on what’s going on without having to check in every 5 minutes. With Asana, everyone is on the same page and you’ll see an increase in efficiency and clear communication in a period that is likely to be challenging.

3. StayFocusd

We love this platform. It’s a productivity extension for Google Chrome that helps you stay focused on work by restricting the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites. StayFocusd does exactly what it says on the tin and helps you stay focused during this period of self-isolation.

4. Freedom

Another great website blocker to boost productivity and keep your head in the game is Freedom. You’ll be able to keep yourself away from social media, shopping, videos and games that can become addictive and stop you from working as efficiently as possible. Freedom blocks the websites that distract you so that you can streamline your focus and get your work done.

5. Spotify

It goes without saying that a good playlist is essential to a good work from home day, so using Spotify to keep you going is a must. We love playlists that don’t have words, so that you don’t get distracted and can keep the focus for the whole day. Try Spotify’s Workday Lounge playlist.

6. Evernote

For the times when you need to take notes and share them effectively, Evernote has got your back. Stay organised wherever you are and keep all of your ideas in one place with this easy to use app.

7. Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is an absolute essential for the times when the meeting must go on virtually. Using Google Hangouts is super easy and should work for everyone in your team, no matter where they are. It’s a great way to stay connected and keep everyone up to date. You can chat to up to 150 people, so it’s an amazing way to keep in touch and keep the morale high.

8. 1password

Gone are the days when you can just turn to your mate on the desk opposite you and ask for a password that you’ve completely forgotten. To keep you and your team from being caught out whilst working from home, use 1password to keep all your passwords in one place and ensure everyone can always gain access to the platforms they need.

9. Google Docs/Sheets

We love Google Docs and sheets as they make it so easy to share, comment and edit information. No matter what you need to write down, Google Docs and Sheets have you covered.

10. Slack

Slack is one of the best communication tools out there for teams working remotely. When you need to get in touch with your colleagues and share information in an orderly format, Slack is ideal. With separate threads, private messages and private groups, everyone can participate in the workflows they need to without being cc’d into endless emails. It makes everything a lot quicker and easier when working remotely.

From everyone at HowNow, we hope you’re doing well during this very strange period. If these work from home tools have helped you, or you’d like to share your favourites that you’ve missed, let us know over on social media.  We're all in this together ????