For decades, remote work has been a concept reserved for freelancers, creatives, and tech professionals. Although companies allowing home offices for their employees was not a novel phenomenon, it wasn’t mainstream. A paradigm shift came with the pandemic, making working from home a necessity rather than just a benefit of the workplace. 

This rapid shift showed the benefits and challenges of remote working, affecting team communication and project collaboration. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that the home office is here to stay and many companies are adopting hybrid models. Upwork predicts that 73% of teams will have remote workers by 2028.

Digital collaboration tools (like the Zenkit Suite!) that promise better teamwork despite the distance compete for the limelight. With much software to choose from, it’s important for teams and companies to adopt tools that will complement team productivity, supporting their workflow within these new standard work models.

What’s the deal with New Work & Industry 4.0?

We live in the age of New Work and Industry 4.0. New Work defines today’s working society in the global and digital age. The integration of intelligent technologies under the term Industry 4.0 promotes a whole new concept of productivity and efficient systems. But what does all this have to do with remote work?

Well, depending on how you look at it, a little or a lot. The publication of the New York Times bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss is a good place to start making the connection. By demonstrating in his book how individuals can be just as productive in less time through process optimization, a stark contrast was created to the entrenched norm of the 40-hour workweek, initially created for production lines.

The appeal of flexible work hours and the nomadic freedom to prioritize work-life balance has only grown. Remote work and home office are the results of technological development enabling and demonstrating that work can be executed successfully without co-location. Flexjobs estimates that 4.7 million people were already working remotely before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Collaboration tools support this type of lifestyle, where professionals work outside of a traditional office environment, yet going fully digital isn’t as simple as it seems. Besides the fact that having a stable internet connection is an imperative requirement, remote work complicates the integration of corporate culture, as well as team communication, and engagement within tasks and projects.

Whether working in an office or remotely, the art of effective team management and the importance of good workplace communication are key elements and indicators for successful team collaboration. 

Types of work models

With an increasing number of modern variations of working models, we’ve described a few of the most common types:

1. 40-Hour-Workweek, or, the classic 9-to-5

Initially instigated in the 19th century, from workers protesting against gruelling long hours and requesting a reduction, the 40-hour-workweek was created to regulate the working hours of the working class. Ford Motor Company advanced the idea in 1914, which led to increased productivity in the production line. Many companies soon followed suit and the popularized phrase of “8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, and 8 hours for what we will” was born.  

Today, most companies and organizations run on the 40-hour-workweek. Albeit, more out of tradition and habit rather than a deliberate decision based on employee productivity. With this knowledge and recent technological developments, individuals and organizations are reexamining the classic 9-to-5 working model. 

2. Hybrid Model, where Home Office is part of the deal

Hybrid models are usually known to be the best of both worlds. Organizations that have adopted hybrid working models allow employees the freedom to work remote or from home, and at times even to manage flexible working hours. This working model has become more popular in recent years as company infrastructure has developed. Owl Labs estimate that 52% of global employees work remotely once a week, and 68% do so at least once per month. Though hybrid models seem to be the answer for the future of work, only a selected range of job sectors can take advantage of these benefits, particularly due to job requirements and tasks.

3. Remote Work, work without co-location

Working with a view of the Swiss Alps in February, at a seaside hotel in Los Angeles in July, and from a coffee shop in downtown Sydney in October, is a dream come true for some. As much as this idealized version of remote work appeals to many, this type of work model is not exempt from challenges, particularly for the self-employed.

Working remotely gives employees the freedom to answer emails and write up project proposals from any given location, yet being able to support this lifestyle can often be quite challenging when working as a freelancer rather than being directly employed by a private company. Creative freelancers often work on a project-basis, which means that their professional and financial security is deadline-reliant. 

Employees working for fully-remote companies like Zapier and Buffer however, receive the benefits of working remotely while being fully integrated in a company. Although working with peace of mind of receiving monthly paychecks, working for fully-remote companies include challenges too. 

That being said, there’s always a list of advantages and disadvantages. What’s important is finding a style and process that fits and suits your needs best. 

4. 4-Day-Workweek, popular work-life-balance model

In short, the 4-day-workweek model is about reducing working hours from a standard 40 hours to just 32 hours for the same pay and benefits. This work model, adopted by various companies worldwide, focuses on achieving the same output as a 40h week, but in a shorter amount of time. Proven by employees and employers to be successful in optimizing use of time in correlation to productivity, the 4-day-workweek offers flexibility and enables individuals to concentrate on what’s important in their lives.

5. Coworking Spaces, the office alternative for professionals

Considering the progression of work models, there’s a good chance that there’s at least one coworking space in every major city. As hubs of productivity, community, and technology, coworking spaces offer an out-of-home office atmosphere and networking opportunities with others who work in a multitude of industries. 

Fun fact: The first official coworking space appeared in 2005 in San Francisco, USA.

6. Work & Travel, the best of both worlds

Desk jobs aren’t your thing and travelling the world has always been but a mere daydream for you? The work and travel model operates on short-term contract work often based on seasonal work such as during harvest time. Adventurers who enjoy taking each day at a time move location to where the work is. In this case, location is the objective and the type of work is the dynamic subjective.

7. Workation, let’s combine work and leisure

The terms ‘workation’ and ‘bleisure’ gained significant traction as a new market trend in light of the pandemic. A concept for travelling workers or working travellers, where work and vacation were combined in a single location. According to Dr Hayley Stainton, “A workation can be defined as a holiday, during which a substantial amount of time is dedicated to work.”

In Japan, the model was originally a way to realize a variety of work styles and promote creativity and networking opportunities in locations outside of the home and office. Today, various travel and tourism organizations offer workation packages for individuals as well as families. 

Currently, travel restrictions and guidelines are subject to constant change. This in-depth guide on how to practice responsible tourism during COVID-19, prepares any traveller for the journey, whether for travelling to holiday destinations or for business trips.

How have things changed?

Before the pandemic, the office was where millions of us spent about a third of our time. With the range of working models already being implemented by organizations worldwide, why would the pandemic be considered a compelling driver to advance the standardization of home office or remote work? 

Simply put, the conditions of Covid-19 affirmed the urgency of digital transformation in business, and brought an unprecedented shift, designating hybrid working conditions a necessity rather than a benefit. 

The mentality of remote working previously highlighted the benefits for individual employees. Today, home office and remote work is considered an asset for individuals as well as an advantage for company productivity and collaboration. 

From one day to the next, the world was required to adjust. Arguably, the potential of remote work has been realized. At the same time, the challenges and conditions in terms of the privilege interlaced with the arrangement were revealed.

Benefits and challenges at a glance 

+ Remote work is reshaping a future new world of work, popularizing modern working habits while disproving old ideas that working from home leads to low productivity with limited opportunity for collaboration. 

+ The office-to-home transition caused a breakdown of emotional and professional barriers, allowing colleagues and clients a more intimate view into each others’ personal lives.

+ Importance of soft skills have increased as working remotely solicits more intentional interpersonal interactions.

– The potential for remote work is determined by tasks and activities, not occupations. 

– Working from home draws a fine line in an individual’s work-life balance. A heightened level of responsibility and trust is required from managers and employees.

– Affecting more than just personal factors, remote work affects engagement, performance management, means less office space, and more.

Benefits of remote working

Workplace values have been redefined: the future of work is remote. Instead of planning activities in life around working hours, remote working enables individuals to incorporate the necessities of their life and work. 

The popular concept of leading a work-life balance lifestyle advocates for similar objectives, but with different intentions. Work-life balance is a concept referring to the level of prioritization between personal and professional activities in an individual’s life. What many early adopters have come to realize is that the work-life balance lifestyle is a cycle rather than a destination or an achievement. 

1. Flexibility: Remote work grants individuals the opportunity to develop a work-life balance due to the flexibility offered through the working model. 

Remote working or working from home grants employees flexibility where it matters, whether that is picking up the children from school on time or allowing the laundry to dry in the sunlight rather than using the dryer. At best, working from home should reinforce an individual’s work-life balance. 

2. A Healthy Balance: Employees are able to manage their health, tasks, and responsibilities better. Eliminating the commute and rigid routines can alleviate stress to allow individuals to do deep work and grow their creativity. 

The flexible lifestyle isn’t the only thing proving beneficial to remote workers’ mental health and likelihood of company loyalty. Working from home simultaneously requires and fosters individual time and task management, and responsibility. 

Cutting travel time and other forms of mundanity from life, employees are able to focus on work. With less time spent commuting for example, employees are able to manage their health, tasks, and responsibilities better. As a result, a silent expectation for employees to rise to the occasion by living up to their potential is present. 

Despite the expectation, swapping out the busyness of crowded train stations for a 30-minute walk in the neighbourhood park with the dog can cause significant changes to an individual’s health. Now, instead of attending company-run in-person team-building activities, some companies set aside time in the week to encourage employees to engage in activities that inspire and empower them for work and life. 

3. Time Management: Remote work possibly requires more management, however simultaneously allows an increase in creative flow and productive output.

What remote work advocates promote, such as Laurel Farrer in her working remote article, is that “work is something you do, not somewhere you go… For knowledge workers whose roles rely on mobile tools, location should be a daily choice, not a lifestyle commitment.” With the right tools and circumstances, work doesn’t need to be chained to an office desk. 

Granted, working remotely makes employee and task supervision more complex. But with less time lost moving from one office room to another for meetings, and no more lines for afternoon coffee, more time can be invested in getting work done.

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4. Cost-saving (for businesses): Reducing the need for office space enables companies to invest in other things, preferably to the benefit of employees.

With fewer employees in the office, businesses need less office space, decreasing rent cost exponentially. Instead, companies can opt to invest in supplying employees with the necessary work equipment or offering other benefits as an alternative to the cost of the canteen upkeep.

Challenges of remote working

While eliminating location from the equation brings flexibility, certain concerns are also key variables when considering if and how to implement remote work at a company. Working remotely requires high self-management, time management, and team management. 

Engagement is usually what suffers first due to the distance. Managers and colleagues working from home can’t simply walk over to ask a question about the financial proposal or spend time catching up with their morning brew in the office kitchen on Mondays. Instead, an increase of chat notifications, forwarded emails and dedicated meetings to discuss workflow best describe the workday. 

1. Team Culture: The objective to encourage teamwork and cultivate a team and company spirit remains, although the method to achieve this may have changed.

Team meetings over Zoom or Skype are certainly different from those held in the office meeting room. When working with distributed teams, distance should merely be considered a factor rather than an obstacle for team integration. 

The method for scheduling and conducting meetings may have changed, but the objective to encourage teamwork and team spirit remains. Managers as well as coworkers require and should actively seek interpersonal relationships within the workplace. Just like work isn’t tied to a location, company culture isn’t contained in a building. Rather, corporate culture is cultivated by the individuals that make up the company.

The responsibility and journey for cultivating a strong and effective team and company culture is an individual process. That being said, there are ways and certain remote team management mistakes to avoid to make the process easier.

2. Management: Using productivity tools to manage and regulate team, task, and time management is the answer.

Every company uses software for everyday business operations. With oodles to choose from, it’s the team and company’s responsibility to evaluate which tools best support both internal and external business operations. Some companies use Suites, while others mix & match; some even create their own apps for internal processes.

Either way, when it comes down to the wire, productivity tools and team management software is a growing billion dollar business with a mixture of advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, team management software can build stronger teams. At the same time, it’s vital to analyze whether a productivity tool is actually enabling team productivity or not at all.   

3. Party for the privileged? Remote work is only available for those working in sectors or jobs that are primarily made up of online tasks and activities.

Praised for all of the benefits, working remotely isn’t available as a viable option for everyone. Hospitals, supermarkets, hairdressers, and other services will necessarily continue to be in-person. Although technology has certainly enabled medical consultations and other services to be handled online, not everything can be solved digitally. Even with advancements in machine learning and robotics, it’s hard to envision massage parlours or operating rooms to switch to robot-only employees. 

Research into the future of remote work from McKinsey Global Institute indicates that the potential for work is determined by tasks and activities, not occupations. Professionals able to avail of remote work fall into categories of highly skilled, highly educated workers in various industries, occupations, and geographies. For those already working with digital and mobile tools, like those working in the IT, communications, and marketing sector, the option of home office is often already included in the contract.

Collaboration tools for the workplace: the tools that keep employees productive despite distance

One of the most impactful changes the pandemic brought was to the way humans work. Businesses switched to digital collaboration tools for team communication, project management, and more. The best collaboration tools facilitate effective teamwork for tasks and projects, primarily in a streamlined manner.

In this case, there is no ‘one software fits all’, since the tools companies require should strengthen and support individual business operations and the organizational structures.  A countless list of applications and their alternatives are available for any type of work and team size. We’ve listed a few categories essential for remote teams: 

Chat Apps

The most widely used mobile apps are chat apps, because communication is necessary to get any work done. Originally created to replace email conversations, enterprise chat apps are essential internal communication platforms for teams today. Every company uses enterprise messaging applications to facilitate and boost teamwork, communication, and collaboration. 

The most popular enterprise chat apps allow teams to not only communicate with one another but also on specific topics, projects, and tasks. Depending on the interface, chat apps for business include features allowing teams to create channels, categorize topics, use quick edits, manage tasks, share files, conduct export functions, and more.

Top 4 Chat Apps for Business:

1. 1. Zenchat
   2. Slack
   3. Chanty
   4. Yammer

Video Conferencing Tools

Remote teams don’t have the option of organizing a team meeting in the boardroom on a Wednesday morning. Instead, video conferencing tools are used for coaching sessions, the quarterly report, team-building activities like Friday mocktail hour, and the company Christmas party.

The pandemic certainly accelerated the future of video communication. Microsoft Teams received an increase of 55 million users within a 5-month period and the latest report of the conference call company, Zoom, shows an 88% year-over-year jump in revenue.  

But it’s not just the conferencing tool companies who have realized the advantages and profits video communication brings to teams. Switching to video conferencing tools allows individuals to participate in meetings from the convenience of their own home, supports the flexible schedules of working parents and ultimately influences company culture. Significant features of such tools include screen sharing, presentation mode, meeting annotation, and creating subgroups within a meeting.

Top 4 Video Conferencing Tools for Business:

1. 1. Zoom
   2. Skype
   3. Microsoft Teams
   4. GoTo Meeting 

Project Management Software

Managing projects is no simple job. Tracking deadlines, updating task iterations, and communicating the project status to stakeholders are tasks project managers need to handle on a daily basis. 

Project management software enables teams to manage individual tasks and resources within projects.  Built for agile teams, project management tools include features such as tracking project progress, task management, project view switching, and plenty of other collaboration features.      

Top 5 Project Management Tools for Business:

1. 1. Projects
   2. Asana
   3. Wrike
   4. Basecamp
   5. Zoho Projects

Knowledge Management Software

Knowledge management software are excellent tools for teams to manage everything from internal company processes such as onboarding information to managing a customer database. Primarily focused on the collection, storage, and organization of data and information, these tools help teams with all sorts of administrative tasks.

Top 4 Knowledge Management Tools for Business:

1. 1. Hypernotes
   2. Base
   3. Salesforce
   4. Pipedrive

Learn about the different types of knowledge management processes and find more alternatives in Knowledge Management Tools 2021.

Tools for Centralized Storage 

Shoot for the stars, but keep your files secure in the Cloud. Cloud file storage is a necessity for remote teams, permitting file access to team members, whether they live a 30-minute drive from the office or working remotely in another country. The best tools for centralized storage support all file types, sync across multiple devices, track document changes, and integrate well with other applications. 

Top 4 Business Tools for Centralized Storage:

1. 1. Microsoft Sharepoint
   2. Google Drive
   3. Dropbox
   4. Box

We’ve only listed a few tools useful for teams working remotely. Find more alternatives in 50 Must-Have Remote Working Tools And Apps.

Practical tips for a balanced home office routine

The right tools certainly help get the job done, but even with advanced tech running on artificial intelligence, humans still have to put in the work. These are our tips for a balanced home office routine: 

Get dressed

Overcoming the notion to stay in your pajamas all day is a good tangible step that helps you mentally prepare for the workday. Select a few outfits that are both presentable and comfortable, so you are prepared for the odd-chance when your boss unexpectedly calls for a meeting.

Establish boundaries

Distractions are bound to happen. To best navigate such situations, establish boundaries, whether that may be to set specific times to go on breaks, schedule packages to arrive only at certain times, or communicate your availability to your children and spouse. 

Tip: Turn off desktop notifications when doing deep work and set all applications settings on silent, especially when in meetings.

Stick to routines

The urgency of staying online and always being available increases when working from home. Just do as you would in the office: take time to get your coffee, spend a few minutes catching up with a colleague via chat, and respond to emails when you normally do. 

Home office allows more flexibility, however routines help in more than just sticking to a daily schedule. Some things to remember: Make sure to stick to your standard work hours, don’t skip the lunch break, and try not to work overtime.

Tip: Even with boundaries and routines, remember to stay flexible when things don’t go as planned. Humans aren’t robots and that’s a good thing. 

Get out and about (unless self-isolating)

Without the commute, we might spend most of our days enclosed in our houses. Make time for walks around the block, trips to nature parks, or even a quick drive to a local bakery for the morning coffee and breakfast fix. 

Additionally, fresh air and sunshine are great for both the mind and soul. Taking care of one’s health with enough physical activity and time for relaxation is perhaps even more necessary now when most of our daily interactions happen online.

Take regular breaks

Downtime is necessary for technology devices; the same goes for humans. Research states that brief diversions from a task can improve an individual’s ability to focus. When we take a short break from hours of deep work, we essentially reward our brain with a downtime. 

There are various techniques and systems on how to train yourself to focus. And though daily to-do lists are great, the essence of time blocking is to produce high-quality output within a specific amount of time. 

Check in with colleagues regularly

Because it’s not just always about work. Cultivating relationships help any employee to feel at ease and accepted within a company. Most of the time, we may not know what challenges our neighbor may be going through, even more so when we don’t work in back-to-back cubicles or a shared office space.

Even more reason to make it a habit to type your colleagues some greetings every now and then, or send them encouraging messages to make their day. That said, I hope you have a great day!

All remote work statistics are sourced from Review24’s Remote Work Statistics for 2021.

Image credits from Andrew Neel, Daria Shevtsova, Sarah Chai from Pexels;  AltumCode, Sigmund, and ThisisEngineering RAEng from Unsplash; and Giphy.

That’s a wrap! It’s exciting to see how much has changed in a short amount of time. What are your thoughts on the variety of modern working models? Our team has run on a hybrid model within the last year and have experienced the impact that digital collaboration tools have on team productivity and collaboration. We hope, as probably most other companies do too, to navigate back to more in-person meetings and workshops soon. How has your team navigated teamwork this past year? 

Cheers,

Jessica and the Zenkit Team

The post Home Office and Remote Work: How to Improve Team Collaboration appeared first on Zenkit.

If you’ve visited our blog before, you’ve probably read about how great Zenkit is for Kanban, building mind maps, creating editorial calendars, and much more. But did you know that Zenkit is also a really great list manager? Zenkit’s list view combined with the task-list add-on can make it the perfect Wunderlist replacement.

**Update: We have now released Zenkit To Do, a task manager designed specifically to make any Wunderlist user feel right at home.**

Despite Microsoft’s purchase of Wunderlist in 2015 (that’s four years ago!), and news of its replacement by Microsoft To Do, it’s still one of the top 100 productivity apps in the app store. And now that Wunderlist’s shutdown date has been officially announced, users are probably looking for a new tool to take its place.

With our direct Wunderlist import, it’s a cinch to make Zenkit the new home of your to-dos, reminders, and projects.

Zenkit as a Wunderlist Alternative

There are many things that make Zenkit the best Wunderlist alternative in 2019, 2020, or even 2050! It has all the basics, like the list view, the easy-to-use checkboxes from the task-list add-on, favorites, due dates, reminders, attachments, and more.

The brand new hierarchy view and subtasks are like what Wunderlist would probably have evolved into (we think), if they’d not been purchased by Microsoft.

So, if you’re looking to make the switch, here are the top 6 Zenkit features that will make any Wunderlist user feel right at home:

1. List view: Like any good task manager, Zenkit has a list view, plain and simple. Anyone who’s used a list-based productivity app (be it Wunderlist, Todoist, or any other) will be familiar with it.
2. My Favorites: Like Wunderlist, Zenkit gives you the option to mark certain list items as a favorite. Favorite items appear in your Favorites – a separate section of the app that has your most important tasks front and center!
3. Labels: Similar to Wunderlist’s tags, Zenkit’s labels give you the chance to further prioritize your tasks. You could also use them to categorize items or simply track progress.
4. Duplicate lists: If there are lists you find that you use on a regular basis, you can use Zenkit’s list duplication feature to, well, duplicate your lists! This will save you time from having to repeatedly insert the same data.
5. Collaboration: Share lists and collaborate with friends, family, or colleagues in real time. You can even manage how much access someone has to edit content.
6. Direct import: You can import your lists directly into Zenkit! Don’t bother exporting your Wunderlist data and trying to figure out how to upload it to your new app of choice – Zenkit can connect with Wunderlist directly and import all of your lists with task completion and favorites intact!

Switching from Wunderlist to Zenkit

Our direct import feature means that you can easily move your lists, projects, inbox, and even favorites into Zenkit in moments. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Create a free Zenkit account (if you don’t already have one)!

Step 2: Click the ‘+ New Collection’ icon on your homepage to create a new collection, and choose ‘Import’ from the list.

Step 3: Choose Wunderlist from the list of import options.

Step 4: Give Zenkit permission to access your Wunderlist data by logging in to your Wunderlist account.

Step 5: Once you’re logged in, a list of all your Wunderlist lists will appear in Zenkit. Click on the name of the list you want to import, then click ‘Import’.

Step 6: Your Wunderlist list will appear as a collection on your Zenkit homepage.

Step 7: Et voila! You have your new Wunderlist alternative. Simply open the new collection and start working.

That’s it! Once you’ve signed in to your Wunderlist account from Zenkit once, you’ll never have to do it again, so importing the rest of your list can be done in just a few clicks

Now it’s time to get productive – use Zenkit to track your projects, share files, collaborate on tasks, write out your shopping lists, or plan your next big event. We can’t wait to see how you’ll use it! Need a refresher on just how it all works? Check out our extensive Knowledge Base.

Cheers,

Siobhan and the Zenkit Team

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“It’s not the tools that you have faith in – tools are just tools. They work, or they don’t work. It’s people you have faith in or not.” – Steve Jobs

Every other day there is a new tool on the market that promises to deliver users to their utmost productive state.

Whether it’s a to-do list that allows you to cross items off with a magic wand or the Tesla equivalent of a spreadsheet, each and everyone vows to be the solution to your productivity woes.

For the past one and a half years, I’ve been dishing out tips, tricks, and tidbits to readers looking for ways to be more productive. And a huge chunk of it involved using tools to help them along the way.

A project management tool to prioritize tasks and coordinate resources.

A team chat app for a more efficient way of communicating within teams.

A time-tracking tool to monitor working activity and measure profitability.

So, you could say I’m well versed in this topic. But do I truly think that productivity tools actually make people more productive?

You may think that my answer is an instant yes, considering productivity tools are basically my bread and butter. But when posed with the question I actually had to stop and really think about it.

I also asked around to see what my colleagues thought.

None of them gave an instant “yes”. Which was a little surprising considering our product is a productivity tool.

While the majority did agree that productivity tools could make you more productive, the general consensus was that it wasn’t necessarily the tools themselves that did it. The people using the tools have a lot to do with it.

Having the best quality set of paintbrushes doesn’t make you the next Picasso. Nor does having a great computer and a code editor make you a great programmer. Every trade has its tools but those tools are nothing without the skills behind them.

In short, productivity tools can make you productive, but they can’t do it alone.

A Billion-Dollar Business

Productivity tools refer to programs and applications that make daily office life easier. Think about project management tools, time management systems, presentation programs, and communication software. These type of tools have revolutionized the way we conduct tasks and day-to-day business operations.

You’re probably using several right now, and you probably can’t imagine how things would get done if you didn’t have them.

What started out as an attempt to make office processes more efficient has turned into a lucrative business. The worldwide collaboration software market alone was valued at 8.45 billion US dollars in 2017.

If you do a search for any type of productivity tool, you will find a plethora of products that cater for any industry, any team size, any budget, and any goal. Each vying for your subscription with the promise that their product will be the one that changes your life and transforms you into the productivity superstar that you are aspiring to be.

So, if there’s a clear demand for these tools, surely it means they’re delivering on their promises?

Productivity Tools Are Useless on Their Own

Having a tool without the knowledge or expertise to use it is futile. It won’t make you more productive. If anything, it’ll make you frustrated and you’ll become unmotivated.

Being productive requires a mixture of tools and skills. On top of quality resources, you need the proficiency to know how to use them. Any tool worth having will come with tutorials, as well as a customer service team to help out. And on top of that, there are blogs, books, videos, and podcasts that provide information on processes, methodologies, and best practices.

Being informed about any product you use can ensure that you use it to its full potential. It can also help you to decide whether it’s a suitable tool for you.

“We all have a personal recipe for productivity. One person may need six cups of autonomy and just a pinch of collaboration. Another person may require heaps of sociability and noise, with just a teaspoon of occasional privacy.” – Neil Blumenthal

Every team has different goals, priorities, and ways to measure productivity. Where one tool works incredibly well for one team, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll do the same for another. You need something that will be suited to your habits and objectives.

Consider the ongoing Slack debate for example. By becoming a billion-dollar company within two years, you can’t deny the communication platform’s success and the number of users who love it. But that doesn’t mean it works for everyone. Amir Salihefendic, the founder and CEO of Doist, explains why the tool didn’t work for his team:

“This style of communication was especially problematic for a remote-first company like ours. How do you stay in the loop when earlier topics have already been discussed and are buried by the time you even wake up? It wasn’t healthy for our team, and it wasn’t helping us focus on the hard work that really moves projects forward.”

The Pros and Cons of Productivity Tools

Whether it’s a digital to-do list, time tracking software, or an online database, using productivity tools offers both benefits and disadvantages. Here are some of the more common ones:

Pros:

1. Makes Collaboration Easier

Using a productivity tool that centralizes all your files and documents in one place offers a more practical approach to collaboration. You’ll no longer have to email and back and forth with your colleagues and upload files to collaborate on the same task or project.

2. Streamlines Communication

Communication software is designed to make internal communication a more simple experience. Their instantaneous nature in sending and receiving messages makes them ideal for sharing information, ideas, and the general discussion quickly. More efficient than calling and sending emails, these communication tools create immediacy between colleagues and are especially great for connecting with remote employees.

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3. Simplifies Progress Tracking

Monitoring your project’s progress is made easier with a productivity tool such as task management or project management software. Details such as budget, resources, and deadline will be highlighted, allowing you to ensure you meet your deadline.

4. Data Unlikely to Fall into the Wrong Hands

Most, if not all, productivity tools require a username and password to access them. These protection features reduce security risks and ensure your data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

5. Enables Remote Work

Without productivity tools, remote work wouldn’t be possible. Online software has made it possible for employees to work from anywhere in the world. Video conferencing tools, team chat apps, and task management software means you no longer have to be in the office to get the job done.

Cons:

1. They Can Be Very Distracting

Popular communication software such as team chat apps is notorious for being distracting. While the ease of communication has made collaborating on tasks and projects better, it’s provided with a hotbed for non-work related conversations as well.

2. Minimize Interpersonal Skills

If you’re constantly using tools to communicate, it can reduce your inclination to talk to people face-to-face. As Ulrich Kellerer stated in a Forbes interview with Carol Kinsey Goman, “When it comes to effective business communication, over-reliance on technology at work can be a hindrance, especially when it ends up replacing face-to-face, human interaction.”

3. Constant Updates

Many tools require regular updates in order to get the most out of them. And sometimes, these updates may come with a price tag. Then, you may run into the issue where the upgraded version is more cumbersome than the older version, leading to employee hesitation.

4. Employee Hesitation

Implementing software means everyone has to learn how to use it and not everyone has the same level of technological skills. Having to learn a new tool can be intimidating, especially if you think that the current one you use does the job just fine. If something’s not broken, then why should we attempt to fix it, right?

5. It Costs to Maintain Them

While many tools come with a free plan option, they are always limited in comparison to paid plans. Whoever said that the best things in life came free was obviously not talking about productivity tools.

Final Thoughts

Productivity tools aren’t going anywhere. As long as there is the need to digitize tasks and processes, there’s going to be the need for an application to do it. The success of the industry also indicates that the production of tools isn’t likely to slow down.

But remember, having the tool alone can only get you so far.

Without the knowledge and skills to back it up, your tools are useless. To be truly efficient and effective, you need the knowledge to recognize which tools are a suitable fit and, of course, the skills to know how to actually use them properly.

Do your productivity tools make you more productive?

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

Image Credits: krisna iv via Unsplash, William Iven via Unsplash, Anton Shuvalov via Unsplash

The post Do Productivity Tools Actually Make You Productive? appeared first on Zenkit.

We’re excited to announce that the team at PomoDoneApp have built a direct integration with Zenkit using our newly released API! PomoDone is an app that helps you apply the Pomodoro Technique® to your work, helping you gain control over your time and boost productivity. They claim to help to eliminate distraction, sharpen focus, and prevent burnout, and from experience, I can say that’s just the case!

What is the Pomodoro Technique®?

As a big fan of this method, I’ve written about the Pomodoro Technique® in the past, but if you need a refresher, here’s a breakdown of the basics:

• Write a list of everything you need to do, in bite-sized, actionable tasks. (Check out my guide to writing effective tasks for ideas on how to do this really, really well!)
• Set a timer for 25 minutes.
• Work on the task until the timer rings, then put a checkmark next to your task.
• Take a 5-minute break. Walk around, grab a coffee, and do some stretches. Being active helps!
• Repeat! Keep adding checkmarks to your list until you’ve got 4 down, then take a longer break. 30 minutes is good.

The benefits of using a time tracking system like Pomodoro® are manyfold: According to Pomodoro® founder Francesco Cirillo, the technique can help you to handle interruptions, improve motivation by improving the content of work, reduce the complexity of your goals, meet deadlines without time pressure, and much, much more.

The beautiful thing about using a tool like PomoDone is that you don’t have to set the timer manually or re-write your to-do lists. You can download the desktop app or install the browser extension, then quickly connect it up to Zenkit collections to see your tasks in the app. When you’re ready to start focusing on a task, hit the timer and get started!

How to Integrate Zenkit with PomoDoneApp

First, you’ll need an account for both Zenkit and PomoDoneApp. Once you’re all signed up, here’s how you can connect them:

Click on ‘My Account’ in the top right-hand corner of PomoDone’s homepage, then find Zenkit in the list of integrations shown on the next page.

You’ll be redirected to a Zenkit page where you can give PomoDone access to your Zenkit items:

Click on ‘Authorize’, after which you’ll be redirected back to PomoDone where you can search through your Zenkit collections from the ‘Projects’. Choose your collection, click ‘Add to PomoDoneApp’, and you’re done! You can choose as many collections as you like. Once you’ve added them all, open the desktop app or browser extension to see all of your items and start timing them!

Clicking on 5, 15, or 25 sets the timer for that amount of time, with a 5-minute break automatically built-in. The timer will automatically continue for 4 cycles, but of course, you can also change the timer intervals to suit your own preferences. You can learn more about using PomoDone here, and as always, you can learn more about this integration in our Knowledge Base.

We hope you guys enjoy using this integration as much as we do! Have you tried using the Pomodoro Technique® before? Let us know in the comments!

Cheers,

Siobhan and the Zenkit Team

Note: PomoDoneApp is available with a free trial, after which it costs $2 or more per month. Pomodoro Technique® and Pomodoro® are registered trademarks of Francesco Cirillo.

The post Boost Your Productivity with PomoDoneApp and Zenkit appeared first on Zenkit.

Productivity software may not be the sexiest of technologies out there on the market, but for many businesses and organizations, they are an essential part of everyday life.

But how productive are they really making us?

In this article, I’ll discuss what productivity software is and whether or not using it actually makes us productive.

What Is Productivity Software?

Productivity software is a group of application programs that can help you produce things such as documents, databases, worksheets, graphs, and presentations. The definition also often extends to any software application that assists in completing a task or project such as communication and collaboration tools.

The reason it’s called “productivity software” is because the purpose of these applications is to help people—in particular those who work in an office—to be more productive in the job they’re doing. While originally intended for business use, productivity software is now commonly used for personal productivity purposes as well.

Along with using the programs on computers, most tools are also available on mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets. And as with any other product on the market, there are advantages and disadvantages of productivity software.

Types of Productivity Software

As mentioned, productivity software comes in many forms, however, the following are examples of some of the more popular types:

Project Management

Project management application software (apps) is widely used within businesses and organizations. Not only are they ideal for managing projects, but they’re also useful for managing the daily operations of a company. One of their more favourable features is that they offer a visualization of a workflow process which can make for easier delegation, coordination and prioritization of tasks and projects.

Similar to task management apps, you can manage your task throughout its life cycle, right from the development of the idea, all the way to completion. Many project management apps come with several features such as checklists, spreadsheets, and Gantt charts that all aim to help you accomplish your task or project in the most efficient and effective way possible.

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Database Management Systems

A database management system can help you create and manage a database. A useful way to store information, databases are designed to hold a large collection of organized data that can be accessed by multiple users with optimal speed and minimal processing expense.

While spreadsheets are also a good option, databases are a better alternative for storing a sizeable amount of data as they offer a more elaborate information storage system.

Time Tracking

Time-tracking apps help you to, surprisingly, track the time you spend on tasks. Commonly used by businesses and organizations who employ freelancers or workers who are billed by the hour, they can be used as standalone products or integrated with other software applications.

The benefit of time-tracking apps is that they provide an overview of how much time is being spent on a task and/or your overall work day. Having this overview not only ensures that you are being paid for what you work, but it can be a great tool for managing your time.

Of course, these aren’t the only three productivity software tools available. There is an array of options available to suit any individual or business looking to be more productive in the way they work. Oftentimes you will find one tool that caters to several purposes, or you may find yourself using more than one tool to manage your workload and complete your tasks.

What Makes Productivity Software Productive?

An essential feature in businesses and organizations worldwide, productivity software has reshaped the way people work. From faster communication to streamlined processes to smoother-running projects. In a nutshell, productivity software has made life in the office a lot easier.

It’s also allowed businesses to adapt to the flexible workforce that has emerged due to the rapid expansion of the internet and technology. Productivity software such as online communication and collaboration tools have made remote work possible and have allowed businesses to keep up with the competition. It’s especially great for employees adjusting to working from home.

But while it has centralized and simplified the way we work, it’s important to keep in mind that productivity software won’t do the work for you. The end result is still dependent on the user, no matter what tool is used. What productivity software does is provide you with the tool you need to deliver your task and help you reach the end in the most efficient way possible. The rest is up to you.

Using productivity software with different expectations could have detrimental effects. For instance, if you think that by simply purchasing a product and creating an account you’ll become instantly productive, then you have another thing coming. Getting the most out of your tool requires you to invest time and effort in selecting a tool, as well as understanding it and using it properly.

How to Ensure Productivity Software Is Actually Making You Productive

Anyone can purchase a tool and create an account, but knowing what to do with it will determine whether or not the tool is worthwhile. Here are some tips on how to ensure your productivity software is actually making you productive.

1. Invest in a quality tool

You don’t have to spend a million bucks to get the best productivity tools for your team. While many productivity software apps that are free to use are sufficient enough to fulfil whatever purpose you need them to do, oftentimes the paid versions always offer more. Whether it’s more storage space or more features, sometimes it’s worth spending the extra dollars to ensure you have a tool that can help your team to be as productive as ever.

It’s also worth considering the amount of time and resources you may save if going with the paid version of the software. Sure, a free account may cost you nothing upfront, but it’s worth weighing up whether extra resources will be needed if you select the free software option.

2. Understand how to use it

Money isn’t the only thing you should be investing in when it comes to productivity software. Investing in time is something that’s also important. The market is littered with tools that promise to help you track tasks, collaborate, and communicate better, and so trying to find the right tool can alone takes up so much time.

Then comes knowing how to use it properly. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to use a tool that you have no idea how to operate. Learning how to use new tools and understanding how to input tasks or items is time that should be invested right from the beginning. Because if you don’t, you may find yourself spending more time trying to figure out how the tool works than actually producing work on it. Having an implementation strategy in place is a good way to prevent this from happening.

3. Don’t overcomplicate

There are many things that productivity software is ideal for, from creating graphs and presentations to collating and maintaining data to ensuring your daily tasks are in order. And while they’re great for complex tasks and projects that require you to collaborate, there are certain tasks where they may not be the right tool for the job.

Using productivity software simply because it’s there can be counterproductive. Although you have it and have paid for it, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to use it.

The same mentality should be applied to using a tool that has a lot of features. While a tool with numerous features can be a great asset, it could do more harm than good if you aren’t using it properly. I get it, it can be easy to go crazy with all the bells and whistles, but doing so just for the sake of it can overcomplicate things and actually make you less productive in the task you are trying to achieve.

Final Thoughts

Any company or individual has the ability to purchase a tool, but not having the right system or knowledge to support it is what can make the difference between being productive and wasting your time with the software. To ensure you and your team fall into the former category, make sure you take measures to fully understand the tool(s) you are working with so you know when and how to use them to your benefit.

How do you ensure your productivity software is making you productive? As always, let us know in the comments section.

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post How to Ensure Productivity Software is Actually Making You Productive appeared first on Zenkit.

CRMs are an important tool for every business. But we understand that not every business can afford to splurge on their systems. Here’s how you can create a cost-effective CRM using Zenkit’s templates.

CRM stands for customer relationship management and it refers to the tools and practices that are used to manage customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. The purpose of CRM is to fuel business development by improving existing customer relationships, establishing new ones, and even trying to win back former customers.

The Importance of CRM

It’s a no-brainer that customers are at the core of your company’s success. Without them, there is no revenue, and without revenue… you kind of don’t have a business. Here’s how a CRM can benefit your business:

Monitor Customer Interactions

Having a CRM strategy in place allows you to track and analyze information relating to your customers. There is a fine line between ignoring your customers and bombarding them, and being able to track interactions will make all communication a smoother experience.

Uncover Potential

A CRM’s goal is to not only manage existing relationships, but to also generate new leads, and possibly win back former customers. With a CRM strategy and system in place, you may have a better chance of targeting the right people at the right time.

Store and Organise Data

We live in a world where data is worth its weight in gold (make sure you are dealing with it properly!) and when you have such precious data, you need a nice place to store it. Using a CRM tool can provide you with a single customer view that’ll make analyzing behaviours and interactions an easier thing to do.

Customer Relationship Management Tools

Designed to assist in customer retention and drive sales growth, a CRM tool is essentially a platform that allows you to manage your contact and communication with existing and potential customers.

There are a plethora of CRM tools available on the market that come with various bells and whistles to suit any and every business’s needs. The tool that a fully-fledged corporate enterprise uses would presumably look quite different to that of a startup’s or a freelancer’s.

What you essentially want from a tool, however, is one that can track the activity of customer interactions, monitor deals, manage resources, and store and organize contacts.

How to Create a CRM with Zenkit

We get it, not everyone can afford to splurge on their CRM system. The good news for businesses who have to tighten their purse strings is that your favourite project management tool can be used to create a CRM system at absolutely no extra cost! Here’s how:

Deal Tracker

Step 1: Create a new collection and select the spreadsheet option. Label it ‘Deal Tracker’ and hit the create button.

Step 2: The layout of how a business tracks its deals may vary from each company. However, here are the 13 fields we’ve gone for:

• Title
• Stage
• Notes
• Date
• Company
• Products
• Quantity
• Deal probability in %
• Item value
• Order total
• Final invoice
• Interactions
• Products

The cool thing about Zenkit is that there are 11 types of field properties to choose from. This means you can use special functions, such as formulas and functions, to present your information.

Once you’ve implemented all the necessary fields, your Deal Tracker template is complete!

Interactions

One of the most important things to keep track of when it comes to customer relationship management is the interaction between your business and customers—both existing and potential.

Creating your Interactions template involves the same steps as the Deal Tracker template. However, of course, it will require a different collection name and different fields. Here are the eight we’ve gone for:

• Deal Tracker
• Title
• Type
• Date
• Contact
• Related Deal
• Notes
• Client Contact

Products

Businesses usually either sell products or services, and if yours falls into the former category, then this next collection is something you’d want to include in your CRM.

Creating your Products template involves the same steps as the first two collections you created. Here are the fields ours comprised of:

• Deal Tracker
• Product Name
• Product Description
• Contracts
• Type
• List Price
• Product Photos

The post Create a Cost-Effective CRM in Zenkit appeared first on Zenkit.

Here at Zenkit, we sure love a good list. Task list, to-do list, checklist, you name it, we can’t get enough. With our list view combined with the task-list add-on, it makes a great Wunderlist alternative for Wunderlist users looking for a new app come May!

So far, we’ve given you tips on how to create a task list, discussed the benefits of both paper and online solutions, and suggested methods and techniques that could be used alongside your list to give you that extra pep in your productivity. And now, we’ll show you how you can create a task list template.

But first, a quick refresher…

Task List Best Practices

• Think quality, not quantity—remember, a long list doesn’t equal a good list. Keeping tasks to a minimum means you set yourself a realistic and achievable goal.
• Prioritizing tasks maximizes your task list’s productivity value.
• Set clear instructions when describing your task. Avoid being vague, as uncertainty can decrease your chances of actually completing the task. A good tip is to start your task with a verb, e.g. “read chapters 5–10.”
• Include leeway time so that interruptions are accounted for.

Methods to Try for Increased Productivity

• Getting Things Done, or GTD for short is a framework for organizing and tracking tasks. It forces you to add both context and structure to tasks so that the items on your task list are really the things you need to do.
• Time blocking is a technique designed to help us tackle the tasks on our list by scheduling certain periods of time in which to tackle specific tasks. Interruptions and distractions aren’t permitted during these time blocks.
• Eat that frog  is a method that encourages you to tackle your biggest task first thing. The idea is that once that task is out of the way, it will set the ball rolling for the rest of your tasks for the day.

The Age-Old Debate:Pen & Paper vs Online

• Paper is the most adaptive method, and there’s nothing more satisfying than crossing off a completed task on an actual list.
• Online task lists offer flexibility as they’re available on various platforms, and let’s face it, most of us are more likely to have our phones with us than a piece of paper and a pen.
• Ultimately, the decision is yours. Everyone has a different style of working and in order to optimize your productivity, different tools, methods, and techniques have to be utilized because what works for your friend or colleague may not work for you.

Why We Create Task Lists

When it comes to productivity, be it personal or professional, task lists are inevitable. Whether it’s your weapon of choice for getting organized or if it’s used alongside another method or technique, you’re bound to find yourself creating one.

But why do we do it? Why are we so quick to create task lists even though most of us don’t actually finish them? A LinkedIn study found that out of the 63% of professionals surveyed who use task lists, only 11% of them actually completed all their set tasks!

Psychologist and author, Dr David Cohen, puts our devotion to task lists down to three things: “they reduce anxiety about the chaos of life; they offer structure, and they are proof of what we’ve achieved.”

Another explanation provided is that the simple act of writing down tasks lifts a massive weight off our shoulders, and that, in itself, is reason enough.

The Zeigarnik effect theorizes why we find it so hard to forget about uncompleted tasks. Described by Russian psychiatrist and psychologist, Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik in the 1920s, it illustrates our brains’ fixation with tasks that need to be done or tasks that we’ve set out to do but hasn’t completed.

Professors E.J. Masicampo and Roy F. Baumeister of Florida State University furthered this theory in a more recent study and found that unfulfilled goals do persist in the mind. They explored the behaviours of participants who were allowed to construct plans for their unfulfilled goals prior to undertaking an unrelated reading task, as well as participants who weren’t allowed to. The former wasn’t affected by various activation and interference effects, whereas the latter group were.

In other words, what the study found was that although we cannot seem to forget about unfulfilled goals and/or uncompleted tasks, simply planning them can relieve us from the overshadowing burden of them.

So, I suppose we shouldn’t feel too bad about our unfinished task lists…

How to Create a Task List Template in Zenkit

As I mentioned earlier, using a task list is inevitable when it comes to getting your life together. We all have those routine tasks that we have to do over and over again—whether it’s devising a sales pitch at work or doing your weekly errands on Saturday morning—so, why not create a template?

Zenkit’s Clone Collection feature enables you to save a task list and then duplicate it as many times over. Using the example of creating a weekly kitchen cleaning task list, here are the incredibly simple steps:

Step 1: Start a new collection

The very first step of the process is to start a new collection. Simply click on the plus icon under My Collections. Make sure you select the ‘Tasks’ option, then give your task list a name and hit ‘Create’.

Step 2: List your tasks

As the name would imply, a task list requires tasks, so the next step is to add your routine tasks.

You can rearrange the order of your tasks by simply clicking on a task and then dragging it to the preferred spot.

Step 3: Categorize

The task list feature automatically categorizes the stages into ‘To-Do’ and ‘Done’, however, you can change this to whatever you fancy by adding a new label. To do this, select a task, click on the labels under ‘Stage’, pick ‘Add label’, and write down your new label.

Make sure you apply the new label to all the tasks that require it.

Step 4: Clone Collection

Make a task list template by duplicating your list. Click on the title of your task list, then the “…” symbol on the top, right-hand corner, and select Clone Collection. You then have the option to edit/remove the ‘copy’ bit, add to the task list title, or give the task list a whole different name. Once you’ve done that, hit ‘Clone Collection’.

The post How to Create a Task List Template in Zenkit appeared first on Zenkit.

One of the core responsibilities of a project manager is to ensure all the tasks, resources, and deadlines of a project (as well as everything else in between!) are coordinated in such a way that you and your team are able to deliver the project on time and within budget.

This is where project scheduling software becomes your best friend.

Why is Project Scheduling So Important?

A project is made up of tasks, and being able to effectively coordinate, delegate, and manage them is truly what can make or break the project. However, tasks aren’t the only elements. There are also resources, activities, deadlines, and milestones that also need to be planned and organized.

Project scheduling enables you to create and monitor dependencies, manage costs and resources, apply realistic timeframes, keep slip-ups to a minimum, and track the overall project. Where it was once maybe documented on a whiteboard or a flip chart, nowadays it’s commonly done so on project scheduling software.

Project Scheduling Software

Project scheduling software, which is often bundled with project management software, allows you to create project schedules online. Not only is this a more convenient method than using a whiteboard and marker, but it can make the entire project process a smoother affair.

Creating your project schedule online makes it easier to share the schedule with team members, as well as swiftly alert them of any immediate changes or updates (think notifications). Some products even include project scheduling templates to give you a head start.

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There are many different types of project scheduling software, from free project scheduling tools that will suit smaller businesses to applications designed for particular industries. Construction project scheduling software, for example, caters specifically to the industry as it is designed to meet the niches and regulations that are required to carry out projects within that field.

Project Scheduling Software Must-Haves

The ideal project scheduling software for you and your team will depend on a few factors. Things like the size of your team, the type of project you will undertake, and the industry you are working in will influence the decision. However, there are a few features that any tool worth considering should include. They are:

1. Gantt Chart

Gantt charts are a valuable asset in any project management toolbox. The bar chart visualizes your project schedule by using a vertical task list against a horizontal time scale design to highlight the broken-down structure of the project work, and the relationships between the activities.

Being aware of task dependencies is imperative for successful project delivery, and having a Gantt chart included in your project scheduling software can help to manage that.

2. Alternative Views

A good project scheduling software should include more than one option to format your schedule. While Gantt charts may be the preferred view, keep in mind that not every project is best displayed that way. In some instances, a calendar may make the most sense, or maybe even a Kanban board.

3. Resource Management

Resources are just as important as tasks in a project (and usually as plentiful, too) so it’s crucial for your project scheduling software to include a feature that helps to coordinate them.

On top of overseeing cost and supply details of material and equipment, being able to manage the details of your team members is important too. Your software should allow you to track working hours, holidays and time off, as well as the different locations and time zones of any remote employees.

4. Collaboration

It never hurts to have input from your team on what should go into the project schedule — after all, they too will need to rely on the document throughout the project. A great project scheduling software should allow you to stay in control of creating the schedule, but also give you the option to collaborate with fellow employees.

An example of a collaborative feature is the “@mentions” available on Zenkit. Using this feature allows you to communicate with other team members about important updates and/or anything else to do with the schedule.

5. Mobile Apps

The post What to Expect from Your Project Scheduling Software appeared first on Zenkit.

We live in a special time where you can find an app for almost anything, from paying your bills, to identifying plant species, to even finding your soulmate based on common things you hate. So, why not an app that boosts your productivity at work?

As we all know, it can be easy to succumb to procrastination at work. So much so, that some of us may need that extra bit of help to conjure up the motivation needed to get things done. Luckily for us, there are now productivity applications that can help ensure we stay on track.

Take Control of Your Day

A work productivity app is essentially software that helps you do your job more efficiently. Intended for business use, it allows you to produce documents, databases, graphs, and worksheets — amongst other things — as well as track your time, budget, and schedule. Available on mobile devices, it’s the digital assistant that can remind you of important dates, schedule a meeting, and ensure you’re sticking to your timeframes.

But for all the good they can do, they can also be counterproductive if not used properly.

People work in different manners, which is why there are many apps available to cater to everyone’s style. Where one person may benefit from an app that alerts you when you’re nearing a deadline, the constant reminders may drive someone else completely bonkers.

Selecting the best work productivity app depends on what you do for a living, and how you do it. The market is filled with apps that can manage your budget, let you work from home, or just keep your general organization in check.

What Your Work Productivity App Should Help You Do

While I’ve yet to discover one magical app that catapults everyone into the employee of the year, I can recommend that you look for one that includes a few, if not all, of the following features:

Orchestrate Your Workload

If your productivity app doesn’t let you prioritize, organize, and schedule your work, is it even a work productivity app? Being able to coordinate the what, how, and when of your day is perhaps the number one sought-after feature.

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Manage Your Time

Having your time managed scrupulously can help you achieve more. That’s not to say that simply having a work productivity app will be the elixir to your time management woes. The prioritizing part is still your responsibility, however, the app will keep track of the time spent on activities, and help keep you on schedule.

Capture Your Ideas

Never forget an idea or an important piece of information with a convenient note-taking device at your disposal. Whether it’s a simple notepad tool, or something a bit fancier like a mind map, having an app with you wherever you go means you’ll never fall short of having a place to store your thoughts.

Stay in Touch with the Office

Using an app means your colleagues are never more than a few messages away. Making document and information sharing smoother encourages team collaboration and allows you accessible contact regardless of where you, or anyone in your team, is working.

Create Closer Relationships with Clients

Just like making collaborating with your colleagues easier, using a productivity app can also benefit client relationships. With your workload schedule a seamless affair, goals and objectives are clearer, deadlines are met, and communicating with each other is a stress-free ordeal.

Final Thoughts

Work productivity apps can increase the quality of your work and performance, however, be careful not to fall into the trap of using it, well uhh, unproductively, as it’ll do more harm than good. Avoid exasperation by using the tools precisely for their purpose, and by choosing one that is simple and succinct. Whichever productivity app you decide to go for, just remember one thing — it won’t work, unless you do.

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post Take Control of Your Day with a Work Productivity App appeared first on Zenkit.

After last week’s introduction to GTD, I’ve been playing around with how to get it working really well in Zenkit. It’s a pretty simple system that relies on one master collection, some project collections, and favourites. While this system isn’t 100% perfect (what is?), it’s as close as I can get it for now and it works pretty well!

How to Implement “Getting Things Done” in Zenkit

The backbone of my Zenkit GTD is a single ‘master’ collection (mine has been very originally named ‘GTD’, but you can call it whatever you want). In the collection, I set up each of the lists as a label in a label field so I can view them as separate lists in Kanban:

Inbox

The Inbox list is where I add everything that comes to mind. I keep a Zenkit tab open at all times, so finding the list and adding to it is quick and easy.

To make getting tasks from my email into Zenkit quicker, I’ve set up a Zapier Zap that sends all emails marked with a ‘GTD’ label to my ‘Inbox’ list in my Zenkit collection. This makes it super quick to triage my emails — if I see something that needs to get done, I just add the label and it automatically lands in my GTD inbox.

As I process my inbox, I move things to the appropriate list so I can start working on them. Once a task has been completed, I remove the context tag (more on that later) and move it to ‘Done’. While ‘done’ is not a true GTD list, it’s a great place for me to look back on all I’ve completed over the last week. During my reviews, I archive all the items in the done list for a fresh start next week.

Here’s a quick reminder about how to process your GTD inbox:

Next Action

This one’s also fairly self-explanatory. When I determine something is a Next Action, I add it to the next action list, and if possible, I add a context tag, priority label, and more info in the description if needed.

Calendar

When something has a distinct due date, I move it to the calendar list. I set up two different date fields to deal with calendar entries. The first is fairly obvious, it’s the date field for tasks that are due on a certain day — i.e. the tasks that land in the ‘calendar’ list. This is the date view I choose to open my Zenkit calendar with and I have also synced this date field with my Google Calendar, so I can quickly access my tasks on the run.

Waiting For…

The second date field is used specifically for items in the ‘Waiting for…’ list that need a reminder. I set the date that the thing was added to the list, and then I set a reminder for ‘2 days later’ (or whatever time period is appropriate), to follow up with the thing I’m waiting for.

Projects

Luckily for us, Zenkit is pretty awesome at project management. Whenever a new thing becomes a project, I create a new collection for it and add an item of the same name to my Projects list in the master collection. I add the link to the project collection in the project item, so I can quickly navigate to it when I need to.

Now, when you do your reviews, you’re supposed to move a task from your project list to your Next Actions list. While you can do this using the ‘move item’ feature in Zenkit, I find it a bit tedious to move items out of my project collections and into the main collection since I’d rather see my whole project in one place. When I need to add an item to my Next Actions list, I add a context tag to it. That way, I see it alongside all the other next actions in the favourites lists.

I like to keep project collections really simple. I have ‘to do’ and ‘done’ labels set up, then tag to-do’s with a context tag when they’re next up. Once a project has been completed, I archive all the items in it and delete the collection. This is one extra step to add to my review, but I find it quicker than moving each thing.

This is something you can tweak to match your work style. Maybe moving items to your main collections makes sense to you, or maybe you keep projects separately as I do.

Someday

My someday list is another separate collection. It’s full of things I’d like to do but that don’t belong on the Next Actions list.

References

Lastly, I have created a separate team, imaginatively called ‘References’ where I keep different collections for things I need to reference. For me, most of these things are recipes and useful articles/research pieces I keep for work.

Contexts

The addition of My Favorites was a GTD game changer for me. I’d tried to use Zenkit for GTD in the past, but it was fairly unsuccessful, since using a label field then filtering for items with that label was cumbersome and un-intuitive (and annoying to do on a run to the shops!).

Then we developed Favorites and a lightbulb went off. Favorites are the perfect way to manage contexts, since all the items are already in a convenient list, and easy to access no matter where you are.

I only have a few favorites tags: office, home, and ‘on the move’. While I could add context tags for objects and people, I find that since I have my phone on me 24/7, it’s not really necessary. Additionally, although adding favorites tags for energy levels or priority would be an option, I prefer to mark them with labels, and stick to my location-based contexts with favorites tags, since they’re my most important contexts. Locations are mutually exclusive, but priority depends on the location (for me at least), so I don’t see the need for a separate list there.

As you can see, there is a lot of room to play around here, so you can very easily make it your own and change my system to suit your preferences better.

Areas to Improve

As I said earlier, this system isn’t 100% perfect yet. There are a couple of features I’d like to see added to Zenkit to make this a more seamless experience:

• One of the main struggles, as many users have pointed out, is getting data into Zenkit in the first place! To that effect, a direct email integration, a browser extension/web clipper functionality, and generally more and better integrations with other apps and services would really make this much easier.
• Additionally, an easier way to access Zenkit on the go in the form of Android and iOS apps with widgets and 3D touch support would make life a lot easier. (iOS is already available, and Android will come very soon!) UPDATE: Android and iOS apps are both available and on par with the web app. Learn more about our Android release and iOS upgrade.
• Lastly, while I would love to be able to delegate tasks to other people by adding them as a member to an item in my main GTD collection, I really don’t want them to be able to see everything on my to-do list (since I mix private and work to-do’s). A way to share individual items without sharing the whole collection would solve that perfectly.

Since I work here, though, I can tell you that these things are all on the roadmap, and some are coming sooner than you’d think!

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I’ve updated our GTD template to match everything I’ve described above so you can download it and start using it right away.

Cheers,

Siobhan and the Zenkit Team

*GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of The David Allen Company, and this article is not endorsed by or affiliated with them in any way.

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