Here are 3 tricks to improve productivity while working from home
Some of those who do found themselves working remotely they will certainly have seen an increase in productivity, but we are sure that others will have seen it worsen. There is no magic formula to solve the problem, but today we want to give you three tricks to improve productivity working from home, which can also be applied in other scenarios, such as an office where there are many distractions and it is just as difficult to concentrate. .
All the recommendations we will give you are based on apps for macOS, available on the SetApp store, but obviously there are also equivalents for Windows that will allow you to obtain the same results. SetApp is nothing more than a subscription-based suite, developed by MacPaw, which includes macOS and iOS applications. SetApp offers several subscription levels, ranging from $ 9.99 to $ 14.99 per month, and provides access to an ever-growing collection of apps.
The apps we're going to recommend won't solve the problems. productivity problems, but they will direct you on the right path and guide you to improve the situation, so that you forget any anxieties and worries.
Why does working from home often reduce productivity?
It sounds trivial, but distractions are the main causes of lost productivity when working from home. If you think about it, it is not so strange: the home environment is made to be relaxing and to follow one's passions, not to work, so it is natural that there are many elements that distract you and cause delays at work.So how do you go about staying productive? First of all, make sure you have a space dedicated to work. It does not matter whether it is an entire room or a small desk, the fundamental thing is that there is a space in which you work and do nothing else; in that space there must be nothing involving private life and nothing relating to work must come out of it.
Secondly, it is important to take breaks and get distracted, but only in these moments. Taking a momentary break from work to have a coffee, do a washing machine or munch on a snack frees your mind and helps you concentrate better on work, the important thing is that these breaks are not too long and that they do not cause you to miss deadlines.
With this in mind, the right applications can help you optimize time, organize your work better and be more productive, eliminating the need to work overtime to meet certain deadlines.
Gifox, to create step-by-step instructions
When working in the office, it was very easy to explain to a colleague (or to be explained) how to do something. With teleworking times have expanded and the process has become longer and more complicated, reaching the point of wasting even hours for something that previously only stole a few minutes.The first app we recommend wants to solve just this problem: Gifox allows you to create video tutorials, so you can show step-by-step instructions to colleagues. The app allows you to record the screen (or just a part of it) and, once the registration is complete, it takes care of converting the video into a GIF to share with those who need it. These GIFs can also be edited, you can speed them up or slow them down, create a loop or extrapolate only a portion of the GIF.
Gifox also integrates its own cloud, as well as being compatible with Google Drive, Dropbox, Imgur and iCloud Drive, but if you don't want to save the GIFs you create on the net, you can safely keep them only on disk. And if you find yourself recording many video tutorials, Gifox also integrates keyboard shortcuts that are very useful: for example, you can start and stop a recording with simple key combinations, the app will automatically save the video in the folder you prefer. .
Serenity, to avoid any distraction
The second app we are talking about aims to eliminate the very annoying distractions we talked about before, especially those involving your Mac. App notifications, updates, or other services can grab your attention, distracting you from work; Serenity helps you stay focused by eliminating sound notifications, so you can stay focused on your work.The app does not completely suppress notifications, but mutes the sound when they appear. Furthermore, unlike the macOS do not disturb mode, Serenity allows you to decide which applications to block notification sounds, in order to keep the main ones active in case of need: if, for example, you are working on a project and are waiting urgently for an answer from a colleague, you may want to keep notifications from emails, or from messaging programs like Slack, so you don't miss the message you've been waiting for.
Timemator, to manage time intelligently
The third application we recommend deals with one of the most important aspects of work, time management. At work, we all have repetitive activities, which we carry out following a routine. Timemator's goal is to track the time spent on these activities, in order to help you understand how long your work takes.Once started, the application is positioned in the macOS menu bar and allows both to register an activity and to create tasks; to start the recording, just click on "register", and then click "pause" once you have finished.
When you need to understand how you spend your time, perhaps to understand what the activities are that take away more of them, you can use Timemator to create graphs that show the most “time consuming” activities. The app also allows you to modify the tracking and enter notes, in order to have suggestions ready for when you will perform that particular activity again.
Among the functions we also find an automation that allows you to start and stop the Timemator recordings automatically, without having to do it by hand: the app will automatically track every activity you do, every time you open a file, an application and so on.
Gifox, Serenity and Timemator are all available on SetApp, which as mentioned above offers a subscription service starting at $ 9.99. The suite also offers a 7-day trial period, thanks to which you can try over 200 applications, in addition to the three that we have presented here.
