Many of us have had to make a huge change in the way we work in 2020. And, while working from home isn’t new for us at VSP Accountancy, we’ve also seen a change in how we organise our time, stay connected with colleagues and clients and – ultimately – our every day working routine.
Digital apps and tools have helped us to make this transition in our business, so we thought we’d share some of our favourites.
Stay organised.
It can be tricky to keep track of time when working from home, so we’d recommend using a basic online calendar, like Outlook or Google Calendar to make note of important tasks, calls and any other “must-dos”.
You can take this one step further and use a project management tool like Trello, Asana or Planner (if you have Microsoft 365). While all three are different, they all allow you to manage and prioritise your tasks in an easy-to-digest way.
What’s great about moving everything online is that you can share your calendars/projects (or certain areas of them) with your teammates, ensuring everyone is on the same page and knows what they need to do each day.
Stay connected.
Well, 2020 has certainly been the year of the video call, so we won’t dwell on this point for too long. But, investing in a tool like Zoom or Teams, you can still regularly chat with clients and colleagues face-to-face.
Meanwhile, apps like Slack, Discord and Teams enable you to send instant messages, cutting down the need for long email threads and an overflowing inbox.
Stay on top of everything.
While a lot of people have already made the move to digital accounting software, we know there are still some businesses out there who are still paper-based.
Ditching paper receipts and notebooks and swapping them for one app where everything is stored not only saves time but also means that your accountant can access them without you having to pass them a box of receipts.
We recommend Quickbooks, FreeAgent and Xero.
Stay sane.
The key to productivity at work is largely down to what we do when we’re not working. It can be hard to switch off fully after work when we no longer have a commute and our laptop is sitting a few metres away from us.
There are so many apps out there to help you unwind. Calm and Headspace specialise in guided meditations and stories that will send you to sleep, while you can pick up new hobbies on YouTube and Skillshare.
It could be as simple as whacking on your favourite tune on Spotify and having a dance around your living room… no judgement here!
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