TPS Toolkit: Tools For Remote Work and Freelancers
It’s 2018, let’s talk about remote work! We know as military spouses you’re movers and shakers. Now, more than ever, millions are working remotely or using their skills to work for themselves. The Paradigm Switch prides itself on our distributed staff. Working together across five different time zones, our growing team would be nothing without the tools we use to make it happen! Don’t know where to start? Say no more! Grab your laptops, phones and tablets as we break down the best tools you can use to work from anywhere!
#1 Airtable
Whether you’re on a team, run your own company, or are a freelancer, Airtable is a great way to keep your projects (both big and small) organized and on schedule! With easy-to-use plug-and-play templates, getting started is quick and easy. Track everything from your content calendar and employee onboarding to customer research, project management and so much more!
What We Love About It
- It’s free! (For the most part…)
- Easy to use
- Fast to set up
- Tons of features
- Collaboration tools
Things You Should Know
- Advanced features start at around $10 per user, per month
- If you’re more visual, this may not be the best format for you
- It’s easy to get lost in the woods with the number of things you can add
#2 Trello
Trello is a staple of project managers the world over! It’s simple, easy to set up, visually pleasing, vastly customize-able and it’s a great way to track projects. The best part? It’s designed for collaboration from the ground up. There are also tons of useful integrations to make your boards even more helpful, with features like time tracking and more! Its card-based model (also known as a “Kanban board”) not only makes project management intuitive but makes understanding the status of things you or your team or working on simple and straightforward.
Things We Love About It
- It’s free! (Mostly…)
- Easy set up and use
- Built for collaboration
- Incredibly intuitive
- Tons of integrations
- Very customizable
Things You Should Know
- While you may not need many integrations, once you get past 4, Trello will require a subscription starting at $10/user/month
- You’re unable to assign subtasks to individual users on your team
- Like Airtable, the sheer number of features can quickly lead you into the weeds
#3 UpWork
Got skills? Of course you do! Want to get paid for them? Well, look no further! UpWork is a great place to market your skills for freelance work. With a wide range of offerings on their marketplace, getting started and getting work is effortless! Customize your profile and even set up your pricing to start getting paid for your skills! Companies and individuals are looking for everything from writers and designers to assistants and more. No matter where you are in the world, UpWork helps work find you!
What We Love About It
- Free for freelancers (yay!)
- Getting paid for your work is easy, and since UpWork manages the payments, you’re better protected from bad actors
- Getting started is smooth and effortless
Things You Should Know
- Some skill areas are highly saturated, so standing out can be difficult
- A bad review can have a significant impact on your search result rankings
#4 Slack
Communication is the most significant hallmark of successful teams. Slack is not only one of the most ubiquitous chat platforms on the platform, but also one of the most useful. With our distributed team here at The Paradigm Switch working across five different time zones across the globe, Slack is our go-to platform for communication and collaboration! Plus it’s available on mobile devices, making staying in touch easy wherever you are! Keep organized by creating channels and threads, share files, make calls, and chat. Plus, with the power of integrations, Slack can take a life of its own! We highly recommend this app!
What We Love About It
- Free! (Mostly…)
- Easy to set up and use
- Works on everything (PC, Mac, Linux, Apple, Android…)
- Integrations for almost anything and everything
- Feature-rich
Things You Should Know
- Advanced features start at around $7/user/month
- Free accounts are limited to one-on-one calls and fewer than ten integrations
- Can get a little out of hand with the number of channels you can create!
#5 Zoom
Take a meeting from anywhere in the world with Zoom video calling! With Zoom, you no longer have to ensure the other person has a Skype, Google, or Facetime account. Just send them the link, and voila! You’re on video! You can even share your screen and have multiple attendees, making this one of the easiest and most versatile video conferencing tools on the market. If you’re a consultant, run a team, or even interview for a position, Zoom is a great way to make a more personalized connection than a phone call or email.
What We Love About It
- Free tier has a lot of functionality
- Fast and easy to set up and use
- No extra account creation or software required for guests
- Great quality
Things You Should Know
- Your free account only includes 40 minutes per session, although you can easily get around this by just starting another conference.
- You get more functionality by using their app or their standalone software
- Pricing tiers start at around $15/host/month
While this isn’t a complete list, this is a great starting point! Got tools you’d like to share? Comment below or check out the links below to see how you can get involved with The Paradigm Switch.
Be a part of the conversation at www.theparadigmswitch.org
Or, join our amazing community at https://the-paradigm-switch.mn.co.
