As remote workers, at Eb + Flo we spend a lot of time on our laptops using different tools. While we love the predictable Adobe products like Illustrator and Photoshop and do use them every day, these are the other tools we recommend every remote worker, digital nomad and freelancer uses.
We can guarantee using a mix of these tools will speed up how you work and make your life a bit easier.
1. Figma
We love Figma. We use it for a lot more than just web design and UX. From planning social media instagram grids, to creating social media posts, collaborating with clients on designs and a lot more, it’s the one tool we don’t think we could go without using every day as a Web Designers.
The very best part? It’s free. Well, up until a certain point. But if you’re a freelancer or individual the free plan is perfect. It doesn’t matter which CMS you plan on using, it will work for you.
Figma connects everyone in the design process so teams can deliver better products, faster. You can check out Figma here.
2. Notion
We’re recent Notion converts, but it’s completely changed the way that we work and organise our lives. Having everything sorted in it’s correct place makes a world of difference to our day.
We need to know everything is in its place and Notion helps massively with this. Having one workspace for everything, as well as somewhere to house our WIP, strategies and plans makes our brains relax. You can find more about Notion here.
3. WhatsApp Business
We’ve been trying really hard to balance our work and personal lives lately. Previously we’d been using our personal WhatsApps with clients and for work. So we never really stopped thinking about work, responding, or just sending one more thing.
It’s really not healthy and was something we actively needed to work on. Setting up a WhatsApp Business account we’ve been able to split our personal and work chats so we can focus on one or the other.
Every single one of our clients was ok with this, and having work in a separate area really helps us to find that balance we all need! You can find out more about WhatsApp Business here.
4. Xero
Ok, so this one makes a lot of sense. But we’ve said it before and we will 100% say it again, but we hate anything to do with tax or finance. It’s not our forte, and something we will never enjoy.
However. we like to use Xero. After our accountant set it up, we’ve figured out how to use it for business, from doing invoices, quotes, budget and cashflow to making tax time a lot easier, we couldn’t live without it.
If you’re doing any of these things manually, we’d really encourage you to try using Xero or another accounting software. Especially if you hate anything to do with numbers like us. You can check out Xero here.
5. Spotify
Music makes us very happy. Having a playlist in the background while focusing, or working on something that really helps. We’re big into curating playlists and from our upbeat indie bangers to our Karen Mode Activated playlist (It’s great, check it out here) for those moments we really need to get things done, Spotify is responsible for a lot of our most productive moments.
We don’t need to share the link to Spotify, but we will anyway on the odd chance somebody doesn’t use it here.
Did I miss some? Maybe. I use a lot of tech daily, but these for right now are my favourites. Want to know our favourite plugins? Check them out here.
Learn more about us and the work we do here.
