While HQ has an HQ in Ogden, Utah, we’ve been a hybrid work-in-office or work-from-home team since the beginning. Like many companies, the 2020 pandemic really pushed us toward remote work, and our team is more distributed than ever. While we love when we can work together in person, remote work is something we’re always looking to improve. And let’s be honest — there are tradeoffs to be made and real challenges to overcome. Our team has been working this way for over a decade, so we polled the group for their recommendations.
Tools
We’ve come a long way since using Google Chat, Email, and Basecamp as our primary internal communication tools. We now use many of the usual suspects: Slack, Zoom, and Google Meet. Trello is used for task management and Notion for company documentation.
Over the years we’ve tried countless project management, note-taking, and communication tools. What we’ve found is that there can be a real tool overload, and keeping things simple is key. Too many tools leads to a lot of time and mental energy on upkeep. At the same time, there’s value is always searching for new ways to make our job more efficient. We try to strike a balance between always experimenting, but not over-commiting and forcing tools that take too much time.
We also allow flexibility for individual team members to use what works for them. This is especially true for task management, where a lot of autonomy is given to team members to track and organize their workloads. This could be done in Todoist, Apple Notes, or good ol’ fashioned pen and paper.
Beyond that, here are a handful of other tools our team recommends:
- Pomodoro
- Craft
- Perplexity
- FirefliesAI
- Granola
Tips
Managing remote work is different for everyone, and it’s fun to see how our team members have figured out work works for them. In their own words:
“While thinking about how to phrase an email, or solve a problem, walk around your room / house.”
“Try to have a set schedule, trying to follow that schedule so it doesn’t consume the time you have for your family or yourself.”
“For me, I find it helpful to maintain a consistent work schedule…I mute Slack notifications outside my schedule so I can try to maintain separation of work and personal.”
“Scheduling time to work or time boxing has kept me on track with my work and constant collaboration with my team has been really helpful for me.”
“Stay hydrated. I’ve found this can make or break my ability to think and feel productive…Those breaks don’t occur naturally when you are alone.”
“Treat every day as if you are going to see someone. Wear nice enough clothes to go out and be seen. Go for a daily walk.”
Products
At HQ, we give home office stipends and believe strongly in creating a calming and productive workspace. What this looks like varies person-to-person, but finding the right products can make a big impact. Here are some ideas from our team:
- Journey Charging Desk Mat
- Standing desk (Ikea and Uplift)
- Treadmill
- Elgato Key Light Air for video call lighting
- Quality noise-cancelling headphones
- Logitech 1080px webcam
- Lamps and good lighting
- Plants
- Apple Studio Display + Magic Keyboard + Magic Trackpad
- Anti-stress ball
- Nuphy Air75 keyboard
- Logitech MX Master 3S mouse
- A comfortable chair
There’s certainly no one-size-fits-all approach to optimizing remote work, but hopefully this provided some helpful ideas. Interested in working with us? See our open roles.