Ask any freelancer, anyone who is self-employed person, a digital nomad or entrepreneur about productivity and you'll hear that keeping yourself organised is the most important skill to hit goals and succeed building an online career or business. Procrastination and distractions are after all a big thing!

It all starts with researching and finding the right tools to set yourself up to staying productive throughout the day in front of the computer, to building a professional website to get new customers and smart nomad tools for staying in touch with your clients, share important documents and finally all the awesome business productivity tools to scale your marketing and writing invoices to get paid.

I surely didn't have all this worked out perfectly from the start. It's been a progress of collecting tools, integrating them into my workflow, ditching the ones that don't work for me, to finally creating this list of remote working tools that I personally use and that will hopefully help you too!

This page is continually growing as I learn and add new tools. If you have used any cool tools that aren't listed yet and I should know about, do let me know in the comments below. I am always looking at learning about a new tool!

Best Resources To Build Your Blog, Website Or Online Course

WordPress

Wouldn't want to build on anything else and have for almost 3 years now. WordPress is open-source web software to easily create a blog, portfolio or any website really and manage all your content – for free.

It's one of the most popular content management system today. Additionally, there are thousands of plugins and themes available to customise your site into almost anything you can imagine.

Bluehost

All my websites are hosted on Bluehost, one of the largest hosting providers out there. It's inexpensive, easy to setup with the 1-click automatic WordPress installation while customer service has always been responsive whenever I had any issues. You can also buy your domain name on there. However, if you want your servers to be in Europe try All-Inkl.

ThemeForest

You can get many many free themes for WordPress, however I like to use Premium Themes which usually give me a wider variety of design options as well as developers support and more frequent updates. I buy all my premium themes on ThemeForest which is powered by Envato.

Envato also serves as the leading marketplace for images, project files and other creative assets. For example, if you are looking for royalty free music, take a look at AudioJungle.

FileZilla

FileZilla is a free open-source FTP client which I use for data transfer.

Sublime

Sublime is an easy-to-use text and source code editor supporting many programming and markup languages. It's super intuitive, has a slick user interface and most of all: it's free!

WordPress SEO by Yoast

Probably one of the most extensive SEO plugins for WordPress that offers everything from a snippet preview to page analysis functionality to help you write and optimise your pages and post content, images titles, meta descriptions, generate XML sitemaps and many other optimisation options.

If you're on the edge of deciding what to do with SEO on your site, get Yoast, you won't regret it!

Keysearch.co

A powerful keyword research tool to finding long-tail keywords and analyse the competition extensively to see what you can best rank for.

After using Google Keyword Planner and various other services for keyword research, I have finally decided to go with Keysearch and I couldn't be happier as it finds me the right keywords for my articles fast and cannot imagine my blogging workflow without it now.

Fiverr

An online marketplace where you can buy and sell micro-jobs online. If you need an inexpensive business logo or business card, this is the place to come looking for it.

You can even find virtual assistants, copywriting professionals or programming masterminds on here. The starting cost is $5 per job (as you can guess from the name) and range up to $500, depending what you want done.

Tunnel Bear VPN

Browse privately wherever you go, so you never run into security problems while using open public wifi connections anymore. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can help protect and encrypt data like usernames, passwords, credit card details and cookies in public wifi networks which can usually be seen by anyone who is on it.

There are free VPN options out there, however many of them have restrictions in some way, so I eventually opted to buy Tunnel Bear as I use open networks frequently.

Best Email Marketing Software

Convertkit

After trying many different email marketing tools out there, I have finally ended up with Convertkit and I absolutely love it!

If you are a creator or blogger too, this email marketing tool and automation power will help you grow your website and business, no doubt.

MailChimp – Free Email Marketing Alternative

MailChimp is an email marketing service provider I use to manage my contacts, send newsletters and track email marketing results. It's easy to set up and connect with WordPress through a plugin with your personal MailChimp API key. You can use the free version for up to 2000 subscribers, and that'll take a while on a new site, after that it's by monthly payment. I love marketing apps that are also accessible on mobile as there are often some changes I need to react to on the go (or at breakfast sometimes…).

Best Business Productivity Tools For International Banking, Accounting & Invoices

TransferWise

TransferWise is a money transfer service I like using instead of PayPal, especially when various currencies are involved and overseas bank transfers are too costly. It's also about 8x cheaper than traditional bank transfers!

I use it due to lower fees mainly and it's super easy and intuitive too. You will see the fee for any transfer up-front before you transfer anything, so there are no hidden fees and surprises at the end of a transaction, like I had them multiple times with PayPal and other Banks.

With the new TransferWise Borderless Account, you can easily be paid in multiple currencies as a freelancer too. You can even get local account details for USD, EUR, GBP, AUD and NZD without monthly fees! They have no introduced debit cards, an additional plus for TransferWise!

XE Currency Converter

Makes it easy to calculate live currency and foreign exchange rates for free. Love the app for iPhone too and use it pretty much every day.

Quickbooks

This is the tool I use to manage all my bookkeeping and finance stuff with, from writing invoices to recording expenses and income. It's all cloud-based and my tax accountant can easily can access to my data too, so there is no more paper and manual work needed!

Since it's super easy to use, I think it's perfect for small business, startups and freelancers.

work-anywhere

Best Team Communication, Sharing & Project Management Tools

Trello

My go-to project management tool to organise literally everything! Great for to-do lists for your personal life too, however I mainly use Trello to build content plans for social media and other web content as it helps me stay organised and on time with different tasks, campaigns and projects.

It's also great to distribute tasks to other people and keep track of things that I published in the past. You could organise almost your whole life through Trello, it's super easy and can also be linked to the Slack and integrates well with other tools.

Asana

On top of Trello, I also like using Asana, another project management tool which is a bit more extensive than Trello and therefore can seem a bit more complicated in the first place.

I love it though, especially the calendar view and it's super easy to work with your whole team as you can assign tasks and pass them down the line if you have finished one task and the next person is taking over for example.

Slack

I cannot imagine digital nomad life without Slack! This chat tool sits on my desktop and is on most of the day. It's super handy to quickly communicate and share stuff with the whole team.

Slack can be organised with different so-called chat rooms by topic which work both as groups or direct messaging. It integrates well with a large number of third-party services such as Google Drive and Dropbox. Super easy to use on the go with the smartphone app too.

Skype, Zoom and Google Hangout

Even though I usually buy a local sim card in every new country when I decide to stay for a while, there is literally no need to pay for international calls anymore. I can simply pay for Internet data and make my calls from there. This is also great when the WiFi breaks down in the cafe or coworking space you are at, as you can still use Internet with 4G even then.

For audio and video chats I use either Skype, Zoom or Google Hangout as they are free and also perfect for small group video session. I also use screen sharing when I need to run my client through a particular issue or explain something.

World Time Buddy

I use it as time zone converter mainly but you can also schedule meetings through it in iCal or Google Calendar. Great, if you are travelling, have a meeting with a client on the other side of the world or just don't know what time it is at your final destination.

I set it up so I have all the relevant times are displayed on the homepage. I also usually have the Clock App on my iPhone set up to all the important time zones I need to keep in mind for clients.

Dropbox

I backup my files with Dropbox as I find it super easy to use and organise. It syncs easily so I can access my files on the go over my phone too.

I additionally use Google Drive as you get a free 15GB across Google drive, Gmail and Google Photos on signup.

WeTransfer

A cloud-based file transfer service I use if I need to send large files (up to 1GB in the free version).

It's usually faster to upload here than synch over the cloud, but all depending where in the world you are.

Sidekick by Hubspot

A smart tool to see who opens your emails, how many times and from where they are opened in real-time.

It's awesome to perfectly time follow-ups and see which links in the email the other person has clicked or which documents were downloaded. The free version has limited trackings per month.

1Password

This one I use ALL THE TIME. And I am literally so thankful for this password manager which holds all the many various passwords, software licenses and other information in a virtual vault that is locked with a master password.

I really wouldn't want to live without this tool! Available for iPhone too, synchs perfectly, remembering passwords is now no longer required, thankfully, and I can have really secure individual passwords for different sites and won't have to change every single one in case of an attack.

Toggl.com

An online time tracking tool where I log and control my time on all daily tasks. It can track work time for teams too (free for a team of up to 5). Time entries can have a description, project and client associated with them.

In the pro version you can also mark them as billable or non-billable. Detailed reports of how you have spent your time can be generated from the web app. So easy!

f.lux

This neat little app helps match the computer screen light with the natural light around you, it dims into a warmer mode at sunset and wakes up when the sun rises again, which makes it easier on your eyes if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer, as pretty much all nomads do. It's free!

Boomerang for Gmail

Send emails at the right time. With Boomerang for Gmail it's easy to schedule automatically at a time when you want your emails to be send out.

If you work across time zones or with clients in -14 hours, you'd maybe want to send an email later or appear as if you are working when they are.

Momentum

I often get asked what the screen app I use. It's actually an extension for Google Chrome called Momentum. Everyday it gives you a different inspirational background, a to-do list you can add to as well as adding a you can add a single main focus of your day. To quickly help you navigate to your most important pages you can add link widgets and you also have to ability to search the app – let's get productive!

There is another Chrome extension called Motivation, if you ever wanted to see your life ticking away. You need to provide your date of birth and will then get your exact age counting up and up and. It eventually made me so nervous though so I am back with Momentum. But it is a sweet extension to stop procrastination and get stuff done!

best remote work tools

Canva

A really simply tool to design your own awesome graphics for your website, social media and other marketing material, even print. It's super easy and you don't have to be a graphic designer at all, you just use the drag-and-drop interface. There are many pre-made sizes and over a million photographs, graphics, and fonts, some of them are free or available for a small charge.

You could also check out Piktochart.

Best Social Media Marketing Tools

Tailwind

Tailwind makes it a breeze to schedule to Pinterest and Instagram. I mainly use it for Pinterest now as it's easy to set up a schedule to get pins out across different boards, the best feature here is however the reporting and analysis function build behind it, so you can evaluate which pins are actually a traffic driver and optimise from there.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is an extensive social media management tool which supports multiple social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and also Pinterest and more. I use it especially for scheduling to Twitter and Facebook but it is great to manage any channels without having to visit them all individually. I also now use it for Instagram to push images and captions I craft on my computer to my mobile, as that is the only way you can post on Instagram right now.

Additionally, you can create and customise different streams according to your individual business needs in order to monitor your own channels, competitors, hashtags and reply to comments and messages across platforms.

Buffer

Buffer makes it simple to manage multiple Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn Accounts. And you can also connect it to Pinterest and Instagram finally! It has a very user friendly Chrome extension to make scheduling a bliss.

I use it mainly for Twitter and it's great to have simple analytics integrated to see which tweets do best and if they are worth tweeting again. It's simply a really great app for social media scheduling!

Later

Fantastic to schedule and manage your Instagram posts. You can upload photos and videos from your phone or to the web application from your desktop, which I find highly important as not all my photos are stored on my phone as I manage them from either the web or mobile app.

Scheduled posts will be pushed to your phone and you can still use all Instagram filters and write an Instagram caption as always. It's also possible to auto-schedule posts!

Zapier

This service helps you automate tasks and workflows, such as posting the same content across several social networks. It's as easy as creating a so-called recipes once, which are then triggered based on updates you do on Facebook, Instagram or elsewhere.

For example, if I upload a photo to Instagram, then a new tweet with the image will be posted on my Twitter account. Great if there is little time to post individually on all social media channels.

Best Technology For Working Remotely

Macbook Pro

I have been using my MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and an extended 500GB since mid-2017 and I absolutely love it! I think it's the best laptop for digital nomads and I any wouldn't want to give it away for anything.

The 13-inch model is perfect as it is light, a good size for traveling, the battery lasts for a good day of work without charging and I keep it safe with a basic but sturdy light weight crystal case and keyboard skin.

Portable External Hard Drive

I backup all my files (additionally to a cloud backup over Dropbox) on an external hard drive from Western Digital which has 2 TB of space which so far proofed to be plenty for all the many photos, videos and other files I have on my laptop.

It's light, durable and you can secure it with an additional password so no one else can access your data.

Sony Alpha A7 III

I bought my first mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses over 6 years ago and was hooked from the beginning! My main motivation to decide against a DSLR camera and for something more compact, was definitely the size and weight. Since I travel a lot, I do not like to carry bulky cameras around, let alone the lens and tripod equipment. However, I still wanted to take awesome photos, especially landscape, portrait and night shots.

With the Sony Alpha A7 III, this is an absolutely breeze and I recommend it to anyone who loves the picture quality of a DSLR but wants half the size and weight. Truly epic! Plus: It shoots pretty nice high-quality videos too.

DJI Osmo Action Camera

I love taking action shots and videos around the water and beach, whether it's taking snaps surfing, stand up paddling, snorkelling or jumping around waterfalls, a sturdy action cam is always a great addition to the digital nomad toolkit. After years and years of having a GoPro, I finally decided on the DJI Osmo Action Cam.

It's an amazing action cam with true RockSteady mode and just great to play around with!

Skyroam

Every digital nomad relies on WiFi and what happens if there is no Internet connection? Madness! Mobile plans usually only cover GB for a few days per month of work and I don't like to use them as a reliable hotspot. Also, what if you don't have a local SIM card and have to pay hefty roaming fees?

Therefore, I like using a mobile wifi router and have owned this one from Skyroam for ages. It works in 130 countries globally and can connect up to 10 devices to 4G LTE speed with a touch of a button.

Luckily, with Skyroam you won't need to enter any contracts but you simply pay for what you use which keeps it easy and transparent for just $9 per day of unlimited wifi. Absolutely invaluable!

working remotely tips and tools

Best Wifi & Coworking Space Finder Tools

Nomadlist: Finding The Best Destinations For Digital Nomads

You surely cannot go past Nomad List, no matter if you are only just starting out as a digital nomad or if you are already working location independent and eyeing a new destination.

Nomad List is the ultimate source to find the best cities for digital nomads to live and work remotely. The filters you can put are amazingly detailed, ranging from wifi speeds to weather, safety, things to see and do and much more.

Speedtest.net

Speed test the Internet connection at any café with a simple tap BEFORE sitting down, this app has saved me from so many frustrations when free WiFi was advertised but in fact the connection wasn't working, which happens more frequently than you think, no matter where in the world you are.

There is also a mobile app and you can save results to refer to later on too. Fun design, easy to use, never really felt the need to look at another speed-testing app.

Work Hard Anywhere

Great little app that sits on my phone for when I need to find a nearby workspace/cafe with Internet. It's free to use and you can apply a number of filters, for example if you need power plugs, parking spots nearby, you can see the opening hours, if it's cheap, has coffee and much more.

It lists libraries, cafés as well as coworking spaces. Since it's crowdsourced, some locations have more entries than others, but I am hoping it is continuing to grow in the future!

Work From

Home isn't always to best place to work from, because it has distractions, right?

Workfrom shows you the best coffee shops with wifi and power close to your location. It also lists coworking spaces or you simply hit the option “anywhere with fast WiFi”.

Get Croissant

Hate gym memberships as much as I do? Simply because I don't like being locked into one thing for a long time. I like flexibility!

Get Croissant is a membership for independent coworking spaces around the world, so you can choose the best coworking spaces daily with one membership, including 24/7 access. You can find their flexible workspaces in New York City, Amsterdam, San Francisco or Barcelona… and many more!

Sign up through my link here and get a free week trial, plus $20 towards your first monthly membership purchased!

business productivity tools

How To Find And Connect With Other Digital Nomads And Remote Workers

digital nomad gear

Which tools are you using to stay productive on the road?

Share with me in the comments below.

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