Six tools to make work more bearable

Jobbio's Kirstie McDermott walks through six tips and tricks to help make work a bit easier.

Work can be… well, a lot, can’t it? From calendars filled with back-to-back meetings to multiple projects running simultaneously (the milestones of which you’re frantically juggling), not to mention trying to scrape together some time to do the actual work, it’s no wonder many people feel like they are running to keep up during their nine to five. 

Below, we’ve found some tools that just might help.

For meetings

No one wants to be the person nominated to take notes. What a pain! Thankfully, if your meeting is virtual, Sembly can help. Integrate it with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and Webex and it will record the meeting, and then provide the notes afterwards. Result!

If agendas are your issue, Hypercontext is handy: the site contains 91 free agenda templates you can download as PDF, Excel, or Word documents.

For projects

Teamwork may not feel as easy as it once did, but cloud-based sharing tools that allow for organisation of files and documents such as Dropbox, Office 365 and Google Workspace make it easy for teams to work seamlessly together.

Notion is project management and note-taking software that’s designed to help teams coordinate deadlines, objectives, and assignments efficiently to boost productivity.

Our favourite is Trello, a collaboration tool that organises projects, tasks and anything you’re working on into boards which you can share and assign to specific people. Set dates and timelines, and get the work done. 

For distraction

Watercooler gossip distracts us in the office, sure – but so do our own phones and quick off-piste visits to non-work related websites. There are ways to help.

Freedom is an app that blocks the websites and apps that distract you the most. Choose what you want to block, select for how long and on what devices, and away you go.

For some extra calm, look at Serene, a distraction blocker-meets-productivity tool. Feed it the websites and apps that distract you the most, and it will help you plan your day based on tasks you need to achieve, and the time you think they’ll take. This kills all your distractions for a set time and some optional concentration music will play too.

While you could test your newfound productivity hacks out at your current job, you could really impress a new manager instead. We’ve got three roles to take a look at below, and plenty more to check out on the AltFi Job Board too.

Software Engineer, Hazy

Hazy is the most advanced and experienced synthetic data company in the world. It is looking for Senior Software Engineers to join the engineering team. You’ll work on some truly cutting-edge projects, designing and building features and systems, collaborating and working with team members. You will bring your work through the software development life cycle, including code review, testing and performance analysis and will program well-designed, testable, efficient code. You’ll need to have a BSc degree in computer science or engineering, at least three-to-four years’ experience as a software engineer or developer, and be willing to learn new languages and technologies as required.

Find out more about the Senior Software Engineer job, or discover more roles at Hazy.

Infrastructure Engineer, 10x Banking

10x Banking provides banks with a cloud-native core banking platform, and its aim is to transform banking. The company is seeking a fully-remote Infrastructure Engineer who is passionate about working with cutting-edge technologies, and can bring deep technical knowledge and experience. You’ll have solid experience of using HashiCorp Terraform to deploy Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in an AWS cloud-based environment via an infrastructure CI/CD pipeline, experience with automation tools such as Ansible and Packer and have a systematic problem-solving approach, coupled with strong communication skills and a sense of ownership and drive. A broad knowledge of interpreted programming languages, operating system principles, and networking best practices is also required.

More on the Infrastructure Engineer is available as are other opportunities at 10x Banking.

Senior Data Analyst, Tandem Bank

Tandem, the UK's fairer, greener, digital bank providing sustainable ways to borrow and save, is looking for an ambitious and purpose-driven Senior Data Analyst to join its team. You will work closely with stakeholders to understand their needs and scope the analytics necessary to inform their decisions, present analytics projects, and offer recommendations. To apply, you’ll need a numerate degree (mathematics, computer science, physics or engineering etc) or equivalent, coding proficiency in some form of SQL (preferably MS SQL), an analytical/mathematical language (preferably DAX and Python) and the capacity to self-teach, as Tandem’s tooling is evolving. Additionally, two or more years’ knowledge of consumer finance, banking or similar is required.

Read the full Senior Data Analyst job spec or browse more roles at Tandem Bank.

For more inspiring roles in the tech space every week, check out the AltFi Job Board