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November 2020

USEFUL APPS AND EXTENSIONS WHILE WORKING FROM HOME

By Yazdi Tantra
Chartered Accountant
Reading Time 5 mins

These days when we are
working from home and / or working with a reduced workforce, it is a good idea
to be digitally enabled with the latest Apps and Extensions which make our life
easier and our efforts more productive. Here are some Apps which are designed
to make a difference on a day-to-day basis.

 

Zoom
Scheduler:
This nifty Chrome extension helps you schedule and join meetings
instantly. Once installed, just click on its icon on the top right and you can
either join a meeting or schedule a meeting right away.

 

It also allows you to
schedule Zoom meetings directly from your Google Calendar. Once you have set up
a Zoom meeting from Google Calendar and invited others, the invitees can join
the Zoom meeting with a single click. Makes life super simple!

 

StretchClock:
This simple extension reminds you to stretch from time to time. The timer runs
in your browser and is configurable. When the countdown timer reaches zero,
StretchClock shows easy, no-sweat exercises that you can do at your desk in
business attire. It includes some easy Office Yoga poses also.

 

You can change the settings
to match your working style. Easy to pause when you don’t need it and easy to
unpause so that the hurt doesn’t come back. You can browse through the
different exercises during your break and use the ones you need.

 

It’s a professional break reminder
for desk warriors. Take a break and follow the simple no-sweat exercises to
avoid pain and stay fit. The easy way to feel better and be more productive!

 

Free
Video Email by CloudHQ:
This is a unique extension which
allows you to record and send videos directly from Gmail. If you want to stand
out in your emails or you’re just too busy to type an email, you can send a
Video Email by using this extension.

 

Video Email is 100% free
and allows you to record your video, overlay multiple filters on it and send it
directly through Gmail – all with just three taps: record, upload, and send.

 

You can also upload your
video privately to YouTube, Google Drive, or create video file (which you can
then send as an attachment).

 

This is ideal for
salespeople, realtors, lawyers, marketers, and anyone who’s looking to cut
through the noise of boring text emails.

 

Grammarly:
This free Chrome Extension is a marvellous free tool which makes a huge
difference to the quality of your communication.

 

Whatever you type in Gmail
or on Messenger or in Google Doc, or Social Media, on Chrome, Grammarly will
automatically check your Grammar, point out mistakes and offer suggestions for
the correct grammatical syntax. You may accept what is suggested or just ignore
it and move ahead. It will even suggest reframing of sentences based on the
context and what you wish to convey. Grammarly is totally AI-based.

 

From grammar and spelling
to style and tone, Grammarly helps you eliminate errors and find the perfect
words to express yourself.

 

Recommended for anyone and
everyone regardless of where they work or what they do.

 

Export
Emails to Google Sheets by CloudHQ:
This is an
excellent tool for all workplaces. The data sitting in your Gmail emails can be
a goldmine. With this extension you can parse and export your Gmail messages
and labels to Google Sheets, CSV or Excel.

 

All
you have to do is to install the extension. Then on the left, select the label
to export and select ‘Save Label to Google Sheets’ in the Label menu. Once the options dialog box opens,
you can just tick the columns you wish to export, such as Subject, Sender, etc.
In options, you could select continuous export, name of a spreadsheet, etc.
Then start the export – and you would have exported all your data in Spreadsheet
/ CSV format and use the goldmine to further your analysis, tracking, etc.

 

A very neat tool to analyse
your emails.

 

Mercury
Reader:
The Mercury Reader extension for Chrome removes ads and
distractions, leaving only text and images for a clean and consistent reading
view on every site. It just clears the clutter instantly.

 

Once installed and enabled,
with just one click you can read text on your webpages in a clear, uncluttered,
ad-free environment. You can eliminate all the ads and the noise surrounding
the text on your webpage. You can even adjust typeface and text size and toggle
between light or dark themes for ease of reading. Options to optimise printing
are also available to print a webpage without ads and unnecessary clutter.

 

An interesting add-on to
browse the web comfortably.

 

Now that you have so many extensions to ease
your job, you can breathe easy and enjoy working from home. Best Wishes!

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