The Remote Work Productivity Stack
dailyblog.scottdclary.com
Hi All,
Here’s my daily newsletter navigating the crossroads of business, growth, and life.
If you love this content (please share it), but also…
Start here > https://newsletter.scottdclary.com
Check out my Podcast, connect with me on YouTube / Twitter, and read my Weekly newsletter.
Sponsor: Vanta
Security is essential for business success. Without it, deals stall and scaling becomes difficult because investors, customers, and partners expect strong security practices.
Vanta helps businesses prove trustworthiness by automating compliance across 35+ frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA. Their platform:
Automates up to 90% of compliance work
Speeds up security questionnaire responses by 5x
Connects you with security experts
An IDC report found Vanta customers achieve $535,000+ in annual benefits with the platform paying for itself in just three months.
Special offer: Get $1,000 offVanta for a limited time at vanta.com/Scott.
Listen Here
The Remote Work Productivity Stack
Every day, I wake up and walk 10 feet to my desk.
No commute. No office politics. No watercooler small talk.
Just me, my computer, and the work that needs to be done.
Remote work has become the default for millions of creators, entrepreneurs, and knowledge workers. Yet most people are still operating with an outdated productivity system designed for a world that no longer exists.
They're drowning in Zoom calls. Burning out from the always-on mentality. Struggling to separate work from life when both happen in the same room.
The result?
Declining output. Shrinking creativity. A nagging feeling that you're always behind despite working more hours than ever.
It doesn't have to be this way.
The most successful remote companies have discovered that productivity in distributed teams isn't about working more—it's about working differently.
Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopify, realized this early. When COVID hit, he declared Shopify a "digital by default" company and never looked back. But he didn't just send everyone home with a laptop and hope for the best.
He rebuilt how the entire company operates.
The result? Shopify's stock grew over 400% during the pandemic, and their productivity metrics improved across the board.
Let me show you how to build a remote work system that actually works.
The Async-First Mindset
The biggest mistake companies make when going remote is trying to replicate the office experience online.
This is like using a car to pull a horse carriage. You're handicapping a superior technology with an outdated paradigm.
The office is built around synchronous work—everyone operating on the same schedule, in the same place, at the same time.
Remote work unlocks something more powerful: asynchronous collaboration.
Lütke understood this when he wrote in an internal memo:
"We need to build a culture that assumes work will get done, rather than a culture that assumes people will get work done only if supervision is tight."
This is why Shopify implemented "no meeting Wednesdays" and encouraged teams to default to written communication over calls whenever possible.
The results were dramatic:
Meeting time decreased by 33%
Project completion rates increased
Employee satisfaction improved
But this only works if you embrace asynchronous communication as your default.
What does this look like in practice?
Documentation over discussion – If it's not written down, it doesn't exist
Results over activity – Focus on outcomes, not hours logged
Trust over surveillance – Assume competence until proven otherwise
When I made this shift in my own work, my output doubled while my stress levels plummeted.
The key is understanding that productivity isn't about being busy—it's about producing results that matter.
The Digital HQ – Beyond Just Slack
Most remote teams use Slack or Teams as their communication hub. But treating these tools like a virtual office is a recipe for distraction and burnout.
Your digital headquarters needs structure, not just channels.
At Shopify, Lütke implemented what he calls "the digital HQ" using a combination of tools:
Slack for quick coordination
Notion for knowledge management
Linear for project tracking
But the tools themselves aren't what make this work. It's how they're used.
Each tool serves a specific purpose:
Slack is for coordination, not decision-making
Notion is for documentation, not discussion
Linear is for accountability, not micromanagement
The problem is that most remote workers bounce between these tools without clear boundaries, turning their workday into a fragmented mess of notifications and context-switching.
Your ability to produce quality work is directly proportional to your ability to focus without interruption.
So how do you actually implement this?
Slack Done Right
Slack isn't the problem. How we use Slack is the problem.
Three simple changes will transform your Slack experience:
Turn off notifications by default (check messages at designated times)
Create status norms (Deep work, Available, In meetings)
Establish channel protocols (what belongs where)
Custom command systems can reinforce these practices by automating status changes. With the right implementation, team members can easily signal when they're entering deep work mode.
This approach automatically manages notifications and communicates availability to colleagues, resulting in a 70% reduction in workplace interruptions while significantly improving productivity during focused work sessions.
Knowledge Management That Actually Works
Most company wikis are digital graveyards—places where information goes to die.
An effective knowledge base needs to be:
Easily searchable (tag critical documents)
Regularly updated (assign document owners)
Actually used (link to it constantly)
Shopify makes documentation part of their workflow, not something separate. When a decision is made in a meeting, someone is assigned to document it immediately. If it's not documented, it didn't happen.
This might seem like extra work, but it eliminates the biggest productivity killer in remote teams: the "wait, what did we decide again?" syndrome.
Project Management For Adults
Most project management tools become task graveyards because they're designed for managers, not makers.
An effective system needs to:
Limit work in progress (fewer projects, better results)
Make dependencies clear (who's waiting on whom)
Surface blockers quickly (what's stuck and why)
Lütke implemented a simple rule at Shopify: if a project has been in progress for more than three weeks without shipping anything, it gets reviewed or killed.
This ruthless focus on shipping prevents the project bloat that plagues most remote teams.
Deep Work In Distributed Teams
Cal Newport defines deep work as "professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit."
In an office, deep work is nearly impossible. In remote work, it's your superpower—if you know how to protect it.
Most people's workday is death by a thousand cuts. A Slack message here. A quick check of email there. A "just five minutes" meeting that derails your entire morning.
To combat this, Shopify implemented what they call "flow state hours"—dedicated time blocks where no meetings can be scheduled and employees are encouraged to disconnect from communication tools.
The results were transformative:
Engineers shipped 43% more code
Marketers produced higher quality campaigns
Even executives reported better decision-making
But this only works when it's a company-wide practice, not just individual discipline.
How do you implement this in your team?
Block 3-4 hours daily for deep work (morning is usually best)
Create visible signals of focus time (calendar blocks, status indicators)
Batch shallow tasks (email, Slack, admin work) into specific time blocks
When I implemented this system, I went from feeling constantly behind to shipping more work than ever before—all while working fewer hours.
The key insight is that how you work matters far more than how much you work.
The Digital-First Meeting Protocol
Not all meetings can or should be eliminated. Some conversations need to happen in real-time.
But most meetings in remote organizations are inefficient, unnecessary, and draining.
Shopify tackled this by implementing what Lütke calls "the digital-first meeting protocol":
Every meeting must have a written agenda
Pre-work is distributed 24 hours in advance
Meetings start with 5-10 minutes of silent reading
Decisions are documented during the meeting
This simple framework eliminated the biggest problems with remote meetings: lack of preparation, domination by the loudest voices, and unclear outcomes.
The hardest part isn't the protocol itself—it's sticking to it even when it feels inconvenient in the moment.
But the payoff is enormous: higher quality decisions and hours of time reclaimed each week.
Management By Writing
Remote leadership requires a completely different approach than in-person management.
You can't rely on "management by walking around" when there's nowhere to walk.
Instead, the most effective remote leaders practice what Lütke calls "management by writing":
Clear written expectations (what success looks like)
Regular written updates (what's happening and why)
Documented feedback (what's working and what's not)
This approach solves the biggest challenge in remote management: visibility without surveillance.
When expectations and feedback are written rather than verbal, several things improve:
Misunderstandings decrease
Accountability increases
Performance improves
The most successful remote managers aren't those who check in most frequently—they're those who communicate most clearly.
When I implemented written updates with my team, the quality of our work improved dramatically because everyone had clarity on what mattered and why.
The Right Tool For The Right Job
Your productivity stack needs to be intentional, not accidental.
Most remote workers accumulate tools without strategy, ending up with a digital workspace that's as cluttered as a physical desk covered in papers.
Based on Shopify's approach and my own experience, here's the minimum viable stack for remote productivity:
Coordination - Slack (quick collaboration)
Documentation - Notion (knowledge management)
Project tracking - Linear or Github (task management)
Focus - Forest app (deep work sessions)
Video - Loom (async video communication)
But tools without protocols are useless. Each tool needs clear guidelines:
When to use it
When not to use it
How to use it effectively
The most productive remote workers aren't those with the most tools—they're those who use a few tools with intention and discipline.
The Self-Sovereign Knowledge Worker
The office was designed for managers. Remote work is designed for makers.
In an office, management is about presence. In remote work, management is about results.
People who thrive in remote work are people who:
Manage their own attention (not just their time)
Take ownership of outcomes (not just tasks)
Communicate with precision (not just frequency)
This isn't about working without supervision—it's about working without needing supervision.
The most successful remote workers aren't those who are always available—they're those who deliver consistently without requiring constant check-ins.
Autonomy without accountability isn't freedom—it's neglect.
When I fully embraced this mindset, my relationship with work transformed. I stopped feeling guilty about when I worked and started focusing entirely on what I produced.
Implementing Your Remote Productivity Stack
You don't need to implement everything at once. Start with the highest leverage changes:
Block 2-3 hours daily for deep work (turn off all notifications)
Implement a written update system (what you accomplished, what's next, what's blocking you)
Audit your current meetings (which can be emails, which can be shorter, which can be eliminated)
Use select tools with intention.
These four changes alone will reclaim hours of productive time each week.
The key is consistency, not perfection. A simple system you actually use is infinitely better than a perfect system you abandon after a week.
Remember that productivity isn't about doing more things—it's about doing the right things well.
Remote work offers unprecedented freedom. But freedom without structure becomes chaos.
The right productivity stack gives you the structure to make that freedom meaningful.
Thank you for reading.
– Scott