Powerful VS Code extensions for remote work
Tags: productivity, vscode, remotework
Published: 2020-03-20 21:01:13

Remote work requires communication, collaboration, and discipline. Equipped with the right tools, you can make the most of your time working at home. The [Remote Work Pack](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=thegeoffstevens.remote-work-pack) is an extension pack that brings together some of the best extensions for Visual Studio Code to help your remote team be more productive—from anywhere in the world. 

What's inside: 

## [Code Time](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=softwaredotcom.swdc-vscode)

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<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/softwaredotcom.swdc-vscode.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/softwaredotcom.swdc-vscode.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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Code Time is a time-tracking and analytics plugin that helps you find when you work your best and get in the zone faster. With Code Time, you'll get:

* *Automatic time tracking.* See a breakdown of your code time by day and by project. 
* *Set daily coding goals.* Track your progress and reach your goals. Set daily code time goals and avoid morning procrastination by setting a target to start coding each day of the week.
* *Protect your code time.* Find your best times for coding and and protect those time from meetings by automatically blocking time on your calendar.

**Why it's great for remote work:** When working remotely, it's important to protect your time, avoid context switching, and maintain work-life balance. Code Time helps you build productive coding habits and improve as a developer. 

## [Live Share](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare)

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<td><img alt="marketplace" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/version-short/MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare.svg?label=marketplace&style=flat-square&color=AF1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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Live Share makes it easy to code with your team by letting you collaboratively edit, debug, and fix code in real-time without leaving the comfort of your own VS Code setup.

Simply click the Live Share button in the status bar, copy the session URL, and send it to your team. Anyone with access to the link can automatically join your coding session from their own code editor. 

**Why it's great for remote work:** Teams that code together, stick together. Collaborative coding with Live Share can help remote developers debug faster, solve problems more effectively, and pair program with ease. 

## [Live Share Audio](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare-audio)

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<td><img alt="marketplace" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/version-short/MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare-audio.svg?label=marketplace&style=flat-square&color=AF1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare-audio.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare-audio.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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Live Share Audio enhances the Live Share experience by adding audio calls to Live Share sessions. Participants within a Live Share session can automatically join an audio call and chat amongst each other, without needing to use a separate voice communication tool. 

**Why it's great for remote work:** Asynchronous communication is great for remote teams, but sometimes you need to work directly with a team member to tackle a new challenge. With Live Share Audio, you can supercharge your collaborative coding sessions and streamline team communication.  

## [Live Share Whiteboard](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=lostintangent.vsls-whiteboard)

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<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/lostintangent.vsls-whiteboard.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/lostintangent.vsls-whiteboard.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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 Live Share Whiteboard helps teams communicate by combining the power of whiteboards with Live Share. Participants within a Live Share session can collaboratively draw on a whiteboard and see each others changes in real-time. While still an experimental extension, it's great for quickly diagramming or brainstorming ideas with your team while coding. 

 **Why it's great for remote work**: Whiteboarding is a great way for teams to visualize their work, but is often difficult for remote teams. Live Share Whiteboard makes a whiteboard available for all of your collaborative coding sessions so that you never miss an opportunity to share—or sketch—a great idea.

## [Live Share Spaces](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vsls-contrib.spaces)

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<td><img alt="marketplace" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/version-short/vsls-contrib.spaces.svg?label=marketplace&style=flat-square&color=AF1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/vsls-contrib.spaces.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/vsls-contrib.spaces.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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Live Share Spaces lets you create and join virtual "spaces" that bring together teams and developers in real time. By joining a team, members can chat with each other, request assistance, and more—all from within Visual Studio Code. Spaces can also be public or private, accessible only through an invitation URL. 

**Why it's great for remote work:** While working remotely, it's important to encourage teamwork. Create a private space for your team or a group of other remote developers to keep everyone connected. 

## [Code Tour](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vsls-contrib.codetour)

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<td><img alt="marketplace" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/version-short/vsls-contrib.codetour.svg?label=marketplace&style=flat-square&color=AF1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/vsls-contrib.codetour.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/vsls-contrib.codetour.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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Code Tour allows you to record and playback guided walkthroughs of codebase, directly within the editor. A code tour is a series of interactive steps associated with specific files or lines of code. Each step includes a description of the code that can help new developers learn more about their codebase. 

**Why it's great for remote work:** Onboarding and knowledge sharing can be challenging—but incredibly important—for remote teams. Code Tour gives your team an effective way to ensure any developer on your team can confidently navigate and contribute to your codebase.

## [GistPad](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vsls-contrib.gistfs)

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<td><img alt="marketplace" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/version-short/vsls-contrib.gistfs.svg?label=marketplace&style=flat-square&color=AF1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/vsls-contrib.gistfs.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/vsls-contrib.gistfs.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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GistPad helps you manage and share code snippets, notes and interactive samples using GitHub Gists. You can open, create, delete, fork, star and clone gists. Additionally, you can collaborate with your friends and colleagues by "following" them, so that you can access, browse, and comment on their gists, right in Visual Studio Code.

**Why it's great for remote work:** Gists make it easy to casually share code, notes, task lists, ideas, and more with your remote team. GistPad brings the power of this informal collaboration to Visual Studio Code. You can also keep a personal todo list or daily journal to stay focused and productive. 

## [GitLens](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eamodio.gitlens)

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<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/eamodio.gitlens.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/eamodio.gitlens.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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GitLens supercharges the Git capabilities built into Visual Studio Code. Visualize code authorship at a glance with Git blame annotations and code lens, seamlessly navigate and explore Git repositories, gain valuable insights with powerful comparison commands, and more.

**Why it's great for remote work:** When working remote, it's incredibly important to keep track of what your team is working on and how the codebase is changing. GitLens makes it easy to see new changes, discover who wrote what code, and better understand your codebase.  

## [Pomodoro Timer](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=lkytal.pomodoro)

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<td><img alt="marketplace" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/version-short/lkytal.pomodoro.svg?label=marketplace&style=flat-square&color=AF1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="installs" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/installs-short/lkytal.pomodoro.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
<td><img alt="rating" src="https://vsmarketplacebadge.apphb.com/rating-short/lkytal.pomodoro.svg?style=flat-square&color=8F1BB2&labelColor=5E1BB2" /></td>
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Pomodoro Timer is a simple Pomodoro timer that shows in the status bar. Click the start button to begin a 25-minute session. After the allotted time has elapsed, Pomodoro Timer will remind you to take a short break. 

The concept behind the Pomodoro Technique is quite simple: focus on a single task for 25 minutes, followed by a 5 minute break. Every fourth break will be a bit longer, at 15 minutes. Following the pomodoro pattern breaks your day into 130-minute intervals. Focused blocks of time encourage effective unitasking, rather than unproductive multitasking. 

**Why it's great for remote work:** When working remotely, you can add structure to your schedule by carving out time for focused work, interspersed with breaks. Pomodoro Timer is great for creating a productive and healthy coding routine, especially when working from home. 

## Remote Work Resources

Looking for other resources to level up your remote work? Check out these guides, tools, and reports to learn more about how to be an effective remote worker. 

### Guides
* [Remote Work Guide](https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/resources/) - *GitLab*
* [Guide to Working Remotely](https://zapier.com/learn/remote-work/) - *Zapier*
* [The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work](https://miro.com/guides/remote-work/) - *Miro*
* [Everything We Know About Remote Work](https://open.buffer.com/remote-work/) - *Buffer*
* [How to Embrace Remote Work](https://info.trello.com/hubfs/How_To_Embrace_Remote_Work_Trello_Ultimate_Guide.pdf) - *Trello*
* [The Remote Work Guide](https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/remote-work-guide) - *PluralSight*
* [The Guide to Remote Work That Isn't Trying to Sell You Anything](https://blog.stephsmith.io/the-guide-to-remote-work/) - *Steph | Smith*
* [Remote Work Wiki](https://www.notion.so/Remote-work-wiki-1b21ef5501714fffa9f5c5c25677371f) - *Notion*
* [WFH Manual](https://wfhmanual.com/)

### Tools
* [Remote Tools](https://www.remote.tools/) - *Flexiple*
* [Remote Resources](https://springworks.in/remote-work-resources) - *Springworks*

### Reports
* [Remote Work Report](https://usefyi.com/remote-work-report/) - *FYI*
* [State of Remote Work 2020](https://lp.buffer.com/state-of-remote-work-2020) - *Buffer*
* [Remote Work 2020](https://remotework2020.remote.tools/) - *Flexiple*

## About

👋 I'm Geoff. I work at [Software](https://www.software.com/), where we're building productivity tools that help you protect your code time, avoid context switching, improve your work-life balance, and more. We're the creators behind Code Time. 

<br>

*Thank you to Vijay Verma at [illlustrations.co](https://illlustrations.co/) for the beautiful open source illustrations kit.*