I use Cloud9 as my preferred Rails development environment. It saves me a lot time and trouble compared to developing locally (I run Windows). Cloud9 IDE
Skype is one of the better methods I've found for IM communication, and most of my clients have it. Mostly use it when there is a need for screensharing. Skype
I use Trello for organizing projects. Typically I break a project up into sections, add and prioritize tasks for each section. For largest projects, I'll break it into multiple trello boards. Trello