There are innumerable benefits of self-employed and not being committed to a particular project long-term.
“While you’re offering a specific service to your clients, as a freelancer you’ll find yourself devoting a certain amount of time each week to business activities … Not only will you be responsible for the work your client has hired you to do, you will also need to do all the administrative work … your own sales, marketing and advertising … and unfortunately, non-billable—activities.” (Legal Zoom)
Being in business for yourself is rewarding and challenging. Emil Lamprecht , CMO and Creative Director Career Foundry explains, “Freelancing is something you really have to want, and be prepared to work hard for. And the result of that is a lifestyle, and a sense of freedom that is unrivaled by any other job in the world.”
To better equip yourself to meet the workflow challenges of being a freelancer here are five tools to boost productivity and peace of mind:
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NutCache
Nutcache is simple, fast, and multilingual online invoicing, and time tracking software. NutCache offers a Pro and Free version with a ton of free features. You can send invoices and estimates, and track your time for free, and your account will never expire. If you need a simple way to log hours on projects and bill your clients accordingly, this app does the job. And you can use their mobile time logging app (Android or iOS) to log hours anywhere. Best of all, you have access to over 20 comprehensive and flexible reports to analyze your business activity in real-time.
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Trello
Trello is a free web-based project management application that makes sure you stay organized. Create boards to organize anything. It is built to share and view documents with a single glance. It’s the perfect productivity tool to replace spreadsheets, sticky notes and more complicated project management tools because it’s infinitely flexible and is simple to use. Best of all there’s no complicated setup and it updates in real-time.
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Asana
Asana is a project management application focused on improved teamwork and collaboration. There are many great collaboration tools on the market, but Asana is very easy to use and completely free. As a freelancer you can use Asana to keep track of projects, progress and invite clients and others to collaborate in real-time.
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Figure it Out (FIO)
FIO, or Figure it Out as some would call it, is a chrome extension that tells you the current time in a set number of locations of your choosing. This is a great tool for freelancers on the go that find themselves in multiple time-zones. It will ensure you never miss a deadline, call, or email regardless of where you are in the world. Every time you open a new tab in your Google Chrome browser, it shows you the current local time and the time of other cities configured.
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Buffer
With the advent of numerous social media platforms a lot of time and effort would be required to manage all of your social accounts. Buffer consolidates multiple social media pages in one dashboard. In addition, it has great features like post scheduling and analytics. You can also use the Buffer mobile app to stay social on-the-go.
This article has been edited and condensed.
Dipti Parmar is a digital marketing wiz with E2M Solutions. She’s been journeying through the world of digital marketing for 6 years and is a blogger and networker. She’s also a movie buff and loves taking long walks by the seashore. Connect with @e2msolutions on Twitter.
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