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Freelancing has become one of the top income avenues for people all over the world today.
A freelancer is a self-employed person who’s not bound to a single or long term employer and has the capability of working for different clients. Freelancing can be done from a remote location or even on-site.
Despite the amount of ease and flexibility that comes with freelancing, there are still some shortcomings associated with it.
One of these shortcomings is the management of a limited amount of time available to carry out these freelance projects. However, the advancement of digital innovation has availed ample solutions through the use of effective tools in managing time.
We’ve compiled some of these tools and how they can be used to manage time efficiently.
Here are nine tools every freelancer must have to save time:
Top 9 Time Saving Apps For Every Freelancer
TextExpander
Every freelancer is bound to send emails every now and then. It can be a mail requesting for project specifications or for the budget of the client. It’s common for some of these emails to have duplicate contents and there’s often a need for one to require extra time to fill in these contents.
This is where TextExpander becomes necessary. It allows you to create shortcodes that can be automatically filled in all sorts of required details like images and longer texts that might have taken you time to type when inserted. One can also pre-program different typing styles as well as signatures for various clients.
Teux Deux
If you’re a freelancer, you always need proper scheduling of tasks you wish to carry out daily. The Teux Deux app is just about perfect for this purpose; it is a to-do list application that packs simplicity in interface design with efficiency in performance.
The app is quite intuitive in its functioning, and its interface is user-friendly. Teux Deux is ideal for any freelancer who’s looking to keep things organized by effectively managing upcoming tasks.
EverNote
Creative and ingenious ideas can come to you at any time, and there’s a need to have some of these ideas noted to keep track of these ideas and build on them subsequently. Freelancers are bound to have so many loose details of texts and information flying around, and there’s a need for you to keep a record of these essential details.
Evernote is exactly perfect for doing this. It’s ideal for freelancers to store great ideas, images, texts, and even audio clips on either your phone or PC. The intriguing thing about Evernote is that you could sync these saved files and access them wherever you are. This is sure to save you a lot of time and energy as you can retrieve these ideas at any time you deem it fit.
Timenotes.io
This is a timesheet tracker app that helps freelancers to manage their billable time and also keep up with how productive they are with their services.
You can also use it to keep a record of your hourly and record your time spent on each activity.
Stayfocused
Surfing the internet as a freelancer is usually necessary, especially when there’s a need to do significant research relating to your field. However, the big question is, ‘when does surfing the internet become excessive?’ Some of us find it challenging to switch off our internet and focus on the task at hand.
This is where Stayfocused comes in. The app can restrict you from webpages once your preset allocated online time is complete. The app immediately sends you a popup reminding you of other things you should be doing at that particular time.
Rescuetime
Being a freelancer, you’d agree with me that there are times when you’d be unable to account for how your time was spent. This is particularly important as time needs to be accounted for when it comes to freelancing. This will help you make better decisions onwards by cutting out time-wasting online activities that reduce your productivity.
Rescuetime is ideal for keeping track of how much time you spend doing certain things on your computer to help you analyze this data at a later time. Results obtained from this analysis will help you redirect your energy into productive tasks.
Freedom
Everyone wants freedom in one way or another. But as a freelancer, it’s expected that you’d want freedom from unnecessary distractions to remain productive. To this effect, there are certain features and apps on smartphones that serve the purpose of being a major source of distraction.
Freedom application helps you as a freelancer to temporarily block some of those features, apps, and WebPages that distract you every time you try to work.
Shake
Have you ever thought of the possibility of having a legally binding contract drafted through your email?
Well, the Shake app has made this a reality. Now you can basically reach an agreement with your client on revisions, budget, and deadlines and get a legally binding document to back it up without having to get across to your legal team. A
s a freelancer, all you need do is to add a few details of your agreement, and the app will do the rest. The Shake app has been preset with all of the cumbersome legal terminologies you might require to draft such documents.
Wunderlist
Wunderlist is another powerful tool that helps you balance your freelance and personal life while keeping you productive.
You could create your to-do lists, set deadlines and reminders, and even clarify your ideas by adding notes under them.
Conclusion
Time is of great essence in everything we do in life. Time is always not on our side, especially when we most desire it as freelancers.
Having realized the importance of time to optimal productivity, we’ve compiled some great tools that could prove useful in making the best out of your time.
This will not only boost your productivity, but it will also endear you to your clients as you’d always deliver your projects on time.
Having gone through this list, do you believe these tools will improve your freelancing schedule? Please let us know what you think about these timesaving tools in the comments box.
About the Author
Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer who has experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of business. If you are interested in an entrepreneur or lifestyle, you can find her on Twitter & LinkedIn. She has good experience and knowledge in the field.
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