Working as a freelancer comes with a lot of highs and lows, and it can sometimes be hard to balance work when you are all on your own. You must find new work, deal with clients, manage your schedule, finances, and all other sorts of technical stuff.
4 Ways to Make Your Life as a Freelancer Easier
Luckily, there are ways to improve your workflow and make your life as a freelancer a little easier to manage, here are just a few tips and tricks to get you started.
Remote Desktop Services
One of the best things about being a freelancer is that you can work from practically anywhere. However, there are always going to be limitations, and having to lug your desktop around with you wherever you go is one of them!
That is where remote desktop services (RDS) come into play, allowing you to take control of a remote computer or virtual machine over a network connection.
This means that you can make use of applications on your home computer without having to install the application on the device you are on. It is all stored in the cloud, meaning you can get your full, optimized desktop experience delivered to you anywhere in the world!
Productivity Tools
It takes a lot of drive and dedication to be successful as a freelancer, and when there is no boss around to hold you accountable, it can be easy to procrastinate and slip into unproductive habits.
Luckily, there are a plethora of tools and apps designed to help you stay organized and focused on the job. Just a few examples include:
- Toggle for simple time and activity tracking.
- Evernote for note-taking, organizing, and archiving.
- Trello for project management and collaboration.
- Omnifocus for keeping track of projects and streamlining them into manageable to-do lists.
Batch Work
Non-creative and general admin tasks that have a few things in common or are worked on in the same tool should be grouped and processed as a single task.
This allows you to hone in on a singular task without the hectic gear switching that comes with too much project and task hopping.
This could involve bunching all your meetings into one day or dedicating an hour each day where you process invoices or respond to emails.
When you deal with these kinds of tasks as and when they come, for example by responding to every individual email as it pops up, your focus will constantly be split and as a result, your productivity falters.
So, take any minor tasks that frequently pop up on your to-do list and batch them into larger sessions. You will streamline your day and save time in the long run.
Use Invoicing Software
If you have a lot of clients on the go, it can be hard to keep track of payments and manage your billing. Making use of a third-party invoicing tool such as Xero or Quickbooks will help streamline the process so that you can spend your time focusing on making money rather than collecting it.
These tools give you the means to track your sales and services rendered, the fees or charges applied, the client or customer who was billed, and when payment was received or not.
By making use of these tools, you will also have a data path to record all your invoicing data into your other accounting and bookkeeping systems, streamlining this secondary process as well.
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