Freelancing is a lot about balance, making sure you keep your working life in good working order and some free time for yourself too. You can read article after article about tips and tricks that you can implement, but in the world or internet and tech, there are apps that can actually take care of any task you need them too.
Firstly, stop thinking about things that you have to do, the small admin tasks that pile up and take up so much of your time every day or week. Hire yourself a Virtual Assistant.
To do what? Well, there is a long list of tasks you can hand over to them, to make your life that little bit easier:
- Managing your Inbox
- Scheduling your Social Media
- Research
- Customer Support
- Writing Blog Posts
- Building Your Email List
- Calendar Management
Love making smart investments but don’t have the time? Get yourself an automated trading platform set up. It will manage all of your finances, help with strategy, trading tools, charting, live trading and so much. So this one is making money while freeing up time. Amazing.
If you don’t have room for a VA in your budget, then it’s time for you to make some time smart choices.
Set up your social media to post a month or more in advance. Head to some scheduling platforms like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, SocialOomph and Social Pilot. They will all help you manage your platforms, create campaigns, track your data and enable you to concentrate on other parts of your working day. If you carve out one day a month to curate content for your audience, you can then post fresh updates and trending content when you like.
If you are working with no set timers, you might find that you will work late into the night, without regular breaks. Try apps like Be Focused, Pomodoro Tracker, Marinara Timer and Clockwork Tomato. These apps keep you super focused in set amounts of time. Allowing you to work with a much higher productivity rate.
Test out Focus@Will – an app for music listeners that find getting distracted is all too easy. Focus@Will provides a playlist designed to boost your creativity and improve your focus. Once you manage to get into the zone, then you tend to work much faster and with more emphasis on achieving your goals.
If you are surfing the web while doing some research, instead of getting sidetracked, put the website in your Pocket. A simple app that allows you to save content to check out at a later date. You can even keep things directly from platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Flipboard.
Chasing money can be a considerable burden, Wave creates attractive invoice templates, can send recurring billing, payment reminders, and your bookkeeping? Already done. It is free, and you can even save up all of your receipts too. It also allows you to pay your employees or freelancers.
For the super creative Inkflow is a beautiful app. Ideal for visual thinkers or artists who love to doodle ideas as they go during the day. You can use a stylus with your phone and draw precisely as you would if it were on paper.
If you are having issues turning some of your goals into actions, then Lift might be your saviour. Lift works on a check system but also has a support network. With Lift, you get a peer coach, who can help keep you motivated if you start flagging. It is very simple, innovative and allows you to keep the focus on your goals without getting bogged down in things you don’t need to do.
If you want an all in one solution, then Evernote is going to be your best friend. You can use it to keep track of everything. It works across all of your devices, and can do the following:
- Record Voice Reminders
- Take Photos – add them to your notes
- To-Do Lists
- Record and Take Notes Simultaneously
The fact it can be used on your phone means that if you happen to be away from your desk, or out for coffee and have a bright idea, then you can open the app, add as much or as little detail as you want and it will be accessible from your desktop when you get home. It has free and paid options, so test it out for a little while and see how you fare.
Saving time is essential so that you don’t get burnt out while keeping your business running. So use the tech available to make your day that bit smoother.
The technology is in a constant process of evolution and development involving all aspects of the daily life of each of us. Choosing to have a passive role in this process could lead to missed opportunities, both professionally and personally- It is essential, a correct and responsible use of technology tools in order not to find themselves having to deal with critical situations given by an excessive and compulsive use of them. Obviously, the situation varies greatly depending on the needs of the individual, but it remains in the foreground the importance of not overdo it, to remind us that the devices we use every day must continue to improve our lives, and not become a surrogate relationships that we cannot to have with others and with ourselves. There is no denying that technology is the evolution of man, but the latter must be evolved enough to understand even how to use it and in what context use it.