Freelancefolder

Super Easy Timesavers for Super Busy Freelancers

Posted February 8, 2012 in How-To, Productivity

Like most freelancers, my time is important. I have to spend it wisely if I want to earn a profit.

Most days I face a challenging to-do list with more tasks on it than I could possibly accomplish. That’s why I make it my mission to work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The alternative, working extra hours or missing a deadline, is just not acceptable.

Of course, a mountain of self-help books, blogs, videos, and other materials already exists to help us learn to manage our time more effectively. The trouble is, like most freelancers, I just don’t have enough time to go through all those resources.

In this post, I pulled together some of the quickest and easiest time save hacks that you should be able to use right away. If you’re looking for even more time saving tips, you can find some more here.

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David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”: Is It Relevant to Freelancers?

Posted February 6, 2012 in Productivity

I first read “Getting Things Done” (GTD) by David Allen in 2007. Back then, I was working full-time in UNICEF, juggling my work responsibilities with a family.

Although I didn’t implement GTD completely, it did allow me to unclutter my entire work area (not just my desk). It allowed me to tame my overflowing email inbox. It allowed me to leave my files neatly organized for my successor.

GTD was written for corporate executives and office workers. Is it relevant and useful to freelancers as well?

If it’s any indication, I still find myself using some of the strategies I learned from GTD. When I’m in the middle of something and an idea or to-do pops into my head, I immediately write it down in my Moleskine notebook. I still file my reference materials the way I learned to do it from GTD. And when I’m overwhelmed, I sit down and ask myself, “What’s the next step?”

Because freelancers’ productivity has a direct correlation with their income, it’s essential for us to constantly find tools and systems that can help us get more quality work done, in less time, and with less stress. There’s plenty we can learn from “Getting Things Done” to help us achieve all that.

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8 Metrics Every Freelancer Should Measure at the End of the Year

Posted December 30, 2011 in Business, Productivity

It’s the end of the year, and you know what that means…end of year reporting! Now’s the time of the year to dig out the Excel sheets, budgets, expense reports and bank statements and start reconciling. A pain, yes…but incredibly valuable.

Freelancers and independent workers often skip this critical exercise. Moving from the end of one year to the next is approached with a somewhat oozing type of existence, only slightly punctuated by a couple weeks of either reduced or insane workloads (industry dependent, for sure).

One of the best things you can do for your business – whether you’re a solo shop or a multi-national concern, is to stop at the end of the year and take a look at how things went. For freelancers and independents, you should be looking at the following metrics:
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5 Easy Tips to Increase Your Bottom Line

Posted December 21, 2011 in How-To, Productivity

Do you want a bigger bottom line?

As a freelancer business owner, you probably DO want bigger bottom line–you just may not know how to get one. In case you don’t know, in a nutshell your bottom line is the money left over after you meet your expenses. (Who wouldn’t want more of that?)

In this post I share five easy tips to help you increase your freelancing bottom line. Feel free to share your own tips for improving the freelancing bottom line in the comments.

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Why the Shortest Route Isn’t Always the Best One

Posted November 11, 2011 in Productivity

A few weeks ago, I had an appointment in another city. I plugged in my GPS, set it to find the shortest route to my destination, and I was ready to go.

Or so I thought.

Unfortunately, taking the “shortest” route used an extra hour. I wound up being late for my destination. My shortcut wound up being the worst way to go.

I hear about freelancers taking shortcuts all of the time. At first glance, what freelancer wouldn’t want to take a shortcut? Taking a shortcut might seem like a good idea, but unfortunately, many of those shortcuts wind up costing the freelancer.

In this post, I’ll explain what went wrong with my shortcut. I’ll also explain why freelancing shortcuts may not always work.

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10 Brand New Productivity Tools You Probably Missed

Posted November 10, 2011 in Productivity, Tools/Resources

Freelancers may have more of a need than other business owners to access data on the go, and from more than one platform. Productivity tools in the cloud offer a great way to address the issue of unknown source accessibility, especially when they are designed to sync between various devices, such as PC, tablets and smartphones.

Because there are already several articles at Freelance Folder featuring established productivity tools and software, today I’ll introduce ten new productivity tools that were launched in 2011. Some are cool, some are trendy, some are fun, but all of them can be of great help in the right hands.

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Should Freelancers Outsource?

Posted November 8, 2011 in Lifestyle, Productivity

Freelancers are used to being the outsourcees, but should freelancers themselves also outsource?

My answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Nobody can possibly do everything well. No matter how talented or hard-working you are, some skills are simply out of your reach. A person who knows what they’re doing would do a  much better job and in a shorter time. You already outsource plenty of things–hair cuts, dental care, car maintenance… Why not the  tasks necessary to manage your freelance business?

Self-employed individuals who try to cut down costs by doing everything themselves may actually be spending more. You have to spend time learning to do something well.

And then it takes you longer to get it done than if you hired someone else. Plus, you may make mistakes that could cost you big dollars.

That’s precious time and effort you’re better off spending by marketing your services and making the clients you have happy.

In this post, I’m going to talk about the top three excuses freelancers have for not outsourcing–and explain how to overcome them.

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Finding the Time to Write

Posted November 6, 2011 in Productivity, Writing

A few years ago I started my career as a full-time writer. The direction of my new job was not a surprise, since I have never wanted to do anything else for as long as I can remember. However, the way I started to freelance as well was something that just fell into my lap and was far from what I had originally expected to turn to.

While the opportunity is an amazing one, and I would never choose to do anything else, it isn’t always easy. In fact, keeping to a strict schedule so I can get to all of my work on deadline can be downright nightmarish at times–mainly, because it isn’t always so simple to keep yourself accountable and on track without a task master flicking the whip behind you.

In this post, I’ll share some of the techniques I use to find the time to write.

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13 Office Productivity Software Suites for Freelancers and Others

Posted October 25, 2011 in Productivity, Tools/Resources

No matter what your freelancing specialty is, odds are that you can benefit from the use of an office productivity suite. In fact, you may already be using one.

What is an office productivity software suite? Simply put, it is a group of business-oriented software packages that are bundled together for distribution. The most common bundles include word processing and spreadsheet software, but other bundle configurations exist as well.

Office productivity suites used to cost businesses hundreds of dollars, but freelancers should be aware that many low cost and even free options are now available. In this list, I’ve included 13 of the most popular office productivity software suites.

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