5 Tools for Staying Productive ｜ Freelancer Guide

If you’re anything like me, someone spending countless hours looking through Pinterest, reading blogs, or articles about successful entrepreneurs and their top apps or tools. I wonder to myself, “how do you stay organized while managing a busy schedule?” I have a growing Pinboard with over 30 pins on Project Management alone! I’ve tried my fair share of apps and tools over the years to keep me organized, but I have some top picks that have helped answer that question for me!

ASANA

I’m sure you all have heard of Asana by now. Dozens of entrepreneurs and women bosses swear by this tool and with good reason because it’s amazing. Asana is a website and mobile app for tracking a project from start to finish. Asana allows project collaboration, timeline management, and a files hub to see all attachments all in one place. As a freelancer, this tool has simplified the creative process by streamlining project scheduling.

PLANOLY

This tool is my go-to for all things Instagram! Planoly makes pre-planning content a stress free and  pleasant experience. I used to get so overwhelmed when trying to plan out what I wanted to post, but now, I am able to plan social media posts in advance through its calendar feature, as well as auto-posting.

GOOGLE DOCS

This handy tool has been around for years but it really is so widely known for a reason! It’s a dream for collaboration work. For example, do you need  grammar review for your latest blog post (like Coye is for mine at the moment, haha)? Perhaps a collaborating publication?, Or maybe something as simple as just needing to plan a family vacation? Google docs is  simple in the fact you can share a document to anyone for their viewing, commenting, or editing in live time.

GRAMMARLY

It is a app that can be installed into your browser and can be used online while writing emails, social media and blog posts. It shows your grammar mistakes and gives additional suggestions.  It really is something that once you get, you don’t know how you could have lived without it!

DUBSADO

While all my other tools suggestions were free, this is a monthly service that is $35/month., While you may be looking at the price tag and thinking,  “Why as a freelancer would I pay this amount monthly?”. Just hear me out. This is the “everything you need under one roof” site. The Dubsado creators just “get it”! If you need to share contracts, proposals, invoices, etc. all in one place then this is the best resource for you. You can find tools to share contracts, take invoices and schedule client appointments separately,but I have never found a better resource than Dubsado that does it all. They have easy templates for you to use and edit. Plus amazing customer service that always provides updates and video tutorials on how to use their site.