Though there is an excitement in making shift from regular 9-5 job to going full freelance, it can be a little unnerving as well. Freelancing gives you opportunity to set your own hours, choose your own clients, and not listen to anything crap your boss says, it comes at its own cost. You do not have a safety net which comes with a regular job, but that is the whole point. You always think twice about spending money on premium software, which is not the case if you work in an established company.
But if you run a freelance business of your own, there are a plethora of quality tools available which help you even if you have not had a paid subscription. Let us check a few of the applications:
- Google Hangouts
This is the number one tool which cannot be avoided if you are living a freelancer’s life. Gmail is an important part of your life, as most of the personal emails are created with Gmail. When you are accessing your Google Mail account, there is a small tab in the bottom right for Hangouts where you can have quick instant messaging features. In tough times like the COVID crisis, collaboration apps saw maximum jump without any surprise. For more premium video conferencing features you can also try trending Microsoft Teams with G suite to Office 365 Migration and opting for correct Office 365 plan for you.
Hangouts allows up to 9 people to the conversation in a video call. If you have a Gmail account, you’re good to use Google Hangouts. It’s a text based as well as video calling tool, but if you want to use only for the purposes of video conversation one-on-one, Google has another app called Duo.
- Slack
You have heard about Slack, haven’t you? A modern, slick, and dynamic collaboration app which is popular among the millennials. It is often being touted as the epitome of all modern 21st century team communication apps. It is simple, easy to use, and moreover – fun. You will love to use Slack because you can create so many channels to create for communication with clients and people working with you on the project. If anyone is a part of your Slack group, the communication channel is open to them. The search functionality and pinning feature will come to your help. Though there are other popular applications such as MS Teams which are more secure and branded but Slack includes private messaging and one-on-one communication as well.
- Toggl
A time-tracking application which can be used on computer, phone, or a web browser. We can start creating projects after setting up the account. If you find a designer for branding or set up a website as a portfolio, Toggl can be a useful application.
This is basically a project tracking application. It helps you setup the project, start the time, and end the timer and keep updating your list as you are working on the projects.
As your client base expands, you can assign your clients to the projects. A freelancer’s life can be messy because things can go chaotic in no time, but tools like Toggl helps in tracing the projects accurately. The reporting feature in Toggl is very precise even in the free version. You can track your time spent and get a detailed summary of report and visual representations accurately. Toggl easily integrates with apps such as FreshBooks and QuickBooks Cloud.
- Asana
Again, this is a superb project management application which can be used by up to 15 users for free. You can set unlimited projects, conversations, and tasks. A productivity app which in Sanskrit literally means “pose” is good for scheduling your tasks and keeping yourself on track.
The Asana application also allows you to add attachments and have conversations with others on your project. Toggle easily integrates with other applications available on Google Play Store or App Store so you can be notified on-the-go.
Freelancing is exactly what is sounds like – free. Enjoy a degree of autonomy while choosing your terms and conditions without anybody telling you what you need to do. Have fun with your life!
