The best apps for freelancers
Most freelancers struggle with admin at some point in their career.
Nobody can quite prepare you for the amount of ‘faff’ that comes with running your own business. A lot of it might have been managed by somebody else in your previous ‘employed’ world, but now, unless you work with a PA or remote support system, it’s pretty much down to you.
At first, admin doesn’t feel like it makes you any money: you’d rather be spending your time on fee-earning work, yes? In the long term though, if you don’t keep on top of it, it will soon start to waste your time and cost you money.
Luckily, as with most things in life, there will be an app to help you out. As time is of the essence and anything that makes your life run more smoothly is worth considering, we have compiled a list of some of the best apps for freelancers.
A great way to keep up to date with the latest news that is relevant to you, Flipboard helps you get through the huge amount of content out there, to enjoy a newsfeed tailored to your interests or industry.
Dropbox
Running out of storage is not fun. Dropbox enables you to share files with your clients, your customers and other contacts very easily.
It’s a bit obvious, but you should have it on your phone. Regardless of your type of work, most businesses these days use Instagram for research, promotion and communications.
Headspace
There’s no denying that running your own business can be stressful and freelancers don’t have the luxury of likeminded colleagues with whom to confide or unwind. Headspace provides hundreds of really quick meditation sessions focusing on stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems.
Trello
List writing. Day planning. Journaling. They all work for some, but if your workload starts to increase, you might want to move from paper to app and Trello is hugely popular for freelancers as it’s a really easy to use time and task management system.
Shapr
Described as ‘Tinder for Business’, this networking tool allows the user to connect easily -with fellow freelancers for projects as well as with potential clients.
Zipcar
Yes, Uber is handy – but Zipcar is a better app for getting all kinds of vehicles and many freelancers have bulky kit that they need to transport around. Zipcar provides cars and vans for rent 24 hours a day. A ‘one-way trip’ option means you’re only paying for the vehicle when you’re actually driving, helping to keep the costs down.
Blinkist
Love reading, but no time to do it, thanks to all your work? Blinkist allows you to listen to books condensed into 15 minutes. A great learning tool if you’re a little time-starved. If you’d rather get immersed in the full versions of books, you’re better off with Audible.
Freshbooks
Freelancers now have the luxury of choosing from any number of cloud-based accounting systems but Freshbooks does seem particularly popular. It has a clear, easy to use system that gives you the tools for time tracking, invoicing, payments and reports. Other similar apps include Freeagent and Cushion.
Zoom
It had to be in here. 2020 has been the year of Zoom and with no certainty of face to face meetings being the norm in the near future, you need to be familiar with Zoom. And WebEx. And Teams. And the need to have a tidy backdrop!
The best apps depend entirely on the individual of course, and the industry in which you are operating. But the above list gives a snapshot and includes some of the most popular apps, that could help with your time-keeping, training and travel; your news and your networking; your marketing, meetings and mental health; your finance and filing.
Leaving you with more time to get on with the job at hand.
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