As I said last week, I’m asked every now and again what I do to try and make working as a freelancer as straightforward as possible. Here are a few insights.
1) I’m all Mac based now. Not a practical solution for everyone I know, but this definitely tops my list for streamlining workflow and making life much easier! I’ve built my own Windows PC’s since I was 13 years old, yet I still couldn’t find a setup that was cost effective and most importantly stress free. Sure, Mac’s aren’t 100% problem free but I definitely don’t miss the quirky and often incurable illnesses my PC’s used to suffer!
2) I also use a few really helpful programs to manage areas of my work. Number one is an application called Billings by MarketCircle. This is great for managing projects and invoicing – I use it particularly for keeping a log of how long I spend working on a project and then sending clients invoices at the click of a button using a custom template that you can design yourself.
Another software tool I use is iBank by IGG Software. iBank keeps track of my bank accounts for me – with its built in web browser it allows me to log in to my internet banking account with my bank and download my latest statements, with the ability to assign a category to each transaction and then automatically generate really helpful reports of almost every kind based on the information. This was particularly helpful when I first began working freelance and only had one personal bank account – trying to keep track of what was business income and what was personal would have been really hard without iBank!
The last great little application I must add is Dropbox. I’d be surprised if you haven’t heard of it by now, but for someone that owns two computers (an iMac and a Macbook Air), Dropbox really simplifies file management. Setting off with my laptop only to realise I’ve left files I need behind on my iMac is really frustrating and unfortunately can still happen, but I try to make sure I’ve Dropboxed anything important that I think I will need, meaning I can access it from anywhere with an internet connection.
I also use Dropbox to sync both Billings and iBank between my two computers, as updating the two individually would be near impossible and really time consuming. By dropping a few files from each into my Dropbox, any changes I make in Billings or iBank will be updated on my other computer by the time I’ve turned it on! This method is a bit fiddly to setup and I must add I’m really looking forward to the launch of Apple’s iCloud service, but for now it certainly saves me some time!
Let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to try and help. Hopefully next week I’ll have a post on some of the hardware I use to make my life easier!
