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Top 10 Time Management Tools for Freelancers

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Top 10 Time Management Tools for Freelancers

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You’re probably reading this article because you’re now a freelancer.

It may sound amazing to you, but freelancing is a challenging job. Freelancers work independently. The major concern to freelancers is effective time management because they work remotely and are required to perform duties outside work.

Using a time management tool, freelancers can keep track of their work hours, determine their productivity, and improve their work as needed.

Time management tools assist freelancers in prioritizing tasks so that they can focus on the most important tasks without distraction.

Our time management guide will help you to focus and accomplish your tasks by the deadlines you set with your clients. You should check out these top 10 time management tools for freelancers.

How Time Management Benefits Freelancers

An important concept in managing time is to allocate time efficiently so that the appropriate amount of time is devoted to the right tasks.

Time management tools are the perfect solution when you’re overwhelmed with work, deadlines, and deliverables.

Undoubtedly, everyone spends time daily, but it depends on how they utilize their time. An important aspect of freelancing is time management who wish to utilize their time properly.

Time management benefits everyone by helping them to boost their productivity and preventing them from experiencing burnout.

For those who are less organized, less motivated, less engaged, and less productive, time management can greatly improve their working style, motivation, and engagement.

The following are 5 reasons learning time management is essential and beneficial.

  • Time management increases productivity and efficiency
  • It gives you a sense of accomplishment
  • Enhances self-discipline
  • Decision-making skills are improved
  • Better work-life balance
  • Less procrastination and distractions
  • It improves the quality of the work

10 Best Time Management Tools for Freelancers

Good time management software makes tracking potential problems like overtime hours, wage calculations, and hour reporting significantly easier. Numerous good time management apps on the market make freelancers’ jobs easier.

1. Google Calendar – Efficiency and Productivity Tool

time management tools - freelancers

Freelancers can plan their day’s work using Google Calendar as a time management tool.

Using Google Calendar, you can organize your workday and become more productive. A Google Calendar can be used for scheduling meetings, managing projects, and getting event reminders.

Google Calendar does not have a built-in time tracker. So to track time, you’ll have to record your project activities in Google Calendar and create a Google Sheet.

Benefits of Using Google Calendar

  • Google calendars save time in managing your events
  • You can work on other projects while still being able to keep up with all of your meetings
  • Stay focused with quick access to the information you need
  • Manage your working hours
  • Easily spot gaps in your day
  • Scheduling and planning can be simplified with this tool
  • Calendar management
  • Calendar/Reminder system
  • This app enables seamless integration between all of your productivity apps

Pricing

  • Free
  • Pro – $6 /month
  • Enterprise – Tailored to your business needs

2. Pomodoro Timer – Effective Time Management Method

Promodoro is an application that encourages freelancers to work effectively with their time. You can use this time management method to divide your workday into 25-minute segments separated by 5-minute breaks, and these intervals are referred to as prodromos.

This technique is intended to create a sense of importance by using a timer. This time-management framework helps you become more focused and productive.

To increase productivity, you should break up your workday into short periods of highly focused work.

This is how it works:

1. Make a list of the important tasks you need to accomplish during the day before you begin your workday.

2. Make a timer of 25 minutes, and begin working on the first task immediately.

3. In case of distractions while working, document them on paper and get back to them after you complete your work.

4. Once the timer rings, you have completed a Pomodoro. Break for five minutes, and then begin a new Pomodoro.

5. Then, take a 20- to 30-minute break once you have completed four Pomodoros.

6. Continue this manner until all work is completed or until the period of work is over.

Benefits of Using Promodoro Timer

  • Time management and distraction management
  • Enhance accountability
  • Improve planning on a weekly and quarterly basis
  • Breaks the habit of multitasking
  • Improves quantity and quality of work
  • Improves attention and concentration

Pricing

  • It is free but limited to 20 sessions
  • Individual: $2.99/month with 200 sessions
  • Unlimited: $4.99/month with unlimited sessions

3. Forest – Boost Your Focus by Growing a Forest

Forest app is perfect for freelancers who can’t stay focused and are distracted by social networks.

The Forest app keeps you productive and focused, making time management enjoyable and easy.

This app uses the concept of planting a fictitious tree whenever the user wants to focus. A tree will grow if the user remains focused and does not get distracted. However, if the user loses focus and leaves the app to use the phone, the tree dies and must be replanted.

Benefits of Using Forest Application

  • With the app, you can analyze how much time you spend (and on what) on simple graphs/charts
  • People who use Forest can manage their time more effectively and overcome their phone addiction
  • Coins are awarded for achievements
  • The application blocks notifications from social networks

Pricing

  • Free
  • Teams: $30/user/month
  • Plus: $60/user/month

4. Evernote – Keep All Your Note in One Place

time management tools freelancers

With Evernote, you can capture ideas, thoughts, and images via voice recordings and notes in an organized way.

Furthermore, you will be able to capture meetings, interviews, presentations, and ideas, make lists, attach voice and text files, and distribute them. In addition, Remember The Milk can be synced with Evernote so you can make the best use of your time.

Workflow and productivity can be improved by scheduling and creating agendas and reminders.

Benefits of Using Evernote

  • Searching all notes, even scanned documents, is extremely fast and accurate
  • You can capture, organize, and keep your ideas faster with Evernote’s note-taking apps
  • Evernote is compatible with all devices, including iPhones, Androids, tablets, and computers

Pricing

  • Free
  • Personal: $7.99/month
  • Professional: $9.99/month
  • Teams: $14.99/user/month

5. Todoist – Capture and Order All Your Tasks and Activities Easily

Todoist is a popular time management app with more than 25 million users. When it comes to organizing your freelance business, Todoist is a great tool. You can schedule any of your activities and tasks with Todoist, which is accessible via a browser or app.

Time management apps like Todoist are highly rated because they are powerful and cost-effective. Since the app was first developed in 2007, many features have been added over time, keeping its user base in mind.

Benefits of Using Todoist Application

  • Easy-to-use templates to help you get started
  • Work and life are easier to manage with Todoist. Plan your day, collect tasks, and organize projects
  • This simplifies your workflow and makes it easier to organize your work
  • The distraction-free design of Todoist allows you to focus on your tasks instead of being distracted by unnecessary features. There will never be any annoying in-app advertisements or pop-ups
  • Smart Schedule, powered by AI, lets you schedule your tasks faster and more effectively using natural language

Pricing

  • Free
  • Pro: USD $3/user/month
  • Business plan: USD $5/user/month

6. Trello – Track Your Projects in Highly Visual Ways

Trello helps freelancer teams to move forward. You won’t miss an important deadline with Trello, which lets you see everyone at a glance, regardless of how you keep track of projects and time.

With Trello, you can easily collaborate on daily task lists. You can create personal and work boards to track tasks or keep them organized with labels to identify them.

Trello allows you to set and manage deadlines with your freelancers’ team. Dates can be set for each card on your board so that team knows when a deadline will expire.

Benefits of Using Trello Application

  • Maintaining organization and focus is easier with it
  • Easy to use – you can set up as many boards as you like. They can be copied so that you can use one as a template or one of the public examples
  • With it, you can organize everything, from tasks to projects, in one place without complications, and you can access it from anywhere
  • Organizers who work on several projects simultaneously and must meet deadlines will find this tool useful

Pricing

  • Free plan
  • Standard plan: $5/user/month
  • Premium plan: $10/user/month
  • Enterprise plan: $17.50/user/month

7. Remember The Milk – Online Task Management and To-do List

Busy people will love to Remember The Milk’s smart to-do app.

This app might be for you if you work with multiple devices and find it difficult to manage everything. This is a free time management tool that connects with your mobile, computer, Gmail, Outlook, and more.

You no longer need to remember which device stores which list. It’s solid time management software.

Benefits of Using Remember The Milk Application

  • Google Assistant is compatible with Remember The Milk
  • Data from Remember The Milk can be imported and exported in JSON format to make backups easier
  • You can connect Dropbox and Google Drive to Remember The Milk

Pricing

  • Free
  • Pro: $39.99 per year

8. Asana – Project management solution for Managing your Team

10 time management tools for freelancers

A time management tool is essential for freelancers since it helps track time overall. Freelancers can manage their time and productivity with Asana’s web and mobile applications.

With Asana, you can create a Gantt chart on the timeline of your dashboard and track your work with Kanban.

Benefits of Using Asana

  • Put project works at your fingertips
  • Organizes your tasks into projects to create roadmaps and timelines
  • You will be notified when updates are made to the project
  • Use the project dashboard to get a quick overview
  • Make sure your team is on track by reviewing milestones
  • You can view the whole team’s work in a calendar, which integrates with third-party apps for better use of the employees

Pricing

  • Free
  • Premium: $10.99/user/month
  • Business: $24.99/user/month

9. Focus Keeper – Boost Motivation to Complete Task

Focuskeeper is a leading time management tool that uses the Pomodoro technique to help freelancers avoid burnout. Focuskeeper helps keep you productive.

Time management software Focus Keeper is an excellent choice because of its simple, straightforward interface that can be easily customized to meet the project’s requirements.

Our Focus Keeper tool allows you to stay focused and eliminate any anxiety about time constraints. This is excellent software to keep yourself and your organization from being stressed out.

Benefits of Using Focus Keeper

  • You might find this helpful if you have trouble making Focus Keeper a habit. Depending on your preferences, you can get notifications through the week and on weekends when it’s time to use Focus Keeper
  • During a session, you can set a goal for how many Pomodoros you want to complete
  • With your Pomodoros, you can set the number of minutes and breaks at your convenience
  • Identify your daily focus session goal (number per day)

Pricing

  • Free
  • $1.99 after promotion

10. Proofhub – All in one Project Management Software

Freelancers can track their time spent on various tasks and activities to determine who procrastinates and works well. Proofhub is a time management and project planning software that provides all the tools your team needs to accomplish work faster.

Also, Proofhub allows for exporting timesheets, so invoicing and billing can be more convenient.

Top Features of Proofhub

  • For teams, it reduces stress associated with task management
  • Determine how long the work should take with time estimates
  • Records the time it takes to get work done using timers
  • Gantt charts provide visual representations of projects
  • Customize timesheets for people and projects
  • You can export timesheets and use them for invoicing clients, estimating payroll, and even managing your time

Pricing

  • Free
  • Ultimate Control: $89/month
  • Essential: $45/month

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve compiled what we believe to be the best time management applications and solutions available. Understanding your time management requirements allows you to select the software that best fits your budget and goals.

According to research, 82% of people lack time management skills and are unaware of time management tools. Thus, You can improve productivity and profitability by incorporating one of these tools into your flexible time management strategy.

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