einsteinsboi Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 I've been doing the freelance thing for a while now and have a small business (very small, I am the only employee...LOL). I'm constantly on the lookout for free or inexpensive tools to make my work easier and make me more productive. I thought I would share some of the ones I use and see what else everyone else is using. My favorite ones at the moment are: Do - http://do.com - Free. Great for managing projects and tasks, and you can sync your task list and deadlines with your Google calendar. Also has an iphone app. Invoiceable - http://invoiceable.com - Free with branded footer, to remove footer one time fee of £49. I've found this to be great for creating and sending invoices. Allows for recurring invoices which is a big plus for me, and allows you to accept payment via PayPal. Google Calendar - I use this for making sure I never forget an appointment or task. Since it interfaces with do.com I can really keep track of jobs and deadlines, as well as my other obligations. Integrates well with my iPhone calendar as well. DropBox - https://www.dropbox.com/ - For saving files so I can access them elsewhere, and also for temporary backups. I'll add more as I remember them, but these are my favs at the moment. What do you use? 4
Jason Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 Interesting topic! I use the following - Dropbox - as you mentioned - I have been using Dropbox since it was in beta and received the invite from the founder. Freshbooks - Tracking expenses, invoices, time tracking - http://www.freshbooks.com Asana - Project management and tasks - http://www.asana.com Evernote - Notes - http://www.evernote.com Google Calendar/Gmail Wunderlist is pretty good on Mac - http://www.wunderlist.com Jason 3
einsteinsboi Posted July 30, 2013 Author Posted July 30, 2013 Some new ones for me there Jason, thanks for sharing. I've never seen Asana before, I'll definitely give it a go. Also never used Evernote though I've heard of it. Wunderlist is also a new one for me cheers!
MarcC Posted July 31, 2013 Posted July 31, 2013 I use Freemind and Inkscape for basic brainstorming and planning. I planned a pretty big server migration by charting it out in Inkscape and zooming in / working on each part of the chart as work proceeded. The chart ended up looking pretty cool, and it really helped put a large piece of work behind me fast. I own a copy of Illustrator but Inkscape is better IMO as a quick vector sketchbook / illustration tool. I use a little shell script to play a sound every 20 minutes so I know to look 20 feet away for 20 seconds (20/20/20 rule). My eyes have been dry so it's helpful, and a good reminder to review what I'm working on to see where I'm at and where I need to be. I use KeePassX to store passwords, which I save in a cloud-based file hosting service so the encrypted password file is synced up on my other devices as well. I use iTerm2 instead of the default Mac OS X terminal application, and fish instead of the normal shell (csh?). I like fish so far. I use nvALT for tons and tons of journaling and note-taking. I am seeking a Mac OS equivalent of Zim Wiki though, with an enforced parent/child structure visible in the sidebar. Finally I use Blender to make animated intros for videos for my clients from time to time, and Art of Illusion to sketch out ideas for rearranging furniture in my office. 4
einsteinsboi Posted August 1, 2013 Author Posted August 1, 2013 That's quite a list MarcC! Thanks for sharing I haven't really found any mind mapping software that works well for me yet so I'll give freemind a go. nvALT looks interesting too. 1
Pete Posted August 1, 2013 Posted August 1, 2013 I think I've been relying on pen and paper too much and need to look up a lot of these 3
Pete Posted August 3, 2013 Posted August 3, 2013 I try and back it all up to Brain 1.0, but I think Brain needs an upgrade 2
einsteinsboi Posted August 5, 2013 Author Posted August 5, 2013 I also use Alfred on the mac to quickly open files and applications... helps me work faster! There are a lot of things for which I still use paper and pen. For example I find it easier to make lists on paper, and I keep a small notebook where I write ideas as they come to me. Similarly, before I do any medium to large projects I map everything out using paper and pen Some old habits are resistant to change.
owzim Posted August 6, 2013 Posted August 6, 2013 I use timeEdition for timetracking: http://www.timeedition.com/ I recently built me a tailormade "invoicing/quoting/proposaling" tool wit PW, so no tools there that I can recommend. Paper and pen are very useful and I should use them more often to write down/sketch out ideas quick. I tried a lot of todo list apps, but I always come back to just plain text files, in which I cross off those empty square brackets =) [ ] not yet [x] done =) I also use those text files to note anything project related. When I procrastinate too much I force myself to work with the pomodoro technique, very helpful. http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/ There a tons of pomodoro apps out there (http://gigaom.com/2010/11/10/9-free-pomodoro-timers/), or you could just use a kitchen timer, like the inventor did. 2
OrganizedFellow Posted August 6, 2013 Posted August 6, 2013 All projects, lists, tasks, etc. begin as handwritten notes. They end up in Trello. All collaboration between myself and client is done via Gmail. Google Calender for important dates. I used to have a very complicated process involving more apps (I cut back A LOT!) I use the username OrganizedFellow because I cope very well with my ADHD I use RescueTime to manage my productivity. When I reach 80%, I treat myself to a beer, lol 1
DaveP Posted August 6, 2013 Posted August 6, 2013 All projects, lists, tasks, etc. begin as handwritten notes. They end up in Trello. Trello's great - we used it a lot last year when we moved offices.
dragan Posted August 6, 2013 Posted August 6, 2013 I like using Google Drive for all kinds of stuff. In concept phase, you can create a doc that you share with your client, and everyone adds his / her thoughts. Or simply as a place to upload text-files and photos. 1
OrganizedFellow Posted August 6, 2013 Posted August 6, 2013 Anyone use the collaborative features of Google Docs?
Macrura Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 I use Feng Office (community edition) + Dropbox for project management, file sharing, collaboration, tasks, and other things; Feng covers most things, but Dropbox is better for large files such as website assets (images, audio, video..) I just started using Totals from Kedisoft for invoicing; I like it a lot, though it's not without it's limitations, so far has proven to be the most flexible way to manage billing for me... 1
OrganizedFellow Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 Since Dropbox only syncs ONE folder (with its many subfolders). Does anyone use any file-sync utility to sync those folders with any path OUTSIDE of Dropbox (on Windows)? For example: My dropbox is here: C:/users/Dad/Dropbox/ But I want to sync the following with Dropbox: C:/www/testing/website.dev/
Macrura Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 @OrganizedFellow - on mac i would use Synk to keep a synchronized copy of the 2nd folder in the local dropbox; Synk runs in the background and keeps 2 or more directories cloned at all times; i don't know if there is similar Windows program; 1
Marty Walker Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 @macrura I use Synk here too and I love it. I also recently discovered BitTorrent Sync which is useful in some situations: http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html And one for the photo nuts: http://rawtherapee.com/ 1
Macrura Posted August 8, 2013 Posted August 8, 2013 Marty - greetings from the other side of the world.. thanks for pointing out BitTorrent Sync, looks very useful!
einsteinsboi Posted August 12, 2013 Author Posted August 12, 2013 Hey Jason Thanks again for pointing me to Evernote. I'm loving it. Especially like the fact that it syncs across my devices so I can post ideas on my iphone while on the train and pick the thought up on my laptop when I get home. I also like the concept of Notebooks because I can separate personal projects from business projects. Loving it so far mary Interesting topic! I use the following - ... Evernote - Notes - http://www.evernote.com ... Jason 1
Martijn Geerts Posted August 13, 2013 Posted August 13, 2013 ProcessWire Productivity App QuickSilver Getting things done QUICK Sequel Pro The easiest way to handle local databases Little Ipsum Never outta reach. Sip Live's so colorfull.... 3
onjegolders Posted August 14, 2013 Posted August 14, 2013 Great list Martijn, I wholeheartedly agree with 1 3 too. Never saw the need for 2 when, Spotlight's always been good enough for me. Not sure if mentioned yet but textexpander is a real time saver (just seen it's 45 dollars though ) 3
OrganizedFellow Posted August 14, 2013 Posted August 14, 2013 Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit 1. Launchy - fast app launcher 2. SublimeText2 3. KeePassX - multiplatform password manager 4. Dropbox + Google Drive + SyncBackSE 5. MyPaint - drawing program that I use for quick sketches, wireframes, flowcharts, etc. 2
Manfred62 Posted August 14, 2013 Posted August 14, 2013 Snippets: simple tool for collecting and managing code snippets. Available for Mac and Win. 4
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