What Useful Free/Cheap Tools/Software for freelancers/solopreneurs do you use?

[einsteinsboi]

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?

[Jason]

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

[einsteinsboi]

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]

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.

[einsteinsboi]

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.

[Pete]

I think I've been relying on pen and paper too much and need to look up a lot of these

[Jason]

C'mon Pete get with it! 

[Pete]

I try and back it all up to Brain 1.0, but I think Brain needs an upgrade

[einsteinsboi]

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]

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.

[OrganizedFellow]

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

[DaveP]

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]

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.

[OrganizedFellow]

Anyone use the collaborative features of Google Docs?

[Macrura]

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...

[OrganizedFellow]

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]

@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;

[Marty Walker]

@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/

[Macrura]

Marty - greetings from the other side of the world..

thanks for pointing out BitTorrent Sync, looks very useful!

[einsteinsboi]

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

[Jason]

You're welcome!

[Martijn Geerts]

1. 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....

[onjegolders]

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 )

[OrganizedFellow]

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.

[Manfred62]

Snippets: simple tool for collecting and managing code snippets. Available for Mac and Win.