Many creative professionals are leaving their 9-5 corporate jobs for the freedoms and work life balance that freelancing provides. As a freelancer, you’re no longer confined to strict work hours or obligated to work on projects that don’t inspire you, however, you still have to make a living and make your clients happy.
One way to achieve a balanced life while producing quality work is to become more efficient with your time. There are a variety of tools that can help you stay organized and focused on your current projects while still having time left over to spend outside of work.
Collaborating with Clients
You don’t need a complicated project management system to share files and collaborate with your clients on new content design projects. Google Docs allows you to share files, photos, documents, videos, designs, recordings, drafts and more. The best part is that this tool is safe and free, and your storage can be expanded if needed for a small payment.
Another advantage of using Google Docs is features like change tracking, an automatic outline generator, and the ability to turn comments into task assignments. This way, the client can make suggestions early on and determine if you’re moving in the right direction, instead of viewing the project when it’s much further along and not liking it. By keeping your client updated and informed on your progress with a click of a button, you don’t have to waste a ton of time redoing entire projects.
However, if you would prefer to show your designs, rather than tell, then you should use InVision or RedPen. These tools allow you to get feedback on your designs as well as annotations pinned to your designs. Check them out to see the other features they offer as well as integrations to other apps like DropBox and Sketch.
Also, if you haven’t heard or used Slack yet, your world is about to be changed. As a freelance designer, your time is extremely valuable and you can’t afford to wait hours for a client to respond to an important question via email. Slack is a chat application that allows you to communicate in real time and ditch the back and forth emails.
Project Management
Part of working more efficiently is staying organized and on top of your projects. Evernote is a great tool to help you track your time, progress, to-do lists, and content. This is another free tool, but you can pay for the premium option to add more features and storage.
A great thing about Evernote is that you can organize everything by tags and notebooks. There are some great how-to articles that can show you how to organize your account, but one way to start is by organizing your notebooks by clients. You can store notes on projects, mark up documents, and even save relevant articles to your account. Also, you can download the Evernote app and access your account across all your devices.
Another free project management tool is Asana. Not only is this solution beautifully designed, but it also has the ability to seamlessly integrate with other tools like Gmail, Slack, and Google Drive.
Finally, a favorite project management tool among many designers is Basecamp. Its design is clean, easy to use, and also has the ability to connect to tools you already use.
Managing Your Time
It’s easy to get distracted as a freelance designer, especially if you’re working on multiple projects at once or working from home. Instead of bouncing around different tabs and projects, learn to track where you’re spending your time with an app like Wrike. The dashboard shows you where you’re spending the majority of your time so you can see where you’re getting sidetracked.
Or if you need something a little more restrictive, you can use a Chrome extension like StayFocused to block time-wasting sites you tend to visit. Either way, it’s important to know where you’re spending your time and how long it’s taking you to do certain tasks so you can plan better when taking on new projects or clients.
Design Tools
There are many different design tools out there that can help make projects easier and help you complete them quickly.
One of the more common tools creative professionals use is Sketch. It is a vector tool focused on user interface design. It’s easy to learn, cost effective, perfect for designing for multiple devices and makes completing projects a breeze.
Another newer option is Figma. It is similar to Sketch and is also best for UI designers, however, it has some great extra features added to it. For example, there’s a real-time collaboration feature and even copywriters can use it to update the copy in the designs.
Platforms for Finding Work
When you’re starting out as a freelance designer, it can be hard to solely rely on referrals for new clients. There are many freelancer platforms out there like Upwork, Guru, or Freelancer.com that can help get you started, but there are just as many pros to using them as cons.
Upwork is easy to navigate and the job details provide a lot of information about the position. Also, there is a free membership option, but if you plan on using the site regularly for work, you would need to pay for the pro membership.
Another major con of using sites like these is that designers will frequently undercut prices for jobs so it can be hard to get any substantial work unless you want to charge five dollars for an hour of work.
However, there are sites that focus on getting the client top talent while also making sure the designer is well compensated. Creative Compass works to connect freelance designers with employers who need their unique talents. As a freelancer, all you have to do is sign up or apply to a job and you don’t have to pay a thing. The Creative Compass team will reach out to you when they have an opening that fits your background and works with the employer to iron out compensation and other details.
Working as a freelance designer gives you more freedom, but that can negatively affect you if you’re not able to get the job done. Use these tools to become more efficient and productive as a freelance professional.
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