It’s easier than ever before to be productive and in control of your schedule as a freelancer. Here are several (free) online tools that I use to help me with my business: Toggl: Toggl is a free, fantastic time tracking tool. Anyone who’s in the billable hour business (or who wants an easy way to keep track of how they’re spending their work time) should use this. It’s fast, it’s easy, it’s seamless. And if you pay $5 a month, you can access advanced features like hourly billable rates, total billable amounts, and others. Remember the Milk: The ultimate “to...

As much as I love freelancing, there are days when it’s really hard. Silent clients. One of the hardest things about working online with clients all over the world is that sometimes you don’t hear back from your clients as promptly as you would like – or even for weeks at a time. I struggle with this when it happens; I often assume the worst. “Did I say something wrong in that last e-mail? Did their business suddenly collapse, and now they can’t afford to pay me? Did they not like the work and they’re not sure of how to say it?” Disappearing projects. It...

Freelancing has a lot of ups and downs. But for the most part, the highs are higher than a typical day job, and the lows aren’t quite as low. What do I love most about freelancing? The freedom. It’s a totally different way of life. It’s a totally different approach to each day. Instead of getting up too early to go somewhere you don’t want to go and do things you don’t want to do, you can structure each day as you see fit. You can take a break when you want. You can go to a long lunch with a friend or your child’s doctor appointment without asking permission. You...