Digital Tools I Use Daily as a Freelancer

As a freelancer, I juggle a lot of tasks daily. From managing my own social media content to client relations, it’s important to stay on top of my digital tools. Luckily, the right digital tools make a world of a difference, making it possible for me to streamline my daily process for success.

Whether you’re just getting started as a freelancer or you’ve been a remote worker for a while, I’m taking this blog to share the digital tools I use daily as a freelancer. When you’re working for yourself, you’ve got to do what you can to make it all stress-free!

In this blog post:

• Best digital tools for product management
• Apps and programs for finances
• Tools for communication
• Apps for time management

Have any favorites not listed in this blog post? Share them in the comments! I’m always looking for new things to try — and I love a new app!

Best Digital Tools for Product Management

As a freelancer, product management basically ranks first. If you’re juggling too many tasks at once, you’re on a one-way track to burnout. Here are my go-to tools for product management and why I can’t live without them!

Google Calendar – Master Your Schedule

Because I’m currently balancing multiple businesses and side hustles, I live and die by the G-Cal! I have my Google calendar synched across devices, and I even share a calendar with my husband so he always knows what we have coming up.

I highly recommend taking a bit of time to learn the ins and out of G-Cal so you can have an ✨aesthetic✨ way to share your daily tasks/deadlines/meetings and more. My calendar is organized by business, client, appointments, workouts, and more so I can see everything at a glance.

• Why I love it: It’s fully customizable to your needs, and it’s easy to personalize colors and calendar.
• Cost: Free with a google account.
• Create a G-Cal here 🖥

Buffer – Stay on Top of Your Socials

Managing a billion different social accounts is no small feat. Staying active online is one of the best ways to attract new clients as a freelancer. However, who has time to check different platforms multiple times a day?

If you’re getting started as a freelancer or social media manager, I highly recommend Buffer. You can use Buffer with Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and so much more. Because it’s all-in-one, it’s a huge time saver. Yes, it’s a small investment, but it’s totally worth it if you’re serious about managing your socials.

• Why I love it: I can schedule posts in advance!
• Cost: Free for a basic account, but I recommend upgrading to $5/month
• Sign up with Buffer ⚡️

Notion – Keep Your Ideas in One Place

If you’re always thinking up the next-best-thing (then promptly forgetting about it 😢), it’s time to put Notion to WORK. I’ve been using Notion for years to plan content, brainstorm, track my personal budget, and map trips. It’s seriously an all-in-one solution.

Like a word processor on overdrive, Notion is your best friend as someone who works online.

Want to take your Notion skills to the next level? Check out my free Notion dashboard for freelancers. This is the same one I use myself! This is fully customizable and SUCH a huge help if you’re working with different clients and managing a lot of content.

• Why I love it: Notion has it all — notekeeping, calendars, databases, etc.
• Cost: Free!
• Start with Notion now 🔥

Apps for Freelancer Finances

Next, how do you manage your finances as a freelancer? This is definitely my least-favorite part of freelance life. If i could afford to outsource this forever, I would.

Thankfully, these freelancer finance apps make my life a bit easier. Here’s what I personally use as a completely unqualified financial newbie.

Wave Accounting – Manage Your Money with Freelancer-Specific Tools

Wave has truly made me feel like a financial wellness guru. It’s a one-stop money management app for small business owners, and it has a version specifically for freelancers. It’s like they answered my prayers specifically.

You can easily connect all your accounts through Wave, and I highly recommend sending invoices directly through them. You can fully customize your invoices, and having them in one place makes you look professional as heck.

Keeping track of your income and expenses as a freelancer is a MUST.

• Why I love it: Wave simplifies financial management for freelancers.
• Cost: Free for freelancers and solopreneurs!
• Sign up for Wave App now 💰

Toggl Track – Stay on Top of Your Time

As they say, time is money. If you have to track your time for clients or you just want to make sure you’re not wasting time on things that aren’t productive, it’s time to get Toggl.

Toggl Tracker is a Google Chrome extension that intuitively tracks your time. Organize time by project, goal, etc. Though I use this less frequently, I think it’s so important to audit your time as a freelancer.

• Why I love it: I can manage my time, increase billable hours, and know what I’m spending my valuable day on.
• Cost: Free!
• Download Toggl for free ⏱

Best Freelancer Tools for Communication

How do you keep your clients on top of your efforts? If you’re not a part of a Teams page or Slack chat, it can be confusing to go back-and-forth through email or text.

Here are some of my favorite ways as a freelancer to manage client communications. It’s all about networking, baby!

Dubsado – Send Proposals with Ease

I’ve recently been sending a lot of proposals. When searching for the right tool, I looked at a lot of different options, ultimately deciding on Dubsado. So far, so good!

Dubsado makes managing client projects easier than ever. You can handle invoices, contracts, proposals, and projects all in one place. Because clients can easily contact you, submit tickets, and leave comments through the platform’s client portal, you don’t have to play the dreaded email back-and-forth game.

• Why I love it: Everything is in one place!
• Cost: $150/year for a premium membership.
• Make your first proposal with Dubsado 💌

Mailchimp – Keep My Email List Safe

As an email marketer, I’ve managed SO MANY different client email accounts. I’ve used endless tools and programs for this, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the day, I keep coming back to Mailchimp.

It’s easy to use, customizable, and priced fairly. If you’re managing any email list (which you should), Mailchiimp is the way to go. Keep on top of your list with ease, and don’t blow your marketing budget on email storage.

• Why I love it: Mailchimp is flexible enough to grow with you.
• Cost: Based on your email list size ($25 – $150/month)
• Sign up for free with Mailchimp 🐵

Apps for Time Management

Last but not least, let’s master that infamous time management. I’ve talked about time management as a freelancer or remote worker many times on this blog, but that doesn’t mean it gets easier.

These are the apps I’ve tried and tested that make me a stronger worker. As someone who spends hours daily on social media for “work,” I need all the help I can get.

Forest – Stay Productive, Grow Trees

There’s something about growing a digital garden of trees and seasonal foliage that appeases the lizard-side of my brain. It’s like getting a “good job” sticker in elementary school.

This iPhone and Android app is simple. You set a timer and stay focused. If you avoid touching your phone during that time, you grow a lush forest. These can be swapped out for real-world trees!

• Why I love it: The trees are cute and I’m a simple woman.
• Cost: Free!
• Grow your own forest 🌲

LastPass – Secure Your Passwords in One Place

Finally, I can’t recommend LastPass enough. Early in this blog’s existence, I even did a partnership with LastPass to highlight why it’s such a valuable tool for college students. Even before then I used LastPass daily!

LastPass is a secure password manager. It keeps all of your passwords secure in one digital space. You can share passwords with others, get password suggestions, and stay organized. No more time wasted to “reset your password” shenanigans!

• Why I love it: It saves my passwords for me.
• Cost: Free!
• Save your passwords securely with LastPass 🔐

Final Thoughts: Apps and Tools for Freelancers

This updated version of the apps and tools I use every day as a freelancer is designed to help freelancers of all experience levels. The right tools are your trusted companions on this entrepreneurship journey!

What tools do you use daily? Is there anything on this list I missed? There’s no one-size-fits-all, and there are a lot of useful alternatives to these favorites above. Find what works for you! Digital tools can save you time, money, and sanity.