How can you organize your freelance workflow with the help of modern devices?

There are more and more hot vacancies appearing in the labor market. However, some of them offer you to work from home. At first sight, such an option looks quite attractive: you can spend more time with your family, eat homemade meals, and even enjoy the long breaks you’d never have in a standard office. Using personal tech is another advantage: no need to adjust to someone’s digital devices. At the same time, you’ll encounter many pitfalls working from home, and the only way to organize your working hours is to follow the recommendations below.

Before we start, there is a need to emphasize the value of freelance workers, who are underestimated in most cases. Whether you decided to work with international students by choosing one of the freelance academic writing jobs or took a path of a remote accountant, we do understand your reasons for setting up a home office. Writing jobs can be taken by anyone regardless of their location. Moreover, commuting in such cities as New York would steal a couple of your precious hours a day apart from the fact that the entire process is simply exhausting.

So, how do you organize yourself for working from home with the help of modern devices?

1. Make your flexible hours less flexible

Time is money. Thus, you would like to fully concentrate on your work and avoid all the possible distractions. Remember, some distractions may be pleasant! Talking on the phone with your friend or spending too much time for lunch – how many of these occasional breaks will you have?

If you maintain regular hours, your routines will become more balanced. You won’t have to mix some family activities with the business ones if all of them are scheduled (and you actually stick to your original plan).

Mobile applications for organizing your tasks & schedule:

• Google Calendar. Put all the tasks you have on your daily list and receive handy reminders in advance.
• Trello. Visualize your workload by the Kanban principle and set up the priority for all the created issues.
• RescueTime. Log in and record all the daily activities. Be fair and watch your progress in solving tasks.

Other methods to stick to the schedule:

• Pomodoro method. Old as the world yet effective, Pomodoro implies you working 25 minutes and having 5-minute breaks. Every third/fourth break may last up to 15 minutes.
• 2-minute rule. If you consider yourself a professional procrastinator, try not postponing the issues that demand less than 2 minutes of your attention. Do them as soon as possible and eliminate a few annoying tasks from your list.
• "Busy" regime. Remind your friends, family, and colleagues that disturbing you during your working hours is in the past by setting the respective “status” on your profile.

2. Choose the best corporative messenger and use it responsibly

There are dozens of corporative messengers presented on the market. Some of them are free; still, if you are a part of a global company, you’re most likely to enjoy all the benefits of the special subscription or even private domain.

It may be not your responsibility to maintain the chats, but you can certainly take care of information hygiene in the chats. Believe or not, your colleagues will be grateful for your mature behavior.

Three millstones of healthy online communications:

• Separate memes, jokes, and funny YouTube videos from the formal conversation.
• Don’t initiate private discussion in the group chats.
• Respond politely and avoid expressive language.

Corporate platforms you can encounter when working remotely:

• Slack. The most popular options for small companies (up to 20-30 people). Store your files, create multiple chats based on your business needs, and appoint your colleagues for assignments (can function along with Google Docs, Google Calendar, etc.).
• Skype. A perfect option for group chats with the core feature of fast and high-quality video calls. Make sure, you separate the regular and corporative accounts.
• Mattermost. Slack’s analog that allows creating free threads.
• RocketChat. Slack’s analog that allows sending voice mail, making video calls, and using help desk chat.

3. Keep the balance

Some of the writing jobs might seem monotonous. Well, all the jobs online will require you sitting in front of the computer and focusing on a task. Therefore, you want to make sure that your body and mind are prepared for this lifestyle. Treat yourself good and let your devices assist you with this task.

General recommendations regarding online jobs for students:

• Having a break? Leave your workplace and go for a walk. Download TripAdvisor, Foursquare, or Yelp to discover more cafes and restaurants in your area. Enjoy a cup of coffee outside to free your mind and renew the energy.
• Try to stay hydrated. Aloe Bud, My Water Balance, and Aqualert will take care of reminding you to drink a specially calculated daily amount of water during the hours you set in the beginning.
• Tired of sitting? Dedicate your breaks to a short yoga session. Asana Rebel, Daily Yoga, and Yoga Studio will offer a suitable set of exercises depending on your professional level, time, and mood.
• Practice Mindfulness. Most of the online jobs imply dealing with tons of data on a daily basis. Writing opportunities for college students are well-paid; still, imagine how a writer can feel after an 8-hour working day. Here comes Insight Timer – the most popular app for meditation. Choose your emotional state and listen to a suitable record for eliminating stress and anxiety.

Even though the recommendations above are universal as well as the offered tools, you should experiment with your daily routines and customize those. Practicing good habits for the excellent performance demands much effort and repetitive actions. At the same time, you are free in choosing your workplace, setting your schedule, and navigating the world of tools. Freelance has more advantages than you can think of, so give it a try!