The best productivity tools to measure and increase your productivity

Being a freelancer has many advantages but it also requires you to keep an overall control of your business. Just as you are in charge of creating proposals, contracts with clients or design briefs, you have to control your productivity and try to improve it in order to have a profitable business that grows over time.

As web professionals we often say that “every project is different”. And it is true. Because each one has its specific characteristics and requirements. And its types of clients, and here too there are some better than others. But there is one important thing: do you control which projects end up being profitable and which don’t?

If you work as a freelance in the world of web design we suggest you take a look at these applications with which you can improve your productivity to the maximum. And with it, of course, the profitability of your business.

When we talk about productivity we have, as a general rule, two types of applications or objectives to meet:

Tools for measuring productivity

What cannot be measured cannot be improved. That is why this list will not be lacking in different applications with which to measure your efficiency within a project. It is always advisable to have them to know, in reality, if the way in which you work is ideal.

The hours you spend on each project, the tasks that get stuck and make you lower your profitability and even understand if the budgets are right or if you should change them in future jobs.

Tools to increase productivity

Most of them are applications that facilitate many of the tasks we do on a day-to-day basis or bring them together in one place so that we don’t have to go from one application to another. Time is money.

Others allow us to do completely new tasks that we didn’t know before and that by the mere fact of following them help us to organise ourselves better and move projects forward much faster. Either alone or with a team by our side.

Personal productivity tools

Productivity and freelancing are two almost inseparable terms. One of the reasons many of us have decided to freelance at some point is to have more freedom. So, the more productive you are, the more time you have for yourself.

But how can you measure it effectively? Well, here are some cool tools to help you do just that:

Toogle Track 

Toogle is one of our favourites at Modular. That’s why it’s at the top of the list. With it you can track the time you spend on each project and even on each task to know which are profitable and which are not.

It also has weekly, monthly reports, etc… Very useful in projects charged with bag of hours.

It has a browser version, Google Chrome extension, desktop and mobile application. Come on, there is no excuse not to use it. Although we all forget to activate it with some task.

And best of all. Its free version is super powerful. But it has paid features with which you can get even more out of it.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Ticktick

Sometimes you don’t know where to start because of your workload. But don’t worry, with Ticktick you can sort your pending work in order of importance, thanks to its timecards and set reminders so that you don’t miss anything.

In addition, you can organise tasks in its calendar and it will let you know how much time you have left to complete them.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Focus booster

Do you know the Pomodoro method? It consists of working for 25 minutes and resting for 5. Yes, only 5, let’s not overdo it.

When you have several open projects and clients behind you asking for things sometimes it is difficult to focus on one task to get it done.

With this application you can set a 25 minute timer and a 5 minute break timer to do mini sprints until you complete the task you want to focus on. Forgetting about everything else during those moments of concentration.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Evernote

Many times you want to write down something relevant but you can’t find the Post-Its you bought yesterday with all your enthusiasm (yes, because now you’re going to be more organised or at least you’re going to try to be). With this tool you will be able to incorporate your notes digitally.

You will be able to create your notebook through text, audio and voice files, but you will also be able to organise them by tags. You will leave aside the Ctrl + F because with Evernote’s search engine you will quickly access the information you are looking for.

With over 100 million users worldwide, it’s an app that deserves your attention.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

DocuSign

You send a contract to a client to sign but he prints it and when he scans it, it looks so bad that you don’t know if he is sending you the contract or the menu of the restaurant next door.

Are you a professional who helps your clients with digitisation and you’re still having these problems?

It’s time to switch to digital contracts. And with an application like Docusign you can create templates and forms that both you and your clients can sign from any device, with completely valid signatures and in a super secure way.

Cost: Free trial and paid plans.

Google Calendar

Those Memory pills advertised on prime time still don’t work for you. You tend to forget about relevant meetings or events.

Don’t worry, with Google Calendar you can schedule these events, incorporating reminders so you won’t be late for any meeting. And also, linked with other services like Google Meet to generate virtual meeting rooms…

Cost: Free.

Modular

If you manage many WordPress websites and you feel that you waste a lot of time updating plugins and themes, checking performance or recovering backups and your client does not understand what you are offering, Modular is the tool for you.

Modular’s features include management of all WordPress websites from a single site, password-free access to your websites, centralised updates, automatic backups and reports, and even periodic performance analysis so you know instantly if your website stops working.

Cost: Free for up to 10 connected websites and with payment plans from €24 per month for unlimited websites.

Team Productivity Tools

It is very common to work on different projects with other professionals and as freelancers we usually can’t get to everything.

In these cases it is essential to have tools that help improve communication and organisation, usually with what we know as agile methodologies.

Whether SCRUM and Kanban sound familiar or not, with the following tools you can start increasing your team’s productivity in a very easy way.

Notion

Notion is for everything, like a Swiss army knife.

Some people may think that it is an application just to have a notepad, but they are very wrong. With this tool you can manage your tasks, organise them in panels, have documentation repositories, calendars and templates for almost anything. All shared with your team.

It combines a bunch of productivity tools in one and has a free version that works both online and offline. There’s a reason it’s so popular these days.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Google Drive

Is there anything more unproductive than losing your data because of a problem with your computer or hard drive? Probably not.

That’s why working in the cloud with an application (free up to 15gb) like Google Drive has many advantages.

It allows you to share files with your clients or collaborators without having to send them and with different types of permissions.

And it’s connected by default on all android phones, so in an emergency situation, it’s like having your office in your pocket.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades (to increase storage).

Trello

Sometimes you trust yourself too much, you think you will be able to remember all those tasks that are about to be finished. But you don’t. You put it off until tomorrow, because we are social beings, because we procrastinate as a normal human characteristic.

That’s why Trello has crossed our path to make our work a little more orderly.

With this application you can create boards for your different teams and assign project tasks to them based on the person in charge, the urgency or the state they are in (to do, in process, finished). And so you will have a global vision of each project at all times.

It stands out for its excellent usability and ease of use.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Asana

The word Asana comes from the science of Yoga. One of the most common practices to cope with stress. Well, this is what you will achieve with this tool.

Just as we did with Trello, with it you can manage your team’s projects and organise work efficiently on boards.

In addition, you have a calendar view, you can create a roadmap of tasks and future projects and you can even store files or write documentation.

A very complete tool with which you can also chat with the rest of the team without leaving to another application.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Slack

Combining team communication and collaboration has never been easier, well, unless you are Victor Küppers. All in one place.

Slack is divided into channels to talk about specific topics and has private chats with each of the people involved.

You can also integrate it with other applications such as Trello or Google Drive. Although it has a free plan, you need a paid plan to make video calls with more than one person.

Cost: Free plan and paid upgrades.

Google Meet

But for that we have Google Meet. Google’s free tool (you only need a gmail account) with which you can make video calls with up to 100 people.

There is little to say here. Being 1,000km away is no longer an excuse for not seeing each other. Whether you’re in a suit and tie or in your pyjamas, video calls will make your relationship with your teammates and clients much closer, and usually more productive.

Cost: Free of charge.

Boost your talent and save working time

The above applications and tools are designed to enable you to tackle the projects you want to tackle in a timely manner. As a freelancer you have to manage your own business, usually taking on several projects at the same time.

Only order, process automation and the use of technology will help you deliver for your clients, and above all, be more profitable.

It is up to you to choose between productivity and clutter or lack of time. Check the features of each alternative and choose accordingly. There is a perfect application waiting for you, which will be compatible with your speciality and which will undoubtedly become one of the keys to your growth as a professional.