5 Facilitation Steps for Successful Work-At-Home Productivity

Kids running around screaming behind you. Music blaring in the background of their screams. A spouse looking for dinner to be ready on time – just like your clients’ looking for their copy.

The life of a freelancer is chaotic. There’s no arguing that. We’re at the mercy of our clients and often our families. We’re responsible for turning out great copy on time to customers in spite of the whirlwind that spins around us daily.

But most of us can’t run away to an office or coffee shop everyday – it’s just not practical.

And the more work you try to get done, the louder the cacophony gets in your ear.

So what? Are you stuck like this? Creating mediocre copy because you can’t focus? That’s no way to expect your business to thrive.

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10 Things I No Longer Need for Freelance Success

I have been a freelancer for more than a decade and over that period of time, I have seen a lot of changes–everything from a giant increase in credibility if you actually are a “freelancer”, to technology changes in such a short period of time as to rival any other sort of change over the last century.

Through all of these changes, one major thing has happened. Specifically, the list of things that were once considered de rigeuer in order to have a successful business no longer apply.

Of course there are tools we couldn’t live without as freelancers, but following are ten things that I no longer need to be successful in my business.

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7 Habits of Highly Creative Minds

Creativity is the result of how you think. Practicing the habits of creative thinking allows you to break the barrier of what’s achievable. Better freelancing skills, better clients, and the ability to get through tough situations are just a few of the things creative thinking brings.

According to a global study by Adobe, “only 1 in 4 believe they are living up to their creative potential.” That’s a sad fact due to what’s truly possible. But what’s the good news here? Well, freelancers know how important the strive for creativity is. Plus we have the opportunity to create all day long.

We may sometimes be interrupted by invoicing a client or getting organized, but creative minds always find time to be creative.

Whether you’re stuck in a creative rut or you want to maximize your creative thinking potential, here are the habits of creative thinkers to learn from.

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21 Things You Could Do In Just 5 Minutes

Life moves pretty fast.
Often, we let it slip by.
Bit-by-bit. Minute-by-minute.
Are you letting your time slip by?
Want more time in your day?
I can’t help you there.
We all get the same amount each day.
But, you can make more of the time you have.
You can be more productive. Not letting life’s little moments slip by.
The few minutes before a meeting. The short time waiting for something or someone.
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Trying the Pomodoro technique

I know the Pomodoro technique long time ago, but I have always been rather reluctant to use it. After seeing how widespread is this technique in the world of programming and how it is recommended by some well-known developers, I think I was just having too many prejudices. In any case, trying it for a few days would not hurt me. If it did not work for me, I would not use it anymore.

The main reason for my resistance was that dividing my programming time in blocks of 25 minutes seemed to me very unnatural and counterproductive. Usually it takes me a while to be fully focused on a task and, once I am in that state, I can easily stay there for 1 or 2 hours. I thought that if a timer sounded at 25 minutes and I had to stop working immediately during 5, I would lose concentration and therefore my productivity would be reduced. Nothing is further from reality. But let us go one step at a time…

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5 Great Apps for Working the Pomodoro Technique

Being productive seems to be the mantra of today’s society. It doesn’t matter what exactly you need to accomplish, the goal is always to get there efficiently. The trouble is, how do you do it without burning out or losing your motivation along the way?

There are a lot of methods, some of them traditional, some of them more creative. Today, we want to introduce you to a five apps that will help you stay productive based on the Pomodoro technique. Read on to find out which ones work best.

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15 Mac Apps to Help You Focus and Work Productively

The moment you boot up your Mac, a variety of things pry for your attention. Email, social networks, reminders, and all sorts of distractions eventually trap you in the middle of a tug-of-war, making it almost impossible to focus on a single activity.

As a result, you lose track of what you’re supposed to do. You might just find yourself looking up, wondering where the sun went all of the sudden.

Here’s the good news though: there are apps that can help you solve this productivity problem. In this round-up, I’ll share 15 Mac apps that help you focus, whether it’s dimming the screen, blocking social networking sites, closing inactive applications, or working in time bursts. You can use one or mix a couple of these apps to fit the way you work.

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