Office Tools to Make Life Easier for Freelance Writers

As a freelance writer, you are always on the lookout for better ways to do things, to save time and earn more money. While a computer is a big help, there are still a few things that just work better in real life!

Every freelance writer should have a white board. It doesn't have to be a big one, just a small board where you can write down assignments. When you first buy the board, divide it into rows and columns with tape or a permanent marker. Hang it on the wall above your computer and every time you have an assignment write it down on the board.

You will want to write down the due date, what the assignment is, who it's for and possibly leave a section to mark down articles. For example, if you have 10 articles due for Wednesday, you can just add a tick for each one you have finished. This gives you all the basic info in just seconds. The reason you want to have this information up on the wall instead of just on an Excel spreadsheet is because it's easy to forget to open your spreadsheet. This way, your assignments are always staring you in the face!

Address books are very useful as well. Write down all email addresses and URLs along with contact names and phone numbers if you have them. This information will be on your computer as well, but the address book is something that you can take with you and refer to in an internet café while on vacation. It is also useful for when you meet a potential client or contact and can record basic information in your address book, to be used later at home.

Having a permanent marker is always a good idea. A better idea is a pen clip to hold it to the side of your monitor. When you burn your backup cds or DVDs, be sure to label them immediately with the contents and date. Or even just write "Backup" and the date, if you only need one disc. This eliminates the frantic search through a mountain of discs every time you lose files to a virus.

Having a headset and microphone is useful for taking calls through Skype, which is usually cheaper than a regular phone. Also, you can add a new depth to your inter-client relations by being able to talk with them. Or try making a tutorial video to sell. There are infinite possibilities for earning when you have a headset with a microphone.

Freelance writers often focus only on what they write, what is directly in front of them, but it is important to remember that tools in the real world are useful, too.