{"id":6203,"date":"2016-03-31T03:53:20","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T22:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6203"},"modified":"2016-03-31T03:53:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T22:23:20","slug":"freelancer-tech-gadgets-thatll-help-you-get-stuff-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6203","title":{"rendered":"Freelancer Tech: Gadgets That\u2019ll Help You Get Stuff Done"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span>f you\u2019ve decided to jump into the exciting world of self-employment, congratulations. By now you have probably decided what matters to you more: A steady paycheck or control of your time. I\u2019ve been on my own for a year now, and have learnt several things along the way. While the standard questions I get are how to snag clients, how I maintain finances<\/a>, or when was the last time I wore pants (true story<\/a>), no one asks the question they should \u2013 about the tech you need to successfully freelance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m obviously not going into the basic stuff you need to do your job. I assume writers will have a computer, photographers will have a camera, musicians will have instruments and organic chemists will have Hell-Volhard-Zelinsky<\/a> apparatus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m talking about stuff beyond that, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A backup internet dongle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most freelancers<\/a> are reliant on the web for research, work submissions, and hours of procrastination. An internet failure can be the worst thing to happen to you, and trust me, clients won\u2019t buy your excuses (\u201cMy ISP was down!\u201d is the freelancer\u2019s \u201cMy dog ate my homework\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, it comes in handy when you\u2019re traveling, or working from a cafe \u2014 even if you have WiFi. And while mobile hotspots are common, it\u2019s good to preserve battery and have a dedicated connection. Dongles and data are cheap and feel cool to have in a retro kinda way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: A Jio dongle will set you back by \u20b91000, data can be as low as \u20b9100 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pair of good speakers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you might think the primary purpose of speakers<\/a> is to blast the bejesus out of your heavy metal collection (not a bad idea, given your neighbours are unlikely to be home), there are several professional reasons to have one, the main one being educational content, news, and case studies often come best in video format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus you can watch stuff while you eat, play background music while you work and transmit bird noises when you want to call the cats. Whatever you do, don\u2019t rely on laptop speakers as your primary audio output (yuck!). While I\u2019m a big fan of quality headphones, I\u2019d recommend them only for offices or more critical listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: \u20b97500 should get you a decent 2.1 system, I have \u20b930,000 speakers which are stellar and have lasted me close to five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mouse with programmable buttons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to put it out there \u2014 trackpads are a bad way to work. If you\u2019re going to be sitting for long hours at a desk, get a mouse. Even better, get one of those gaming<\/a> ones that have programmable buttons. This is not to encourage you to play GTA while you\u2019re supposed to be writing tech articles, but to make work easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve used mine for years, and have programmed the buttons to copy-paste, take screenshots and close tabs, because I\u2019m cool like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: Logitech\u2019s G-series starts at \u20b91500, and I highly recommend them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Solid State Hard Drive (SSD)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An SSD is like a big-capacity pen drive. It has no moving parts, meaning it\u2019s faster and more reliable than your regular mechanical hard drives. Not only does it speed up your work, it\u2019s also safer and consumes less power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been using a desktop with an SSD for years and pretty much salvaged my wife\u2019s snail-like laptop by putting one in place of the HDD. Yes, it\u2019s slightly more expensive, but given that these days, the need to keep media (be it work files or entertainment or, well, \u201centertainment\u201d) locally has reduced, it\u2019s a very worthy investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: \u20b92500 (240 GB) to \u20b99500 (1 TB).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good coffee machine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freelancing ain\u2019t all about working in shorts and chilling with your cats. It will often involve late nights and early mornings<\/a>. A nice strong cup of coffee will get you through the day (and, um, night). Stay away from instant coffee, and choose instead freshly ground coffee from artisanal roasters. It\u2019s a fraction of what you would pay at a proper cafe, and it\u2019s delicious. Show me a freelancer who doesn\u2019t have a coffee machine, and I\u2019ll show you someone who will order one soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, it\u2019s not technically a \u201cgadget\u201d, but if you were so inclined, you could find an IOT-connected espresso maker if you wanted. But\u2026 Don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: A decent drip coffee machine should start at around \u20b92000. 250g of good coffee powder will set you back by around \u20b9350-400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there you have it. Five things to make your life as a freelancer \u2014\u00a0or even otherwise \u2014 better. Now don\u2019t forget to send out all your invoices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve recently become a freelancer, chances are you\u2019re grappling with questions like, how do I snag clients, or maintain finances, or know when to wear pants? 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