Digital Nomad Tools That Will Boost Your Online Productivity

Read Time : 5 mins

With digital nomads on the rise, digital nomad tools are popping up everywhere – so much so that you can spend more time than you save trying to figure it all out.

We’ve been there & we feel you, when we started our online business & became digital nomads back in 2018, we tried so many different apps & now finally, after trying & testing quite a few we have a digital tool kit that saves us time & energy. Here you’ll discover everything we use to boost our online productivity.

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Written by The Wilder Route on 19th May 2021.

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Digital Nomad Tools ∼ Why Take The Time To Implement Them?

Let’s face it, nobody likes getting organised, but being organised, well that’s a whole different story & that is exactly why you should not only use digital nomad tools to manage your online workload but should also take the time to implement them properly.

Once you have the right software running & know exactly how it works, you will have your very own systems in place & this is what will help to boost your productivity.

For Keeping Track Of Time

Clockify

Knowing how much time you are spending on, not only work for clients but also your own stuff, is the first step to being ultra-productive. This time tracking app works on desktop & mobile, it can be set (with hourly rates) for each client &/or project with a handy tags feature to break everything down.

Basically, once you’ve set it all up you just hit the start button on your chosen project & when you stop it Clockify will add everything to the timesheet. You can run detailed reports for billing clients & use it in collaboration with others who are working with you. We also use Clockify to track time on our own projects & tasks, as knowing how much time things take us makes planning our future workload a lot easier.

For Project Management

Trello

We’ve tried quite a few project management tools but have found nothing that’s as straightforward to use as Trello. It’s visually awesome & very versatile.

Trello boards work with cards which can then be organised into lists, making it easy to break down projects & manage them with others. It tells you what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, & where something is in a process. 

We use Trello for our own projects, for example, we’ve recently used it to track & complete our recent rebranding here on The Wilder Route & we also use it in collaboration with our clients – they all love it & they get back to us much quicker than they would by email.

For A Smarter Inbox

Spark

Boldly claims to make you ‘love your email again’ – a statement that we were a little unsure of, to begin with, but have to say, having used this email app for a while now, it has helped us to work a LOT smarter.

With features to schedule emails & snooze the less important things until later as well as the ability to pin the most important messages to the top of our inboxes, it certainly beats any other email client we have used.

For Managing Social Media

Later

Live posting to social media, whilst trying to manage a myriad of other things is a sure-fire way to burn out. We’ve tried so many different tools for scheduling to social media & Later is by far our fave.

With the ability to pre-plan our Instagram feeds, schedule stories & get a load of posts ready for Facebook & Twitter – it’s great to be able to sort everything in one place. What we love about Later the most though is it’s super visual & easy to use, with a drag & drop calendar feature that will allow us to schedule multiple posts to multiple channels very quickly.

For Managing Files

Dropbox

Not being able to find what you need, when you need it is not good. That’s why keeping all of your files organised in one place is necessary.

You’ve probably heard of Dropbox anyway but why do you need it? It will take the headache out of worrying about space on your laptop especially if you deal with high volume files or video content. We use it to share files & store important documents – keep everything safe & accessible from anywhere we have internet.

For Onboarding Clients

Better Proposals

This tool is amazing, before we had it we spent so much time going backward & forward with prospect clients, it was quite honestly, a nightmare.

Getting new clients to sign a contract to work with you, can be hard work but with Better Proposals, you can send beautifully designed proposals out to wow potential clients in a clear, visually inspiring &, professionally slick way.

With their in-built proposal templates covering anything from from website to social media management, complete with integrated e-signatures & payment method (via GoCardless for which there is more info below) the client can read, sign & pay all in one session. Saving leg work for both parties, getting you paid faster & making the onboarding process so much easier!

For Passwords

Dashlane

Logging in & out & remembering the passwords of every social media account, website, or online tool you have can waste so much time & is completely unnecessary.

We use Dashlane, a password management software that keeps all of our passwords safe & automatically logs us in every time we visit a website or social media account. We use their password generator feature so that every single log-in we have has a different password. Dashlane is also great to use with clients as they can send you passwords securely – pretty cool hey?!

Use this link to get 6-months of Dashlane premium for free.

For Managing Money

Wise (formerly Transferwise)

Having an online business & a worldwide client base means receiving payments in different currencies. Our borderless business bank account with Wise allows us to receive multiple currencies with no set-up costs & minimal fees. With separate banking details for each currency, this makes it a lot easier for clients to send you money in their native currency, hassle-free.

Get a fee-free transfer of up to £500 with this link.

Xero

Money movements are very important within a business or when working for yourself & since we have invested in Xero our accounts have become a lot clear & easier to understand. Xero can be connected to all of your business bank accounts & helps massively with understanding & better managing cash flow.

For Getting Paid On Time

Go Cardless

Do you take regular payments from clients or customers? If so setting up a Direct Debit will make your life a whole lot easier. Once a mandate has been set up by your customer/client the collection of payment is automatic saving you less leg work. Integration with Xero invoicing makes a powerful team as once an invoice is raised a seamless system collects fees on the invoice due date.

Tools For Digital Nomads ∼ Reap The Rewards

Getting everything set up, in a way that works for you, is going to take time but we can assure you, that once you do you will reap the rewards of having everything set up seamlessly.

Go climb a mountain whilst your Instagram posts schedule automatically or have a cocktail on the beach whilst your invoices automatically generate & your payment system collects your money for you.

Here’s to a more organised life,

Kelly & Adam x

P.S. If you have just started or are looking to start life as a digital nomad, check out this post in which us & other digital nomads share our tips.

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