The tool I use most to keep organized is Backpack, an online organizational tool by 37signals. I posted it earlier this year as a resource, but since I’ve been busier, have found myself relying on it more and more. In this mini-series, I will take you through some of the things I use Backpack for, and how it can be beneficial to you as freelancer. Today, a brief overview.

First, let me recommend looking at the tour over on the Backpack website. It has in-depth audio, video, and screenshots of all  the important, and cool, features of Backpack. Here, I will talk briefly about each major component (Note: I assume we are using the paid version, which offers things like the calendar, file uploading, and other features not available in the free version).

• Newsroom: In the newsroom you will see a list of what everyone has done for the past few days, as well as the week’s upcoming events from the calendar. It provides a nice overview of what you and anyone else that has access has been up to.
• Pages: The bread and butter, in my opinion, of Backpack. You can create a page for just about everything, and within each page you can add notes, lists, files, pictures, and tags. Not to mention you can send all these things via email, and invite others to view and edit only specific pages. The pages will be the backbone of this series.
• Calendar: The calendar is just what you think it is. Add events, with alarms. Create as many calendars as you’d like; they all show up in the same place. You can also import iCal formatted calendars and view those events from within Backpack.
• Reminders: Set up email or SMS alerts that aren’t necessarily events. You can set a specific time or use natural language reminder times like, “tomorrow morning” and “later today.”
• Writeboards: Add a little flare to your notes by formatting the text in a writeboard. 37signals describes it as, “Word but simpler” and I couldn’t agree more. It’s a nice simple way to format notes. It also keeps track or changes/versions to the writeboards.
• Journal: Quick entries on what you’re doing. This is a nice feature if you want to keep others updated, or keep a more personal log of what you’ve been up to.

So what will I talk about in this series? Three things: Project Management, Client Management, and Collaboration. I use Backpack for all three and think it’s a really nice way of keeping everything in one spot. Stay Tuned! Project Management is up first.

Tags: 37signals, Backpack for Freelancers, clients, links, process, productivity, series, tools | Posted in Advice, Lessons |