3 Tools for More Productive and Organized Writing

Today marks the start of my usual year-end vacation, meaning I won't be around much until the New Year (January 4th in this case). Before taking these yearly breaks I spend a lot of time evaluating my previous year. It's how I set goals for the next year, but it's also when I look at the tools and processes I've been using to decide what I should keep and what needs to be replaced.

In 2015, three tools stood out. These were the tools that either kept me organized and on schedule, or they allowed me to work more productively or in a more flexible way. I'd like to share those tools with you in the hope they can help you in similar ways.

Google Docs

Let's start with the simplest (and free) tool on the list -- Google Docs. For a long time, I wasn't a huge fan. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with Google's word processor. It just didn't offer any features that were must-haves and unavailable to me in other ways.

The difference is I now work more frequently on a tablet and smartphone. While most of my writing happens on my laptop, in 2015 I spent far more time "writing" on mobile devices than in previous years -- doing so largely with voice-to-text capabilities. This is where Google Docs came in handy.

When I want to write using voice-to-text, I haven't found anything more accurate than Google's tools (not even Dragon, Naturally Speaking or the Swype Android app I've raved about in the past). Google gives me the most accurate results, even when I speak quickly. And I can rely on the same accuracy on my phone, laptop, or any computer (in the desktop version you'll find this under the Tools menu).

It's also helpful when I'm working on a longer post where I might need to hop around between devices because I'm not writing all in one sitting. Google Docs automatically saves your work, and you don't have to worry about transferring files and making sure you have the latest version on the correct device.

Scrivener

I didn't exactly hide my love for Scrivener over the last couple of years, explaining why I use Scrivener for blogging and having released several Scrivener templates of my own. I recommend it as highly today as I ever have.

Admittedly I don't use Scrivener for all my blogging (such as when I use Google Docs, which I've increasingly used for posts on this site). But I do use it to organize the bulk of my blog content. My wonderful husband, a software developer, wrote a plugin that lets me export years of archived content from my various blogs into Scrivener (something we'll finally get around to releasing publicly in early 2016). So it's not just good for planning and organizing new content. It's also a great way to back up old blog content as well.

Where Scrivener keeps me the most organized is with manuscripts. I don't know how I got by without it for so long. Being able to keep my research, notes, outlines, and manuscripts all together in one place and easy-to-access? Priceless. If Scrivener had an Android app where I could use Google's built-in voice-to-text capabilities, it would probably be my exclusive writing software.

I'd be tempted to say if you invest in just one premium tool in the New Year, this should be it. But that takes me to my next recommendation.

Todoist

This is my #1 tool for 2015, and I expect to use it just as heavily in 2016. Todoist is primarily a to do list app, but in reality it's so much more. It's like a virtual backup of my brain.

I use Todoist to manage everything from shopping lists and chore lists around the house to scheduling blog content across quite a few sites. I also use it to manage site development schedules, and have started moving my larger publishing plan over to it for more flexible scheduling.

Todoist has a free version. But if you want to take full advantage of its features, I highly recommend getting the premium version. Here are some of my favorite premium features to give you an example of what this tool can really do:

1. You can add notes or file attachments to items in your list.

This is a handy feature. For example, if you're a freelancer you might schedule pitches to a variety of publications. You could attach each one's guidelines to their to do list items. Or if you need to conduct interviews for an article or your book, you can schedule interviews and add the interviewee's contact information in a note.

2. You can set location alerts.

For example, let's say I need to pick up printer paper soon but I don't want to make a special trip for it. I can add it to my list and tell Todoist to send me a mobile alert about it when I'm physically near my local Staples (or whatever store I plan to visit). This way I won't forget to grab it while I'm in the area. You can set these reminders for when you arrive somewhere, or when you leave a certain location.

3. Things are automatically synced.

You can access your Todoist account in your favorite web browser or your mobile devices. With the premium version things sync automatically so if you swipe a task away on your phone shortly before heading back to your computer, you know your task list in both places will always be up to date. If you're a device-hopper like I am, this is a big deal. I've used other cross-platform apps that were slow to sync, and it caused a lot of headaches.

These are far from the only features that make Todoist my top recommended tool for writers. You can also integrate with calendars such as Google Calendar, set and track productivity goals, use multi-level organization with both sub-projects and sub-tasks, use labels and custom filters, color code entries, and set reminders, and easily connect with other apps through IFTTT.

At $28.99 per year for the premium version, it would be tough not to get your money's worth out of this app.

Now it's your turn. Do you have any standout tools and apps that helped you in 2015? Are you looking forward to trying any particular ones next year? I'd love to hear your recommendations, so please leave them in the blog comments.

Profile image for Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business writer, consultant, and indie author. She runs numerous websites & blogs including All Freelance Writing, Freelance Writing Pros, NakedPR, and Kiss My Biz.

Jenn has 25 years' experience as a professional writer and editor and over 20 years' experience in marketing and PR (working heavily in digital PR, online marketing, social media, SEO, new media, and thought leadership publication). She also has 19 years' professional blogging and web publishing experience (including web development) and around 18 years of experience as an indie author / publisher.

Jenn also writes fiction under multiple pen names and is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association.

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21 thoughts on “3 Tools for More Productive and Organized Writing”

  1. For me this has been the year of Asana. I’ve tried many project/list apps but Asana just seems to work for me, even the cheesy unicorns and birds that occasionally fly across the screen (weird on such a professional app, but hey, why not?)

    And like many writers, I LOVE Scrivener. I’m currently trialling Ulysses as well, because it has an iOS app, but Scrivener for iOS is apparently now back in development again, and if they can overcome that hurdle and release the long-awaited app I’ll be in heaven.

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  2. I gotta say. I’m 100% on board with all of these.
    I draft in Google Docs and use Todoist to help manage my day-to-day.
    Scrivener is just plain brilliant. If I could use it everywhere, I’d consider using it to draft, but since I can’t, I use Google Docs to draft and Scrivener to finish up.

    If I could add one more tool here, I’d add Evernote.

    Reply
    • Thanks for the addition. Evernote is one of those things I keep trying to love, but I never stick with it. I’m not sure why that is. I should give it another look in the New Year though. I still have several months of premium access, so I might as well use it! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Thanks for this list, Jennifer! At this time I haven’t used Todoist, but I will try it out! As for me, social media could influence on writer’s productivity a lot, so I advise everybody to use StayFocusd Chrome extension. It helps to restrict the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites every day, so for all writers with Facebook addiction it will be smart to use this extension.

    Moreover, for all folks who publish their writing online, it’s necessary to use plagiarism checker as it helps to avoid unintentional plagiarism and, thus, to write more accurately. I personally use Unplag, but there are many other similar tools.

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  4. This is one of my areas of improvement and your tips are right on. Google Docs is one of the things I tend to let build up, but I’ll take your tips to heart and work to improve it. Thanks for sharing and knew about some news tools which are further used in my blog or I really enjoyed to reading this post. 🙂

    Reply
    • You’re welcome Angellina. I hope these other tools prove to be helpful, and I hope you’re able to deal with the buildup of Google Docs. And thanks for the reminder. I should probably go through my own Google Docs to see if anything needs to be cleared out.

      Reply
  5. Great post! Another productivity tool I would like to add is Brightpod. It takes the entire campaign planning & collaboration process online so you don’t miss anything. Otherwise nice collection tools and getting bunches of information from this tools and I used in further my blog.

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  6. Another Todoist feature is linking to a calendar. I have it linked to Sunrise, which links to the family’s various Goo9gle calendars.

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  7. LOVE the tip about using Google Docs to dictate. I was especially excited to hear that it’s possible to do across devices. However I see here that it’s only supposed to work on Chrome on a computer?

    https://support.google.com/docs/answer/4492226?hl=en

    So I’m a bit confused.

    Reply
    • Yes, it looks like it’s Chrome-specific if you want to use it on your computer. You can either use Chrome for your Docs work or you can check to see if your preferred browser has a plugin that might make this possible. I recently switched from Chrome to Firefox. I’ve been unhappy with the change and plan to switch back once I work out some of the kinks I had with Chrome. Knowing this is another good reason for that (though I almost always use the voice typing on my tablet).

      Reply
    • They don’t auto-advance as far as I’ve seen, though I’m not sure if there’s a setting where you can change that. Moving them sucks a bit if there are a lot (like if I take an unexpected day off). But if there are just a few, it’s quick and easy. You’d click the schedule icon and there are options for tomorrow, next week, or a calendar to choose another date. Normally I just bump ’til tomorrow, so it’s a quick fix.

      Reply
  8. Would you recommend starting with a free
    platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m completely overwhelmed ..
    Any ideas? Thanks a lot!

    Reply
    • If you mean for a blog, I recommend WordPress, but the self-hosted version (from wordpress.org, not wordpress.com). So you have to pay for hosting and your domain name, but you retain much more control over the design, plugins, advertising, etc. than you would when using a freely-hosted one like WordPress.com.

      Reply
  9. Some great tips here, thanks! I use Scrivener all the time. The lovely Leona Hinton just wrote a guest post on my blog you might find equally helpful: 10 Power Tools to Make You an Editing Wizard https://catehogan.com/10-power-proofreading-editing-tools/. Thanks!

    Reply
  10. Awesome tips, Jennifer.

    I just can’t imagine how news reporters and writers were doing it before the advent of the word processor and the computer. Lots of paper and ink wasted until the final draft is ready for printing or publishing.

    Our team is a big user of G Suite and it is especially helpful when it comes to collaborating, editing, and sharing of files. Aside from having the right tools we also abide by some productivity rules such as this one: https://www.process.st/writing-productivity/ that makes sure we are staying productive and have no backlog without having to sacrifice the quality of our work.

    Reply
  11. Another Todoist feature is linking to a calendar. I have it linked to Sunrise, which links to the family’s various Goo9gle calendars.

    Reply

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