6 Simple Tips for Editors & Writers to Create an Organized and Productive Work Flow

If you have one—or even many—fires you're trying to keep lit but have been finding yourself stressed with the workload falling further and further behind, have no fear! The following tips might just help you get back into the perfect groove so you can start swinging like never before.

1) Taking A Break 

Sometimes you just need to take a break. Between the active social media life, the creative drain writing and editing takes, the demands of life, or God forbid you're sick, it's healthy to give yourself a break; to allow yourself to clear your head from it all. The downside: returning from said break can be a hassle, as I discovered for myself. Try not to take more than a day or two off, if you can help it.

2) Reflecting in a Relaxed Setting

In my article How to Get Yourself Writing With Writer's Block With These Four Methods, I talk about the importance of changing your atmosphere and eliminating distractions, the same theme I am revisiting here. I love getting out of my office, leaving my phone behind, and escaping into a warm bubble bath where, after lighting lavender incense, I'll relax in the tub with my journal and pen.

However and wherever you personally choose to get away, make sure it's a place where you can really, truly reflect on what you're doing in your daily life.

3) Writing Out Your Goals 

Write down every single venture in which you are determined to play an active role, including future ideas. Don't forget to mention the steps you need to take to achieve the goals necessary for each to take form. You may consider completing this step in addition to your reflecting.

4) Mapping It Out

Mind maps are typically used for brainstorming but they are also incredibly useful when it comes to determining your present ventures, and made easier if you have an app for that (I like to use M8!-Mind Map or Simple MindMap).

If you can, try to create only three different categories (mine turned out to be Writing & Editing, Business, and Education), adding your different projects into one of these three categories. Don't forget to add any necessary steps to take for each project! Do you have to read? Review? Send emails? Make calls? Add each step as a separate string.

Here's a rather complex example you can easily adapt for yourself to fit your own needs:

[click to enlarge]

5) Project Planning (and Sticking to It)

Project planning and timelines are an essential part of organization. If you have never created your own project planning sheet, I recommend doing a quick search to find a template suited for your needs, as these can get rather complex. Google Drive also has an incredible feature called Google Sheets - Templates, through which you can select a Project Timeline template, then customize it to your own needs. You may have to create several templates depending on how many projects you have going, but I assure you it will be worth it. Just remember to stick to the timeline as closely as possible; the creation of a daily schedule (another template which can be found on Google Sheets or via an image search) can also be particularly helpful in this instance.

6) Self-forgiveness

This step is the golden key; it's pertinent whether you get off track in your timeline or forget to write that email--we should all take a deep breathe, apologize to ourselves (and anyone else affected), and push ahead rather than wallow in our screw-up, no matter the size. Mistakes are how we learn to improve, after all.

Posted 10th April 2019 by Sabrina S.K. Regan