Productivity apps are a saving grace for my writing. Over the years and through a lot of research, I’ve found a handful of apps that work really well with my process, particularly when I’m not at my computer. I wanted to share with all of you the productivity apps I’ve been using to get a lot of writing done and keep me organized between all my projects.

Just as a note, none of these shout outs are sponsored in any way. I just love these apps!

Apps I Have Found Helpful

The Google Suite

Drive

I love having Google Drive on my phone. I do most of my work on Drive, particularly the projects I am collaborating on. I love being able to pull up all the documents I need at any time, especially if I’m traveling and I have to get something done.

Docs

I started using Google Docs for writing so I could work on drafting anywhere. Before the shutdowns, I spent a lot of time commuting by train and tram to work, and during National Novel Writing Month, I wanted to use my time efficiently. Doing this upped my word counts and helped me make progress even when I felt like my time was being sucked into a black hole. I could work on my stuff while waiting for the train, riding the train, or literally any other time I was in a line.

Sheets

I found the Google Sheets app useful because I organize my series and story bibles in them. If I need to update the sheet with terminology I think of or other information while on the go, it is easy to just yank Sheets out and input it.

Another thing I like to use sheets for is word count accountability. I generally have a spreadsheet or other accountability trackers I need to update frequently. If I can do that while I’m waiting for the train, even better!

Habitica

Habitica is a guilty pleasure for me, but one I have found to be super motivating and extremely fun!

Habitica is an RPG app that you interact with via productivity. You put in habits, tasks, daily to do’s, and rewards into the app, and each time you score a habit or complete a task, you are rewarded with gold, items, equipment, and experience! There is also a function where you can join into groups to fight monsters, and your attacks are based on how well you do your tasks, dailies, and habits. 

My favorite feature of the app is being able to program repeated tasks to show up on specific days and times. I have a few things that I do on different rotating days and it takes a lot of stress off of me not to have to remember what I do on each day. My Habitica remembers for me.

Also, I dunno about you, but I’m a sucker for gamification, and this game definitely fits the bill.

Toggl Track

I discovered Toggl Track in April when I wanted to know how much time I spent on my writing every day. Since my ultimate goal is to be able to quit my day job and write full time, I decided to start tracking my projects so that once things start monetizing, I can figure out how much I’m making per hour writing versus per hour at the day job.

This has been really great for me. This app allows me to change the colors of individual projects and tag things that are related. I just hit the start button on a task and it keeps time till I tell it to stop. You can also hook the app up to your Google Calendar and it will show you when you scheduled a time block to do something and compares it to the actual time block you did it.

However, my favorite feature is seeing the time I spend per week in a pie chart by project. This helps me keep my ratios on point. For example, if I would like to make money off of writing books, I need to be spending the majority of my time writing books. If I start spending too much time in writing group meetings or working on social media platforming than writing, I can see it right away and can adjust where I put my time in. 

Trello

The last app I want to share about I only found a month or two ago. I started using the Trello app to do my project management, and I have been loving it. I adore the collaboration features and it has been super great to communicate and brainstorm tasks with those I’m working on projects with.

I also love the ability to set due dates and tons of checklists within my tasks and see the green boxes when I finish something. It has a couple other cool features I like, including the calendar function, which shows me the month calendar of what tasks’ due dates are coming up next. This has been super key to helping me get Demon Fall moving through my latest draft. 

So that’s it! That is my list of top productivity apps that I’m currently using to help me stay on task, organize, and get more done with my writing!

What productivity apps and websites do you use? Why do you like them and how do they help you?