Evaluating Trello, ClickUp, and Notion to stay organized and productive
Getting Things Done, or GTD, is a staple of productivity. The concept, coined by David Allen in a book by the same name, focuses on breaking projects into individual tasks. All your attention is focused on the task at hand rather than the whole project. This increases productivity by accomplishing smaller parts of the whole.
Since the GTD book released in 2001, many alternatives and enhancements sprung up. One notable method is Kanban, Japanese for billboard. The Kanban method was initially created in the 1940’s by Toyota. In the mid-2000's, Microsoft engineer David Anderson revolutionized the concept for software development. …
Write Now
The author behind Morning Pages shares her writing process
Julia Cameron is the international bestselling author of The Artist’s Way and The Listening Path. Julia’s creation of “Morning Pages” revolutionized the writing world and I’m very excited to share her Write Now interview.
Who are you?
Julia Cameron, writer, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
What do you write?
I write many things — books on creativity, plays, poetry and even musicals. I teach creative unblocking, and my teaching keeps me unblocked. To date, I have written over 40 books, averaging about a book a year.
Where do you write?
I generally write in my living room on a loveseat that stares out at the mountains. I like to write using a uniball 207 pen, which is fast-writing and bold. …
📝 This Week’s Goal: Propel your growth as a writer.
Hey there, Cynthia Marinakos here, a grateful The Writing Cooperative writer since 2017. You might think as a copywriter and online communications professional for more than a decade, it’d be easy for me to write. But I still find it so damn hard in many ways. It’s especially hard writing under my own name, rather than hiding behind a client.
So if you write: AWESOME! Keep writing. You’ve got more guts than I did for many years. And you’re doing better than the countless people who talk about it, read about it, yet don’t bother to type a word.
What wild and wonderful places do you want writing to take you? Keep writing, you’ll get there. Especially with a passion to keep learning. To keep propelling your growth as a writer, I’ve found a few nuggets you’re sure to enjoy. These tips have propelled my writing over the years too. …
📝 Set a SMART goal for 2021 and then share it with a friend to hold yourself accountable.
A few weeks ago, I started getting back into yoga. After several pandemic- and health-related months off, it feels good to reconnect with my body and move. Every yoga video I watch begins with setting an intention for the practice. The intention is your goal for the session. Sometimes my goal is as simple as taking ten minutes to pause and breathe.
As we enter into a new year, it’s a great time to set a goal for your writing this year. Use the SMART goal system to create a Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely goal. In other words, develop a goal and a way to track and achieve it. …
202Done
Do you know where your money goes? What about your time? Here are four rules for better writing.
Confession time: I like to be in control. It’s not an overbearing thing, but my anxiety moves in when I lack options. To maintain control, I crave spreadsheets, numbers, and data. Information leads to choices, and options bring control.
Seven years ago, my wife and I began using the budgeting software, You Need A Budget (affiliate link). Using YNAB taught both of us sound financial practices and provided control over our financial decisions. The software operates on four basic rules. Stick with them and you thrive financially. Veer off the path and things get dicey.
Writers should budget their income just like everyone else, but this is not an article about financial budgeting. Instead, this focuses on using the principles for budgeting money to level up your writing productivity. …
Write Now
How this writers absorbs the works of other writers to inspire something new
Greg Fields is the author of Arc of the Comet and Through the Waters and the Wild (available January 15). Greg talks a lot about how he draws insiration from other writers. I do the same, though it’s not always writers. I am often inspired by great works (be they movies, books, anything written by someone). When I experience something great, I immediately want to create something of my own.
Who are you?
Greg Fields, Writer and editor, from Manassas, Virginia.
What do you write?
Since I was young, I’ve been in love with great writing. Throughout my life, I’ve gravitated to the great works. …
📝 This Week’s Goal: Celebrate your year in writing.
2020 might not have been the year we all expected. As we prepare for the ball to drop and usher in 2021, it’s worth taking a quick look back to the year that was.
In January, our Facebook Group kicked off the year with the Embrace Your Weird Challenge. Hundreds of you began the year exploring creativity and providing each other with encouragement.
We launched a host of new series featuring Bobby Powers, Emily Wilcox, Eric Pierce, Margery Bayne, Jill Ebstein, Nick Wolny, Brian Rowe, Anisa Nasir, Bookable Podcast, David B. Clear, Melinda Crow, and Cynthia Marinakos!
2020 saw the launch of our podcast, This Week and Writing, and this weekly newsletter by the same name. …
Write Now
How a self-professed “slow writer” published six books
Write Now provides a glimpse into how different people write for a living. Today's edition features Dianne Ebert Beeaff, author of six books including her latest, Tràigh Lar Beach.Who are you?
My name is Dianne Ebertt Beeaff. I have written professionally for many years beginning in magazine journalism. I currently have six books in print. I was born and raised in Canada, but have lived in Tucson, Arizona most of my life.
What do you write?
I began my writing career in non-fiction magazine journalism, writing for a large variety of periodicals. My work included profiles, round-ups, regional history, crafts, and much more. At the turn of the century, I turned to books and have six currently in print — two memoirs, a book of poetry, an historical fiction novel, a non-fiction book on the prehistoric stone architecture of Western Europe, and a book of short stories. My first publication was a poem in the Canadian magazine Chatelaine when I was eighteen. My first article publication was in the English journal, History Today, a few years later. I don’t place any restrictions on my writing in terms of either words or themes. …
📝 This Week’s Goal: Find one way to update your writing space to reduce distraction and inspire creativity.
In a year when most of us were confined to our homes, our writing environments might have changed quite a bit. Where coffee shops and coworking spaces may have once been bastions of inspiration, life is different in 2020.
We can all find encouragement that most authors interviewed for Write Now write from home. Andy Weir writes in a spare bedroom while Sarah Knight writes overlooking her pool. In a truly curious move, Clyve Rose writes in her bathroom!
There is no right or wrong place to write. Find a place that is comfortable and inspiring. …
A collection of things I’m proud of from an otherwise horrible year, plus a look at what’s to come
Seventeen days in 2020, my wife and I were in a car accident. So, you can say this year was a dumpster fire from the get-go. While the incident did land me in the hospital, the year wasn’t a total waste. I mean, I did unexpectedly appear in the Pete Souza documentary, The Way I See It.
As Danny Forest explains, everyone should do a year-end review, even if the year sucked. Taking his advice, here are a few things I’m incredibly proud of from 2020:
Various Stories
While I wrote several unique stories in 2020, a few stand out. I shared my choice for growth over fear with P.S. I Love You and some friendly advice from Ferris Bueller. For The Startup, I reviewed the new M1 Mac mini. In The Writing Cooperative, I doubled-down on investing in yourself, unlocking creativity, and winning the day. …
