How to balance your creativity and productivity with clever tools and habits
Finding the perfect balance between being creative and productive is such an essential part of successful writing. It might not always be easy, though. You may have lots of inspiring ideas, but struggle to finish your projects. Or perhaps you’re very efficient but feel like your work is lacking that special creative spark. The thing is, trying to find the balance is always worth it, especially when you dream of publishing a book someday or attracting paying clients.
I created this little guide because I know how hard it can be. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced author or just beginning your blogging journey. All it may take is a small tweak to your routine, a helpful app, or a fresh approach to help you get back on track.
My favourite tools, apps & strategies
Apps can help save time and also free up ideas. When David Hockney discovered the Brushes drawing app on his iPad, he created a new body of digital art. Not only has he been very productive since, I love that it just took a change of medium to do so!
A few years before I finished grammar school, my parents kindly gave me an orange typewriter for Christmas. Those were the good old pre-digital days!
As someone who loved journaling, this special gift quickly became one of my most cherished possessions. I found myself writing with even more enthusiasm as I loved the tapping sound of the keys. Amazing what a change of medium can achieve.
So doing something differently could be the beginning of finding a better balance between your creativity and productivity.
All the apps and strategies I suggest below are tried and tested either by me or my clients. It is by no means a comprehensive list, but they are all reasonably easy to use, which should help if you’re not very technical.
8 apps and tools to support you
- Asana – a great collaborative list app for to-do lists
- Trello – a board to track all your planned, active and completed actions. Some people find this very enjoyable to use.
- Otter.ai – a useful note-taking and voice-to-text transcription app
- Apple Notes – or any other in-built or downloadable note app (e.g. the trusted Evernote). Great for capturing ideas whilst on the move. I also use mine to draft my longer Instagram posts.
- Miro – a very clever whiteboard tool that encourages creativity. I discovered it when a client invited me to collaborate on his mind map full of creative lists and drawings.
- Grammarly – a writing assistant that is a step up from your average spell checker. I find it a huge time-saver when it comes to editing. But its clever list of functions may be of interest to native English speakers too!
- ChatGPT – a free AI chatbot that can help with generating blog ideas, researching topics, and helping with your website, LinkedIn, blog or author bio. And more! However, I do have a few reservations about AI that helps with writing. I will share my thoughts in a separate post.
- Good old Excel – still fabulous for planning your blog content or launching a new book or service. We found the book launch planner we created for “Distinctive Voice” incredibly helpful!
4 important strategies that work really well
- The Pomodoro technique – this involves writing in short sprints of 20 or 25 minutes, followed by a brief break. Great in helping you get started as well as maintain momentum.
- Setting specific goals – e.g. starting small like writing an hour each time or a certain number of words, whichever is easier. Then you can slowly work up to a big goal, such as “writing a book”.
- Getting into a routine – eg specific days or times set aside for writing tasks that you will protect from other commitments. It helps to batch similar tasks too.
- Silencing distractions – put your phone on silent or write in distraction-free mode, which turns everything unnecessary off whilst you focus on your writing. No matter how skilled you may be at multitasking, doing more than one thing at a time is not very good for the brain.
My top 5 suggestions to help with creativity
- Feed your imagination – sometimes stepping away from writing to immerse yourself in other creative pursuits (art, music, films, books) can lead to lots of new ideas.
- Writing prompts – these are great for when you feel stuck. We often include some in our newsletter and here on the blog. Also, there are plenty in our book “Distinctive Voice”!
- Check where you write – could switching location lead to greater inspiration and new ideas? (See below for more details)
- Switching media, ie using a notebook – a meaningful creativity aid that can go anywhere with you without the need for your phone.
- Writing by hand – some of our clients find this the most powerful way to write and create.
I’d like to give the last three points more space, as they are so easy and satisfying to use.
Could switching location make you more creative?
Over time, I did a lot of writing on my orange typewriter. The only thing that was missing now was a great view from my window. So I imagined myself looking up from writing a book to admire the mountains of the Bavarian Alps.
Since then, where I sit and write matters a great deal to me. I prefer being near a window to let my eyes gaze onto some greenery in the distance as I mull over an idea. In the summer, I love writing in the garden, and it seems I’m not the only one.
If you just fancy switching things up a bit, how about moving your desk to a different place in the room, or even a different room?
Some people enjoy working in a friendly café, a library, or an art centre. You could also try renting a hot desk in an office building, in case that might turn out to be your thing.
Sometimes, changing how your environment feels can also help. When we ran monthly writing sessions, we would ask our writers to do something different. To light a candle to change the ambience or to sit wrapped in a cosy blanket in the winter. A vase of flowers near you or a plant could do the trick too.
The magical effect of stationery
I know several writers who have returned to using pen and paper and love it. Some never abandoned it in the first place in favour of technology.
I like a combination of both. Taking notes by hand might take me a little longer, but it comes with an added benefit: I feel more mindful and in the moment!
People tell me that the idea of filling a brand-new notebook never fails to inspire them. I actually enjoy the physical action of crossing or rubbing things out.
And flipping through a full notebook can be very satisfying too. You can easily gauge how productive you’ve been and how creative ideas have or haven’t developed.
In mine, I will have scribbled, doodled and captured random thoughts too. I’ve drawn Mind Maps with coloured pencils or listed tasks neatly with a pencil.
Your personal preferences matter!
Everyone seems to have different preferences: some like old-fashioned notebooks with lined pages, while others prefer bullet journals for creating beautifully structured lists and plans. Choosing the right notebook is a very personal decision.
As notebooks and journals are both visual and tactile, you may care about how they look and feel in your hand and whether they are easy to carry.
For my Attract Readers tasks, I currently favour thin, narrowly lined Japanese exercise books as seen in my image above. That said, I still treasure the leather-like notebook my Attract Readers colleague Jean surprised me with when we designed our first e-course 10 years ago. How time flies!
How writing by hand could make you more creative
It may seem a little odd, but I don’t mind looking at an otherwise quite boring to-do list that is neatly written in a pretty notebook. It is my way of turning a tedious routine task into something I actually find enjoyable.
The same goes for my fountain pens: a little old-fashioned they may well be, but they are so lovely to write with, And I find my handwriting looks much neater too.
Handwriting can also boost your creativity. Seeing thoughts and ideas take shape in this way can be incredibly satisfying. If you keep a handwritten journal, then you’ll know how it feels.
But, crucially, switching from digital to paper for some of your tasks means you’re less easily distracted. (It can be all too tempting to get drawn into inefficient multitasking on electronic devices.)
I can always tell from my doodles and handwriting whether I felt rushed, bored, or inspired at the time. Whether I was creative and productive or completely unfocused.
Although I’d like to add that being unfocused isn’t always a bad thing. Our brightest ideas often come to us unexpectedly. Maybe when you’re doing something different, like taking a shower or going for a walk.
These moments of pause can spark your creativity and lead to wonderful insights.
There’s a lovely benefit to not depending solely on technology. As a coach, I’ve noticed that many people feel more committed to their goals or plans when they’ve written them down, especially by hand. It appears this personal al touch makes them more memorable and impactful.
So… have I inspired you to think about a few different ways to be more creative and productive? Maybe you’ll want to download a new App or go and buy a nice new notebook?
If you have your own favourite tool, app of habit that works for you, please share it with us below.
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Would you like to make your blog irresistible to readers? Our book “Distinctive Voice -The fearless way to a wholehearted blog worth noticing helps you to identify your true purpose and voice, overcome mindset blocks and create magnetic content for your ideal reader. “The information is clear and easy to understand. Your actions are really good at getting me stuck in, and I enjoyed doing them. You have given me the confidence to give it a go”.
PS. Photos 1 and 2 are courtesy of Pixabay/ Unsplash; the others are my own
