How To Use Monday.com To Manage Your Writing
Here’s a simple, 3 step guide on using Monday.com to manage your writing:
- Set up a board
- A board represents the larger project that needs managing – a book, a blog, a whitepaper, you name it.
- Insert Groups
- A group on Monday.com is a distinct section of a project. It could represent quarter 3, or a chapter, or next week. It depends on what your project needs!
- Add and Assign Tasks
- Communicate with your team on Monday.com to ensure that tasks are meeting deadlines and that your team has an appropriate flow of information.
All writers know the keys to improving their creations: write, write again, rewrite, do it every day, then do it some more. The journey of a writer through their career is always one of evolution; we learn more and get better with every project.
But what about the business side? Too often we’ve heard from writers that their necessary business dealings take away from their creative life. That dealing with clients can be time-consuming, haphazard, and frustrating.
Well, being in the business of writing demands a different skill set. And if we have to keep toggling back and forth between our writer’s brain and our entrepreneur side, always reinventing the wheel with each new client, we will lose precious writing time.
The “best practice” for a professional writer is to set up a workflow system that helps you throughout the process, can connect with your readers, and most importantly: doesn’t have to be reset every time you have a new job.
One of our favorites is monday.com—and we’ve used it to manage our writing to benefit everyone in the process. Let’s take a look at the benefits and how to unlock them.
What is Monday.com?
Monday.com is a workflow platform that many businesses and organizations use for their teams and projects. It is extremely flexible; you can create a lot of different templates and customize them for your needs.
There are certainly other workflow platforms out there, but we’ve found monday.com to be one of the best in the writing process. One of the key features of monday is that it is very visual and intuitive. Colored progress boards that track with just one click simply feel more creative.
If you dig into monday, however, you’ll quickly see how it can manage your entire writing project stable.
Monday.com Organizes Your Workflow
You can put every project you are working on up on your monday board—both your personal projects and “for hire.” You then create color-coded steps and milestones for each. This allows you to get a bird’s eye view of deadlines, focus points, and progress.
If you’re like us, you may be working on a book at the same time you’re writing marketing copy, while slowly climbing the mountain of a personal project. When you have every one of your projects in one place, you can organize your day and week at will.
That promotes organization, the key to productivity.
Monday.com Promotes Discipline
Sure, writers should write every day. But on what project? Monday’s color-block flow allows you to put in deadlines for every step of each project, from first draft to final. As soon as you put a new project on your board, create a timeline that serves you and your clients, and stick to it.
Monday.com will provide reminders on any device you ask it to. Essentially, it allows you to become your own virtual project manager! Who doesn’t need that?
Monday.com Provides One Central Delivery Point
Now let’s get into the client interface. Every project on your monday board has a section where you can post drafts, rewrites, and clients can provide notes. This allows stakeholders to find your writing, without you having to send and resend drafts or links.
At the beginning of each project, simply add the emails of your clients to the board, and they’ll have access and receive notifications. You can mark different projects public or private; they won’t have access to everything you do.
But they will have access to everything they need in one spot…that saves a lot of back-and-forth. For any writer who has had their day hijacked with emails, texts, and calls from clients asking “how is it going?”—you’ll love this time-saver.
Monday.com Facilitates Clear Communication
You’ve placed the project up, you’ve set the deadlines, you’ve brought your clients to your board. The answers to all their questions will be right there.
When are you delivering the first draft? It’s on the board. When do you expect client notes? On the board.
From project kickoff to final delivery, monday.com allows you to clearly communicate each step and deadline.
Monday.com Lets Clients in on the Process
One of the most important things to remember as a freelance writer is that we have work because writing is hard, and for a lot of people a complete mystery. When clients feel like they’re part of the process, and understand it, they tend to be much more relaxed.
We’ve all had the experience of spending a couple of days working on a draft, only to find that when we turn it in, the client is already so concerned about the result that they’re full of notes that make little sense.
When clients are a part of the process, they are much more certain of the end product. That saves a lot of time and frustration.
You simply set up monday.com to show each step. The color-coded board is easy to figure out, and you can switch colors as each step is completed. Clients will never feel in the dark again.
Monday.com Helps with Billing
Ah, that final step that often bedevils us freelance writers. The final “block” in your monday should be “Project Paid.” Since you can assign that task to the client, and put the invoice up on the board for easy access, you’ll find that clients are quicker to pay.
Monday.com Shows That You’re a Professional
Besides all of the help monday.com brings to the workflow, it also “plays” great in kickoff meetings. When your clients see a well thought-out project management board, they know they’re in the hands of a professional writer.
You’ve done this before. You know their needs, and how to communicate clearly.
They definitely hired the right writer.
Conclusion
For an author, monday.com is a great tool, but can be a bit overwhelming at times.
As a freelancer, I find that monday.com is a lifesaver.
Is monday.com right for you? You should test drive it yourself and find out. We highly recommend creating some kind of workflow board for all of your writing projects.
