Productivity tips & an app update 🎉

Making the most of your precious writing time

Today we’re diving into building a writing habit (and my productivity tips, such as they are), how to get access to the chat feature and support, and an app update with improvements for suggestions & comment threads, and importing documents.

Building a writing habit (my productivity tips)

Focus and staying motivated while writing has been one of the problems I’ve tried to make easier to manage with First Draft Pro (with features like daily wordcount goals and focused writing mode).

But, I still find that I need to have systems in place to help me make the most of my time and energy if I want to have a consistent (and sustainable) writing practice.

These 10 tools, practices and systems are the ones that have helped me to work consistently and sustainably on both my writing projects and building First Draft Pro. Some of them might also work for you.

If you have any practices that you’ve found really helpful, please share them with me!

1. I do a time vs energy audit

One of the ways I try to combat my time-blindness is to calculate how many productive hours I will have in a week (given any other personal obligations). I call these hours my "spoons", and anyone who has strong opinions about cutlery will know: not all spoons are created equal.

Some hours are better for certain types of work than others, so I allocate each task or project its spoons based on how much of myself I will need to give. This helps me manage my time more intentionally and avoid overcommitting.

2. I block-off writing time (and try to protect it)

I schedule my writing time. This is the best way for me to make sure I stick to it, and I try very hard to protect it. Usually it’s in the morning, and usually right after I eat and caffeinate, because that’s when my brain is at its best.

But, I don’t always have the luxury of giving my book my best brain, sometimes other things demand it. The goal is to (1) schedule it, and (2) try to schedule it at a time when I can bring my best possible brain to the work given other responsibilities.

3. I have a ‘bookmark habit’

I love the concept of bookmark habits, and I use them for everything. The idea is that you create a lowest possible requirement for considering the habit maintained (i.e. you kept your place). Say for example you want to run every day. But, sometimes stuff gets in the way. Your bookmark habit might be a quick walk, or even just putting on your running shoes.

Despite my best intentions, sometimes protecting my writing time doesn’t work. Life will life. My bookmark habit is to open the project daily. It sounds small, but just seeing the manuscript and outline in First Draft Pro helps to keep the story alive in my mind.

4. Banish distractions

I set my phone to a "writing focus mode" while writing, which blocks access to distracting apps. This helps me stay off social media and keeps me in the zone. In theory. It doesn’t always work.

If I find myself picking up my phone a lot, I sometimes need to put it in another room (or give it to my husband to Smaug over until I finish what I need to finish).

I’ve also found a cube timer really helpful for staying on task!

5. Train your brain with music (from video games)

I use a focus playlist that I’ve trained myself to be productive on, Pavlovian style. I’m not allowed to listen to this playlist unless I’m doing deep work. The result is that it helps put me in the zone almost immediately.

Another tip: I use music from video games for this playlist. This is something I learned ages ago from someone on Reddit: Video game music is split into two types: field/travelling music and boss fight music. Field/travelling music is music designed to keep you focused as you navigate the game. It’s soothing, but keeps your brain active, curious and engaged. Boss fight music is designed to spike your adrenalin.

So: I actually have two playlists (mostly compiled of music from Hollow Knight, Ori, and Moonlighter).

• Field Music: I use this for deep, focused work because it helps my brain stay active without pulling my attention away.

• Boss Fight Music: This playlist is for when I’m under a deadline or need to get something done fast. The change in tempo and intensity helps me focus on high-pressure tasks.

An exception: Sometimes I need to focus, but the vibe of my focus playlist is not the vibe I’m going for in a scene. Soothing music isn’t great if you’re trying to write a tense scene, or a romantic scene. So, I created mood-based writing playlists for this.

6. Get out of your head and into your body

When I’m feeling stuck or unable to focus, I do something physical—like go for a walk, clean, or even play an instrument. Moving my body helps me reset mentally, and I find it easier to jump back into work afterward.

7. Embody your author persona

Beyoncé has an on-stage persona. Chappell Roan is a persona. So is Childish Gambino. I have an “author persona” that I call on when I need to get out of my own head. She is confident, focused, and never gets distracted. She has zero imposter syndrome. What she has is a deadline, and she’s going to meet it.

8. Set an arbitrary deadline

Speaking of deadlines, I find setting an arbitrary, self-imposed deadline to be very helpful for staying on track. I break big tasks into smaller milestones, like finishing Act 1 or getting to the midpoint of a story. This gives me structure and keeps me motivated when the project-end feels overwhelming or far off.

9. Pick just three things

Every morning I write a new to-do list (with a pen, on paper!) with three tasks on it. I try really hard to have it only be three. This is actually one of my biggest issues, because I love starting new things, and I see opportunities everywhere.

I actually have a Steve Jobs quote on my desk that says: “Focus means saying no to the 100 good ideas there are.”

10. Maintain a running editorial note

I’ve saved this for last, because honestly it has been a transformative practice for me. While writing (especially a first draft), I keep a running editorial note where I jot down ideas, issues to fix, or anything I need to remember for later when I come back to editing. It’s incredibly helpful when I go back to edit because I don’t have to rely on memory to recall important thoughts I had mid-process, and it also saves me from myself if I want to go back and tweak a previous scene, when I actually need to maintain forward momentum.

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The mysterious case of the disappearing chat

I’ve heard feedback that a few people are no longer seeing the chat feature in First Draft Pro, which means you might be struggling to get help, suggest features, or just send wave emoji 👋

It seems to be due to changes in certain browsers to include native adblockers. What this means is that your browser’s newly built-in adblocker is blocking the chat bubble.

If you want to fix this, whitelisting app.firstdraftpro.com should resolve the problem, and give the chat permission to show (to get instructions, search: How to whitelist a webapp on [your browser name/adblocker]).

If you don’t want to whitelist First Draft Pro, but you still want to give us feedback, send feature requests, or get help, I’ve set up a new contact form on our website.

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New features in First Draft Pro (v 1.0.66)

Scene breaks now work smoothly when importing, and we’ve boosted performance for comments and suggestions.

• Scene breaks when importing — We fixed a bug that was affecting scene splitting when importing your novel. Now, whenever you separate text in a chapter with five dashes, it will be split into different scenes when importing.

• Suggesting edits & making comments in collaboration — We’ve made significant improvements to suggestions and comments to enable the app to handle up to 7000 active comments on a manuscript. So if you rely heavily on comments and suggested edits, you should experience a performance boost!