Time-starved mom blogger? Overwhelmed by your working load? Check out these 15 + free writing tools to get the work done faster and better! Ease your writing load and get more done for your blog or biz with these clever writing apps! –
Reading time: 8 min.
So many items on our blogging to-do-list!
There is so much wonderful content you want to create! You have so many ideas to bring to life. If only you had more time!
You have impatient clients waiting while your blog needs some TLC, too.
Is that you?
Or are you a mom blogger who desperately tries to make this blogging thing work in her fringe hours?
Whatever your situation, if you wish you had more hours in your day, you will love time-saving writing tools!
Writing has always been one of my favorite tasks. I felt so blessed when I found out I could write for money! I still love when someone tells me she found something I wrote helpful.
The downside is that writing can take huge chunks of time for me. I could write for hours and hours. Then, I want to edit, add links, resources, images, change the format, etc.
Suddenly, my few working hours are gone.
Can you relate?
What if you could cut your writing time in half while writing better?
Here is a list of blogging and writing tools that help you write better and faster! Learn how you
- can write distraction-free,
- get your research organized,
- manage writing projects,
- find out what your readers want,
- unlock tons of popular content ideas, and
- edit your writing faster.
And all with free writing apps & tools for bloggers!
Read my terms of service here and my privacy policy here.
Time Management While Writing
I need to limit my time on certain tasks. If I don’t, they will eat up my entire working time for that day. I can’t afford that if I want to get anything done.
BrainFocus Timer. First thing I need to hold myself accountable and become more productive is a timer. Especially “researching” can turn into a total time sink that has me end up on Amazon purchasing new books.
I use the free app BrainFocus. You can set it up the way you want. I currently use the classic Pomodoro schedule: 25 minutes working on one thing, then a 5-minute break. After 2 hours of working, I have a long break of 20 minutes.
But as I said, you can do as you like! Experiment with working session and break lengths.
You can use the timer on your phone, your kitchen timer or an online countdown timer. If you know the time is running, you’ll stay more focused on the task on hand.
Next is creating a focused and distraction-free working environment.
Writing Tools for distraction-free writing sessions
WriteTab Chrome Extension. I finish my posts in WordPress. But distractions are countless. If you want a distraction-free screen to write drafts, try the WriteTab extension for the Chrome browser.
You will have to use Chrome for writing, but this tool is a free and easy-to-use alternative to paid software.
Try this screen to get your drafts written faster. No researching, no going back to catch typos, just write! This will help to enhance your creativity and ideas start to flow!
BlockSite for Chrome and Android. This one is great if there are websites out there tempting you. Block them out and stay on track. (This is great for blocking websites on your computer for children, too, as you can set up redirects to other websites.)
Keep tabs open you need for writing or research, and block out websites you know are a time-sucker!
Noisli. Are you one of those people who work better and more focused with some ambient sound? Or do you live in a busy place with children, traffic, or construction sites around?
You should check out Noisli. It will play sounds like wind, ocean waves, or coffee shop noises. There is also white noise and more.
Ease the research load – organize your tabs with a free tool
When you put together your post you will most likely add links, statistics, or YouTube videos. If you are anything like me you have a gazillion tabs open at any given time. This can slow down your browser and make it a PITA to find and go back to a website. Time suck!
Anyone else guilty of having a gazillion tabs open? No more.
OneTab for Firefox or OneTab Chrome Extension. OneTab helps you organize all those open tabs you need for your writing. You can easily overlook them without going through hundreds of tabs.
Using OneTab will speed your browser back up, too. OneTab will also enable you to share your collection of URLs or export them for later reference.
Weava Ah. Anyone missing the good old days of studying with textbooks? I loved using highlighters and post-it notes.
Weava brings back this art of studying in digital form. You can organize your research in a visual way and with up to 5 colors of highlighter (in the free version).
Weava is for academic research and can be used for websites or pdfs. You can organize your findings in folders or share them with others. Great for round-ups or lengthy guides for your blog.
Weava is for more in-depth research and you could use it when putting together information for a paid product, like an ebook or course. Or for good old learning.
Get Unstuck and Unlock Countless Blog Post Ideas Instantly
Have you ever been stuck for ideas? Or you feel like you are writing the same topics over and over again?
Are you posting to the sound of crickets?
Fear not! Time to do a little brainstorming session for popular blog topics. Here are blogging tools and resources to find new ideas.
Save time with learning on the go: Top 10 Inspiring Podcasts for Mom Bloggers To Grow Their Blogs like a weed
Reddit. Legally stalk your desired audience. Discover their pain points, needs, and problems using this huge network. This will help you tailor your content to what people are already searching for. You can add more value to your posts and products because you know what your readers need.
If you are ever stuck for content or product ideas, go through subreddits and tabs of your niche.
Quora is another fabulous place to find out what’s bothering people. You can connect with them on Quora by sharing your knowledge (and drive some free traffic to your online presence). It’s a great place to network and establish yourself as an expert.
Blog Ideas Generator by Hubspot. Enter one to five nouns or phrases and this tool will spit out 5 content ideas (free version).
Portent’s Content Idea Generator. This writing tool is fun. Enter your keyword and it will give you an endless stream of titles/post ideas. You could use the ton of extra titles for sharing a post on social media.
Now turn those ideas into compelling headlines! You do need to spend a few minutes on each headline you write. Fortunately, it can’t get any easier than with the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer.
A headline can make or break your post. Even if your work is stunning and ultra-helpful, people need to find it first. The headline of your post needs to grab their attention and make them want to click over to your blog. With a crappy headline, your carefully crafted work will never be seen by a larger audience.
Use the free Headline Analyzer and you will soon master this headline writing thing.
Make Your Writing Better and Error-Free With Free Tools
Ok. You have written a piece in a reasonable amount of time. Next, edit your writing and clean up messy lengthy sentences. Now it’s time to go after those pesky typos, too.
Grammarly This free online tool will check for common grammar and spelling mistakes. For me, this is an absolute must-have because – you guessed it – English is not my native language. You can upgrade to a paid plan that detects “advanced errors”, too. But the free Grammarly app is the bare essential you definitely will want to use for everything you put out.
Hemingway App. Correct grammar and spelling is not everything. Use the Hemingway Editor app to find out how difficult to read your text is. Are there sentences too long or complicated? Too many adverbs?
The app will give your text a rating and reading-time, too. This is where I get the information on the reading time of my posts.
Tools To Organize Your Content Creation Process And Store Your Stuff
Google Drive. Do I really need to introduce you to Google Drive? It’s my cloud storage of choice. I love that I can store many different kinds of documents here and share them with my audience.
If I need to update a file, I just upload the new version. No hassle going through my posts and changing sharing links. Phew…
Another great feature: You can force people to first make a copy for themselves before they access a Google document. No more people messing up your files or requesting access per email! Just find the word “edit” towards the end of the sharing link and replace it with “copy”.
If you don’t find the word “edit” in a link, you need to change the sharing settings first. Learn how in this quick and easy step-by-step guide: How to force visitors to make a copy of a Google document by Teton Science.
Google Keep. You can create and save notes, checklists, drawings, or use it as a voice-to-text tool. Save your terrific ideas as soon as they pop up wherever you might be! In this YouTube video, you’ll find a quick walk-through of how to use it. It’s really easy.
Google Keep let’s you save online finds, too. You can use a Chrome browser extension to do so.
Trello This free project management tool lets you build boards with lists or cards on it. I use it to create my editorial calendar and email calendar. I love how you can just grab and drag a card to another list.
In Trello, I can assign deadlines but unlike the WordPress editorial calendar (plugin), unfinished posts do not get out of sight. That way you don’t have to scroll back in your calendar to find them. With Trello, they stay in plain sight.
Trello is very easy to use and great for more visual people. You can drag things around. It is perfect for managing complex writing projects or creating workflows.
With a workflow in place, you can streamline your working process and easily find what needs to be done next. Create one board per workflow. Then, inside the board one list per working step.
Here is an example of a blog post creation process:
What I don’t like is that while you can create a checklist, you will not see the items on it without first clicking the card the checklist is on.
This is why I prefer to make lists in my paper planner or my blog planning sheets! Recently, I have come to really like the clean and simple checking lists of Google Keep for my digital to-do-lists.
Read my terms of service here and my privacy policy here.
Want 25+ more free tools to finally make SEO work in your favor? Check out this post on super useful SEO tools & resources for bloggers!
That was the list of tools to make sure you write faster, productively and better! Are you going to use a writing tool from this list?
Let me know if I missed anything!
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