Organization Tools and Apps to Help Journalists and Bloggers

I know I’m not the only one who’s been decluttering after binge-watching Marie Kondo’s Netflix show. If you’re feeling inspired to get organized at work as well as in your home, you’re not alone.

We know journalists and bloggers have a lot on their plates. So being able to streamline daily tasks can be a huge help.

We’ve compiled a few helpful tools and apps to get you through the day and get organized.

For Brainstorming and Research

When working on a big story, it can be a challenge keeping notes, articles, data, and source documents organized.

These tools can help keep everything in its place.

DocumentCloud

DocumentCloud is a nonprofit committed to improving trust and transparency in journalism. The platform helps journalists share, analyze, annotate and, ultimately, publish source documents to the open web. After a June 2018 merger with MuckRock, newly-announced MuckRock/DocumentCloud combo plans will make the process of researching and publishing easier.

Evernote

Evernote is a trusted note-taking app among writers. The free app has a number of helpful features. Users can make lists, set reminders, add attachments to existing notes, record audio, mark up documents, and share notes. Upgrading to paid plans gives users access to AI-suggested content, integrations with Google Drive, Slack, and Outlook, and team collaboration tools.

Listly

Lists are the epitome of organization, right? Listly makes organizing articles and reports for your research easy. Users can share lists with teammates, customize them, or embed them on a project website. A WordPress plugin is helpful for bloggers by allowing readers to contribute and making it easy to update lists to keep content fresh.

XMind

For many people, having a visual representation of their thoughts and ideas is a big help. XMind is a brainstorming tool that helps you make creative mind maps that can aide in efficiency and collaborations. The organization tool has plenty of design options, so you’ll be able to find one that’s just right. Mind maps are accessible from desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, and are available for export and sharing. Pricing starts as low as $1.24/month for the mobile version.

For Workflow

These organization management tools can help simplify workflow for writers – whether it’s sticking to a to-do list, keeping track of tabs in your internet browser, or managing an ever-growing list of passwords.

LastPass

Between email, social media platforms, content management systems, and everything else, writers need to remember a lot of passwords. LastPass can help you create strong passwords and will remember all the ones you need. Need to share a password with teammates? LastPass lets you do it securely. After all, this isn’t something that should be sent in a text. Users can choose from multiple plans, including a free personal option and a team plan for $4/month. The organization and security this tool provides can easily justify the paid plans.

Toby

Do you suffer from too many tabs in your browser? Toby is a Chrome extension that helps you organize bookmarks to “bring context to your workflow.” Bookmarks can be organized by project, team, or topic. The tool also makes it easy to onboard new employees or team members by inviting them to the relevant project.

Todoist

Todoist is a popular task management app that can be a great help for bloggers and journalists. Keeping track of everything you need to accomplish can be overwhelming and getting organized is critical to success. The app allows users to organize tasks into projects, set priority levels, delegate tasks to the team, and synch tasks across their devices. Helpful templates like social media calendars, meeting agendas, and content calendars are available.

For Emails

Journalists are constantly bombarded with emails. Making time to reply or even sort through emails can be difficult.

Popular Gmail plugins like Boomerang and Sortd allow users to build side-by-side inboxes, schedule reminders for follow-up, temporarily hide emails, or pause the inbox, for example, easing some of the stress.

But whether you’re a believer in ‘inbox zero’ or ‘inbox infinity,’ cutting down on the sheer number of emails can be a big help.

That’s where PR Newswire for Journalists comes in.

PR Newswire for Journalists users can create custom newsfeeds that will send news releases from their preferred industry or subject, in their preferred format, on their preferred schedule.

Find out how easy it is to set up a newsfeed here.

For even more tools that help writers and bloggers on the job, check out The ABCs of Digital Journalism Tools: Helpful Apps and Sites to Make Your Job Easier.

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Rocky Parker works in Audience Relations at PR Newswire. Check out her previous posts for Beyond Bylines. When she’s not working, Rocky typically can be found cooking, binge watching a new show, or playing with her puppy, Hudson.