I think the last software I recommended was Scrivener, back when it first came out.
MAYBE Vellum (but that’s Mac only).
So today I’m recommending some free-to-remarkably inexpensive software that has taken a helluva lot of the crazy out of my day.
Meet Freeter…
The Organizer for Folks Who DO
This is a free download, vailable for Mac & PC (and I think I read that they have a Linux version in the works). I got the paid version after trying out the free version for about fifteen minutes. INSTANTLY sold me.
Take a look at what I’ve got here.
Top left corner of the software, you have what I think of as the Process List.
Fiction is my first process of the day.
And in the first screenshot, you see DAILY FICTION.
This is pretty simple. I have access to my fiction folder (and all my project subfolders in the clickable list to the left.
The three colored icons are my active projects.
And right below them is my schedule.
If I were just dealing with fiction, it wouldn’t be so difficult.
But fiction, of course, is just a part of what I do each day.
So check out the top left corner of the next screenshot.
Right now the next Daily Process is How to Write a Novel, which is such a complicated build that it isn’t just “Write Nonfiction.”
Fleeter allows me to have JUST my How to Write a Novel folder loaded up, all the files and links I need added in the top three rows, my Weekly Per Lesson step-by-step checklist, and my daily class To Do list.
Sitting on the exact same desktop as my fiction stuff. No flipping between screen
No trying to remember where I put X.
It took me about ten minutes to set up my fiction process.
Just not that much there, but it gets me started smoothly each morning.
Took me about two hours to hunt down everything and set up the Class process, but as you can see, building just one lesson is a BIG process, and I’m doing one of those per week, and some lessons require things I don’t use all that often.
When I get finished with How to Write a Novel, I have my next nonfiction project pending…
The Canary Revisions. Going through my classes that are in Spliters version, and methodically finding and fixing and upgrading and updating each one.
When I’m ready for that, The Canary Revisions will get a build-out that looks like my HTWAN build. But for now, it’s just a list of the planned order in which I’m fixing things.
While writing a bunch more novels.
Freeter and my really ugly bullet journal are how I’m getting things done.
And you know what? Mondays are still a bitch. But I’m dealing with them. And I know I’ll get the stuff I have to get done today done.
None of the links are affiliate links, by the way. They’re just stuff I use, love, and recommend.
I took a look at this as it sounded pretty good and might be super useful to some of my students, then I read through some of the forums. It appears as though it was bought by someone early Jan 2018, but somewhere in June or July? last year the guy ‘disappeared’ and there’s been no contact from him since. It still looks pretty good for what it does, although getting any updates or fixes to known bugs could be an issue.
Checking on this now. It sounds dismal.
It’s remarkable software. I hope it hasn’t become abandonware.
Wow, that looks handy! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I’m developing an online course to help solopreneurs with productivity, and this will likely go into my recommended products list. Already I can see it could take the place of two apps I now use – a to-do list with recurring items, tied to a pomodoro timer. And what a time-saver, to have things in one place in projects, instead of looking in multiple Dropbox folders for everything!
My best guess is that once I set it up, it has saved me about half an hour to forty-five minutes per day of finding commonly used files, locating my current lesson, locating my current novel (when working between three in the course of each week), and it has been flawless.
It is my single favorite new software acquisition since Scrivener.
Yes – They do have a linux version. Just download it, put it where you want it on your system and launch it.
I will “play” with it later, but starts up very quickly and prompts you in getting things set up and running. Looking forward to test drive it and see if it will help me.
Very good to know. It’s a brilliant program, and along with my bullet journal, has made my work day much more focused. A place for everything, and everything in its place has killed my chaotic eight-screen workflow that never worked right.