We’ve optimized the heck out of cooking and shopping at my house. The key is a simple spreadsheet that my wife Kimberley built in Google Sheets — and it uses almost no math. We’ve improved it over more than a decade, and I can’t resist showing it off. Why this works for us This system…
I’m editing a book at breakneck speed right now. The author and I interact multiple times a day, but rarely talk to each other. A carefully designed system based on Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets makes it possible. Let me be clear here about the problem I’m solving: We’re building a book out mostly existing…
I’ve been working on a collaborative book project with two other authors. On this project, I’m the principal writer; they are my clients. Here are a few things I learned about the superiority of Google Docs and Google Sheets for collaborative authoring. Using Google Drive for shared access to research My collaborators and I work…
If you’re working on a simple project with a small team, there’s no quicker way to keep track of everything than to use Google Sheets. All you need is a tiny bit of discipline. There are scores of sophisticated tools for project management. Or, you could link your to-dos lists together, provided your team all…
Collaborating on a book is hard. Deadlines make it harder. The key is to develop a disciplined process and stick with it. To help you get to the end without tears, I’ll share some battle-tested collaboration tools and tips that will keep you focused on content excellence, not process glitches. (You’ll see where the bear…
If you’re writing anything interesting, you’re collaborating. And if you’re collaborating, Google Docs and Google Sheets are indispensable tools. Most of you work in organizations where Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are standard. They’re comfy and familiar. If you send a file in those formats to somebody, you know they can read it. So why bother…