If you’re a multi-genre writer, your brain probably looks like mine: a chaotic explosion of story ideas, half-finished manuscripts, worldbuilding documents, character sketches, and marketing plans—all competing for attention at 3 AM when you should be sleeping.
You’ve got the contemporary romance that’s 60% done, the cozy mystery you started last month, the fantasy world you’ve been building for three years, and oh yeah, that non-fiction book about creativity you promised yourself you’d write. Plus the newsletter. And the social media content. And maybe a short story collection? And didn’t you want to try writing a thriller?
Sound familiar?
Here’s what I’ve learned after years of fighting my multi-passionate, AuDHD brain: You don’t need to pick just one project. You need a system that works WITH your scattered mind, not against it.
Why Traditional Project Management Fails Us
Most productivity advice assumes you’re a neurotypical person working on one major project at a time. It tells you to “focus” and “eliminate distractions” and “finish what you start before beginning something new.”
That advice makes me want to throw my laptop across the room.
My ADHD brain doesn’t work in straight lines. It works in spirals and explosions and sudden bursts of hyperfocus on whatever has captured my attention right now. Trying to force it into a single-project box is like trying to contain a hurricane in a shoebox.
But here’s the thing: chaos without structure leads to nothing getting finished. I learned this the hard way after years of abandoning projects halfway through because a shiny new idea appeared.
The answer isn’t to fight your multi-passionate nature. It’s to build a system that channels it.
My Asana System: The Command Center for Scattered Writers
After trying approximately 47 different productivity systems (I counted), I finally found what works: Asana. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s flexible enough to accommodate my chaotic brain while providing enough structure to actually get things done.
Here’s how I organize my multi-project writing life:
The Project Hierarchy
I use Asana’s project structure to separate my writing life into manageable chunks:
Publication Pipeline - This is where all my active writing projects live in a single project. Each manuscript is a task that moves through sections: Idea, Plotting, Outlining, Drafting, Editing, Production, and Published. Within each task, I use subtasks for individual steps, add notes for worldbuilding details, attach research documents, and keep character profiles. Everything related to that specific book lives in one place, and I can see at a glance where every manuscript sits in the pipeline.
Content Rhythm - My entire content calendar exists in one project, organized by monthly sections. I use custom fields to tag each piece as an article, newsletter, podcast episode, or other content type. This lets me sort and filter to see all my podcast episodes or all my October content with a single click. My marketing stays organized without drowning my creative writing projects.
Business Operations - This is actually multiple projects handling different aspects of my author business. My business expense and income tracker lives in Asana using custom fields to create a spreadsheet-like table. I have separate projects for goal planning, and a catch-all business task list for everything from website updates to networking follow-ups to professional development.
Master Writing Idea Bank - This is my favorite project. Every book idea, character concept, setting detail, and snippet of dialogue gets captured here as a task. I’ve built an extensive set of custom fields that let me search and sort when I’m hunting for something specific—like “all mystery ideas set in small towns” or “secondary characters who need their own books.” When I’m ready to develop an idea, I move it to the Idea section of my Publication Pipeline and start fleshing it out.
Custom Fields: My Secret Weapon
Asana’s custom fields let me tag projects with information my AuDHD brain needs to make decisions. I can mark each idea with its genre (Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Non-Fiction, etc.) and track what phase each project is in (Brainstorming, Drafting, Revising, Publishing). I assign priority levels (This Quarter, Next Quarter, Someday/Maybe) so I can see what deserves my attention now versus what can simmer on the back burner. Word count goals help me track progress without having to dig into multiple documents.
For my fiction, I tag ideas with tropes—because when a reader asks if I write forced proximity or second chance romance, I can filter my idea bank instantly. For my devotionals and Bible studies, I use a themes field to track which scripture topics or spiritual concepts each piece addresses. Keywords help me find related content across different projects, especially when I’m repurposing ideas or making sure I’m not accidentally writing the same blog post twice.
When I sit down to write, I can filter by any combination of these fields to find exactly what I need to work on next.
Task Templates: Because Executive Function is Hard
One of the biggest struggles with AuDHD is remembering all the steps involved in completing a project. I constantly forgot crucial tasks or had to reinvent the wheel every time I started a new manuscript. My brain would say, “time to publish this book!” and then I’d stare blankly at my screen, trying to remember what comes first—formatting? Cover design? Uploading? Marketing prep? The mental load of figuring it out every single time was exhausting.
Task templates saved me from that particular brand of executive dysfunction hell.
I built templates for launching a new manuscript, which includes everything from setting up my Scrivener project to creating character profiles to establishing worldbuilding documents. My revision process template walks me through developmental edits, line edits, proofreading, and coordinating with beta readers. The publishing workflow template covers formatting, cover design coordination, the upload process, and my entire launch checklist. Even my weekly content creation has a template—topic selection, writing, editing, and scheduling, all laid out in order.
Now, when I start a new project, I just duplicate the appropriate template and every task is already there, in the right order. I can assign the whole project a due date and work my way down the task list, or I can get granular and assign individual due dates to each task and subtask. Either way, my executive function can take a coffee break while the template does the remembering for me.
The Power of Themed Seasons
Here’s the strategy that changed everything: I stopped trying to work on all my projects simultaneously.
Instead, I work in themed seasons. Not rigid, soul-crushing schedules—flexible seasons that honor my multi-passionate brain while actually moving projects forward.
Example of my current seasonal approach:
Fall: Romance Focus - My primary creative energy goes into my contemporary romance WIP. Secondary time goes to maintaining newsletter/content, and I allow myself occasional dabbles in other genres when inspiration strikes.
Winter: Mystery Season - Shift primary focus to my cozy mystery series while my romance goes through beta readers and editing.
Spring: Devotionals & Bible Studies - Draft my devotional content and Bible study guides while fiction manuscripts are with editors or in the publishing pipeline.
Summer: Catch-All & Planning - Finish lingering projects, plan for the next year, experiment with new genres, and give my brain permission to play.
The key here is primary focus, not only focus. I’m not abandoning my other interests—I’m just giving myself permission to prioritize one area at a time while keeping everything else on gentle simmer.
This approach works with my AuDHD tendency to need variety while preventing the chaos of trying to give equal energy to everything at once.
When to Say Yes and When to Say No
This is the hardest skill to learn as a multi-passionate writer, but it’s essential: Not every idea deserves your immediate attention.
I’ve learned to say yes when an idea aligns with my current seasonal focus, when it genuinely excites me (not just “sounds interesting”), and when I actually have the time and energy to devote to it. I say yes when it serves a strategic purpose in my author business and when saying yes doesn’t mean abandoning an existing commitment. These criteria help me separate true opportunities from shiny distractions.
On the flip side, I’ve gotten better at saying no—or more accurately, “not now”—when something is a shiny distraction from current priorities, when I’m saying yes out of FOMO rather than genuine interest, or when my plate is already overflowing. I say no when an idea doesn’t align with my current season, or when I’m attracted to the idea of a project but not the actual work involved. That last one is crucial. My brain loves to romanticize the concept of writing an epic fantasy series while conveniently forgetting the thousands of hours of worldbuilding required.
I keep a running list in my Master Writing Idea Bank of concepts I’m saying “not now” to. This satisfies my brain’s need to capture the idea while releasing me from the pressure to act on it immediately. Some ideas stay in that bank for months or years. Some never graduate to active projects. And that’s okay. Permission to not do everything is a gift we need to give ourselves.
The Reality Check
Let me be honest: even with this system, I still have days where I stare at my Asana dashboard and feel overwhelmed. Days when every project feels urgent and I want to work on all of them right now.
That’s the AuDHD experience. The system doesn’t eliminate those feelings—it provides a framework for navigating them.
On overwhelming days, I fall back on my “Rule of Three”: What are the three most important things I need to accomplish today? Everything else can wait.
Some days, those three things are all writing-related. Other days, one is “take a nap” because my executive function has left the building and I need to rest before I can create.
The system serves you. You don’t serve the system.
Your Multi-Project Life
You don’t have to use Asana. You don’t have to organize exactly like I do. The point isn’t to copy my system—it’s to build one that works for your brain.
Maybe you need more structure. Maybe you need less. Maybe you work better with physical planners or different digital tools. That’s fine. What matters is that you find a system that supports how you actually think and create, not how productivity gurus say you should.
Whatever system you choose, certain principles remain universal. You need to capture everything—every book idea, character name, plot twist, and snippet of dialogue that pops into your head at 2 AM. If you don’t have a trusted place to put these ideas, they’ll bounce around your brain, causing anxiety and draining your creative energy. Your system should be your external hard drive, freeing up mental RAM for actual writing.
Organization by category keeps you from drowning in chaos. Whether it’s projects, folders, notebooks, or digital tags, you need a way to find what you’re looking for without spending an hour searching. When inspiration strikes for your cozy mystery series, you shouldn’t have to wade through romance notes and devotional drafts to find your detective’s character profile.
Working in seasons prevents the decision fatigue that kills creativity. When you try to give equal attention to everything simultaneously, you end up making hundreds of micro-decisions every day about what deserves your focus. Seasonal themes reduce those decisions to manageable levels while still honoring your multi-passionate nature.
Being selective about what gets your time and attention is an act of self-respect. Your creative energy is finite, even when your idea generation feels infinite. Saying no to good ideas makes room for great ones. It’s not about limiting yourself—it’s about directing your limited resources toward projects that truly matter.
Finally, build in flexibility because rigidity kills creativity faster than anything else. Your system needs to bend with you, not break you. Some weeks, you’ll follow your seasonal focus perfectly. Other weeks, life happens, or inspiration strikes for a different project, or your brain simply refuses to cooperate. A good system accommodates the mess of real life while still providing enough structure to make progress.
Your multi-passionate brain isn’t broken. It doesn’t need to be fixed or suppressed or medicated into single-minded focus.
It needs a system that honors how it actually works—beautifully chaotic, endlessly creative, and capable of extraordinary things when properly supported.
Now go build yours.
Found this helpful? Here’s how you can support my work:
📬 Hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already—it’s the best way to make sure you never miss these weekly encouragements!
🔄 Share & restack this post with fellow multi-genre writers who need this reminder—every share helps new readers discover this community.
💭 Drop a comment below and tell me: What’s your biggest struggle with managing multiple writing projects? Have you found a system that works for your brain, or are you still searching? I’d love to hear what organizing challenges you’re facing and celebrate any wins you’ve had in taming the chaos!
✨ Join the Sacred Scribes ($7/month) for exclusive conversations about the deeper intersections of faith and writing, plus monthly coffee chats and bonus content. We’re a community of faith-based writers who celebrate the full spectrum of creativity, from cozy mysteries to Christian romance to children’s fantasy and everything in between.
☕ Buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi if you’d like to fuel more faith-filled content—your support keeps these encouragements coming!
📚 Visit www.saltypagebooks.com to explore all of my published works and discover your next great read!
Your engagement means the world to me and helps these posts find their way to creatives who need them. Thank you for being part of The Salty Page Books family! ✨