
A piece of writing is seldom completed on the first try. It usually takes several sessions before an email feels ready to send or an article is ready to submit. One trick I have learned is to color code notes within my draft. That way, when I come back to it, I know what I should do next.
I mostly use two colors for my highlight notes: yellow and green. I write notes or instructions to myself in yellow highlight. When I’m editing, I use green highlight to mark where I left off so that I know where to start the next editing session.

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I use other colors to highlight related ideas. I assign a color to the word or phrase and use the same color throughout the document so that when I edit, it is easy to cut and paste ideas that go together. It also helps me notice if I am repeating too often.
I use yellow and green often enough that I no longer have to include a color key to explain them to myself, but for any other colors I use, I include in a color key at the top of the page to explain what they mean. The top of one of my works in progress might look like this:
Example of a Color Code key
Cut and paste these together
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More Tips for Color-coding your Writing
Although it is not color-coding, another trick is that I use capital letters to fill in space for something that I want to come back to later. For instance, I write “X” to take the place of an example I want to include but can’t think of right off the bat. If this happens more than once in a document, I use any capital letter as a placeholder. I might even use repeated capital letters such as “CCC” because they are easier to spot when I come back to fill in the blanks. The idea is to keep writing even if I know that an idea is missing so that I can continue the workflow because, otherwise, I’ll stop to think of the example for so long that I forget what I wanted to write next.


Color-coding keeps track of what’s pending in a document so that I don’t have to rely on my memory. This is particularly helpful when I’m working on several documents at the same time or if writing or editing sessions are far apart.
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I have never given so much importance to highlighters, using colors in a completely random way, but now you have opened up a world for me. Really useful. Thank you!
Color-coding is a time saver! We’re happy this has been useful for you.
I think we are doing the same thing. I do not want to be interrupted with ideas I cannot remember at the moment. What am doing is I make the text bold or colored, so that I know what to do the next time I will continue what am writing.
Great idea with making the text bold. That works too!
I need to start using color coding. It makes perfect sense to use it in emails
Oh, yes! For emails, it would be great.
I need to try this! I do love highlighting important things so I can find it easier.
Yes, it’s much easier and time-saving!
I haven’t used any highlighters since I was a student. Now I see how important and useful color-coding may be! I need to give your tips a try! 🙂
We really love highlighters! Once you get used to color-coding your work, you’ll see the difference in productivity.
I’ve done it as a kid, it helped me to better retain information! I should start doing it again.
Definitely agree! It really helps in retaining information.
Greta insights over there.
Thanks for reading!
This is such a great idea! I love using colors. Thank you so much for this great post! 🙂
We’re glad you liked it! Thanks for reading.
Wow! I never thought about color coding. I’ll have to experiment with this technique
Yes! 🙂
I also use the technique of capitalizing a placeholder like XYZ or X! Great tips here, thanks!
That’s a great idea too!
I love this! I’m always looking for more ways to use my coloured pens. I usually choose colours based on my mood but I love this! Many times I like writing articles in a notebook first so I’m going to use this method. Great idea. Thanks!
We love colored pens too! Our favorites are orange and purple 🙂
This is a very interesting method to keep track of your notes. I never thought about color coding my writing. I usually just leave empty spaces of put question marks if I am unsure of something or if I need to add more content after research.
We love this method because it saves us tons of time! It’s also a great way to keep the notes organized.
Great post. I really adore colors and everything looks much nicer to me when it is colored and highlighted in that way. Very useful post for me.
Thank you so much for reading! Glad it is useful.
I always use hghlighters when I study and I also have a code for colors. definitions are blue (or red, I don’t see the difference anyway), stress points are yellow and green marks examples
What a great way of doing the color-coding!
Color coding comes in handy. I do this when I’m writing something and need to get back to it later.
Great idea!
Omg I used color highlighting back in the school daya and made my years so colorful. They also add points to my grades when teachers used to check our notebooks.
Color-coding is great at any age! And the colors look neat too 🙂
Color coding is such a great way to visually represent how you’re thinking about a project!
Absolutely! Thank you for reading!
I love the concept of color coding. I use whenever I’m writing, taking notes or studying Japanese 🙂
It’s such an amazing way of getting things done!