Quick thread on tackling a revise & resubmit of your manuscript (ms). These are the steps I follow when I'm the lead/corresponding author. I'm sure others have other strategies, so feel free to chime in.

Step 1. CELEBRATE you got an R&R! Very important. Rejection is the norm, so we have to ensure we celebrate every big (or little) step of the accomplishment.

Step 2. READ the editor's letter carefully (what does she think is important?) and skim the ref reports to get a sense of the challenge ahead. FORWARD the news to co-authors with some brief overall thoughts. Say you'll follow up soon w/ specific thoughts.

Step 3. A day or 2 later (after the celebration) DUMP all the reviewer comments into a document. Divide longer comments if necessary. Put every point in a separate box to clearly separate the reviewer's text from what will become your response. This is basically your TO DO list.

Step 4. Briefly WRITE how you could tackle each point. Clarify RESPONSIBILITIES when necessary, highlighting team member(s) responsible for tackling each substantive point. This is suggestive, of course. Here you're adding some meat to the TO DO list.

Step 5. SHARE and DISCUSS your response plan with your co-authors and ask them to add their thoughts. This can go back and forth a few times. Clarify a timeline and responsibilities. Here you are agreeing on the content of the TO DO list and who will do what.

Step 6. TACKLE comments 1 by 1. Some are easy (e.g. fixing a typo). You can even do those on hectic days. Make the necessary changes in the ms & add what you did to the response letter. Save the reviewer some time by limiting the need to check the ms at every point.

Step 7. ASSEMBLE all your team's responses in a unique letter. Make it look pretty and easy to read. This is how I try to make letters look. I think the boxes help reviewers navigate our responses.

btw I hear @ivanjrudik has an awesome LaTeX template for responses.

Step 8. SHARE the ms + appendix + response to reviewers + draft of the letter to the editor with your co-authors for a final check. Ask them to give feedback within a week if they can.

Step 9. RESUBMIT and CELEBRATE (yes, again). Then move to all the other things that you have neglected over the past several weeks to get this done!