I recently discovered a website called autocrit. I think it's pretty cool because you can submit some of your writing and the program will evaluate it for a number different things. I was surprised at some issues I hadn't previously considered--like overused words.
Above is the report on overused words from a short segment of one of my WIPs. After seeing this report, I became aware of areas where I tended to used the same type of phrasing or word useage over and over again. Like adverbs, we need to use moderation (I've already gone through the ms killing adverbs right and left, so I'm quite pleased that I got a "Great work" report. Same thing for uses of "that". But it's obvious I still need some work.)
I'm not expecting this program to be a cure for all that ails my writing, but like Grammar Check on Word it can make me more aware of areas that need more attention.
Do you have any challenges with overused words? What do you do to add variety?