It was only recently that I discovered the term batching. Well, I have probably heard the word before, but it really didn’t mean anything to me at the time. After finding out what it actually means, my productivity shot through the roof…

// SO WHAT DOES BATCHING MEAN? // 

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, if you use the word batch as a verb, its definition is “to bring together or process as a batch”.

Keeping that in mind, think of how this will apply to your time management strategy. Below is an example from my own life…

Before I started batching my tasks together, I was all over the place. Checking social media every half-hour, reading emails here and there, and getting totally distracted by the nitty-gritty.

With everything that is going on around us, it is so easy to lose sight of our goals and dreams. Having a more structured schedule through batching tasks together, means creating more time in the day to focus on more important things, like family. And you have the added benefit of getting more things done, during the day.

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?

// HOW TO START BATCHING? //

The initial process will take a bit of time, but once you have it down you will realize how much time you have been wasting during the day.

STEP 1 – Write down all the things you do during a normal day

Make 1 list for your personal life and 1 list for your professional life. You can do this by taking 3 days and writing down all the tasks you perform during that period. It is important to write down as many tasks as possible, to see where all your time is going. Think of it as creating a time journal – see the below example…

STEP 2 – Identify and categorize tasks that are similar 

After your 3 days of time journaling, go through all the activities/tasks on your list and mark all the items which you will be able to batch together. For example, think of dinner time. Dinner has to do with food and prepping breakfast and lunch also has to do with food, so naturally, you will save time if you batch those 3 processes together.

Or checking emails and answering emails throughout the day TAKES A LOT OF TIME because it’s not structured, so I decided to only do emails twice a day. Once at 11 am and once at 3 pm, that way I have enough time in between for other things that are more important.

STEP 3 – Create a new list with all your tasks in batches

Now that you have identified all your tasks, it is time to sort them and create your own batches. Remember, we are all different and have different priorities, and work in different ways. The idea of this exercise is to create batches that will work in your own situation, so make it good. I added an example for reference.

STEP 4 – Allocate a time for each batch

Your batches are now ready for time allocation. Think {realistically} how long it will take to perform a certain task OR how much time you have or want to spend on a certain task. Then allocate that time to your batch.

   STEP 5 – Add your batches to your weekly schedule

The last step is to, add your batches to your weekly schedule. For example, if you know your morning routine will take you 45 minutes to complete add that to your schedule accordingly.

If you don’t have a morning routine yet, don’t worry just hop over to my
“HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT MORNING ROUTINE” to get one. Easy as pie.

Batching can be so much fun and the time you save is incredible. I have gone from creating only 1-2 blog posts a week to creating 3-5 blog posts a week with quality images and time to promote them on social media. This process really is life-changing, so give it a try.

Have you ever tried batching before? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you, please feel free to leave a comment below.