As you guys know, I’ve started a second business in the last year and time management was my biggest struggle this far. However, what seemed to really work for me is batching my work. I absolutely love this idea that I’ve first heard of in one of Tim Feriss’s videos and wanted to share my insights on this technique with you all!

What the heck is task batching?

In short, task batching is a time management system that maximizes your productivity but also allows you to avoid unnecessary stress at the same time. The way I see it- instead of focussing on random tasks every day, you allocate similar tasks and complete them in one go. For example, instead of answering e-mails 3 times a day and spending 30mins on it each time, you only check your e-mail once a day or even every other day and answer them all at once.

Batching technique can apply in so many different ways in your both- personal and business life. It allows you to have more free time and find time to breathe and develop new ideas. What’s not to love?

Interested to know more? Let’s see how you can implement batching technique to make your life as an online business owner way easier.

#1 Quit Multitasking

Multitasking just doesn’t work. As cool as it sounds, in reality, you’re just wasting your time by doing a number of different tasks at the same time.

I’ve done my fair share of multitasking and it did get me quite far, but it actually drove me insane. Managing various projects while trying to live a decent life felt very exhausting. Up until trying the batching technique, I would jump from task to task and would often get lost somewhere along the way. One minute I’m designing a new website for a client when I get a call from my online shop suppliers about the upcoming delivery just before dropping both tasks to update my team on the new idea I’ve got over the lunch. I felt like I’m doing it all, but in reality, I would often forget about my promises and was not able to meet deadlines on time. Don’t even get me started on explaining how stressed out I felt.

If you’re anything like me, the batching technique can actually save your mind and your business! I’ve elaborated on this more deeply in this post.

#2 Separate Your Tasks

So the most important thing to do when trying the batching technique is separating your tasks into similar groups. You’re the one to decide what works best for your business, but here’s what I personally try and complete in batches:

• E-commerce physical orders (I dedicate Monday morning to receiving new deliveries from suppliers & packing orders out for shipping in one go)
• E-mails. I only try and answer e-mails once or twice per day instead of jumping to reply as soon as I receive them.
• Design clients’ work. I dedicate time for doing my clients’ work in one go. These tasks most often have very similar requirements and need my focus, so it’s best for me to focus on them separately.
• Blog posts. I try to write at least a few posts in one sitting.
• Meetings. As much as they are often necessary, meetings can consume so much time. If possible, I would arrange to complete a few meetings in one day, so I can focus on actually doing work during the rest week.

Hope this gives you the idea!

#3 Set Clear Goals

Take your notebook & list all of the tasks you wish to achieve. Having clear goals is the must for successful use of batching technique. In order to know what needs to be done, you should determine why you’re doing this for.

Setting clear goals for yourself can be the best thing you will do for your blog. If you feel like you need some extra help in the field, check out my blog consulting services. I’ve been helping other bloggers build & maintain successful blogs for years. By now, I have a strong idea about what works on a blog and what doesn’t. Let me save your valuable time & guide you to the right track, just get in touch & we will get things going.

#4 Prepare In Advance

You must have a plan. Otherwise, you’d go nuts. I’m quite disorganized, I’m not gonna lie to you, but I’m working on it one step at a time. For this reason, I always try and prepare in advance for anything that needs to be done.

Why am I even talking about this you might ask? Well, having your workload planned upfront can help you to avoid those crises altogether. I understand that we cannot always stay on top of our game, but planning can really save you during those periods when nothing seems to be going according to your original plan. In case of crisis, you’d feel much more relaxed if you know that all of your work is still on the record. Even if you miss out on a few tasks, you can always reschedule them for the next available day. It’s important to know how much each task will require & how urgent they are. Put your priorities straight & know your schedule, take 30 minutes by the end of the day to see what you’ll be working on the next day and see if you can complete tiny tasks upfront in order to make the next day go smoother.

Every little helps here, I’m telling you!

#5 Reward Yourself

Batching actually reminds me of a game a bit, therefore, you need to make sure there’s a little reward after each batch completion of tasks. It doesn’t have to be anything major, but it will help you stay even more focussed. It can be something simple as “I will only have lunch once I finish those e-mails” or something bigger like “once I’m done completing group tasks for the project #1 and #2, I will book a holiday”. You know what can keep you motivated to stay on top of your game, so make sure to always remember to reward yourself properly!

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post, friends! Let me know if you’re looking to give batching technique a go!