Overwhelmed by a long to-do list? Or maybe you really want to plan your content in advance, but can’t seem to find the time?
As multitasking business owners, we trick ourselves into thinking we’re getting more done. In reality, research shows our productivity declines as much as 40% when we multitask!
If you’re wanting to make the most out of your limited time, you have to try “batch working”. I practice this approach in my own business and honestly, it’s the only way I’m able to successfully manage everything.
What is batching?
Batch working or time blocking is when you schedule a certain day or time and focus on one group of similar tasks. Instead of jumping around from task to task, you focus on the same things for a designated period of time. It’s the opposite of multitasking and will greatly improve your productivity.
How to Batch Work
- Make a list of all the tasks you do on a daily or weekly basis.
- Group like tasks and schedule them for a particular day.
- When that day and time comes, only focus on the things you have scheduled.
An example of content related tasks you may batch together…
- Coming up with topics
- Outlining blog posts
- Writing emails on featured topics
- Planning social media posts
- Researching hashtags
Each of those tasks above could be scheduled for a certain day and time. Maybe on the second Friday of each month from 10:00am to noon, you come up with the next month’s social media topics that you’re going to create content around.
Batching by the Day
Another way to approach Batch Working is by planning out your weekdays by giving each day a theme for the tasks you plan to focus on for that day. It could look something like…
Mondays: Content Creation
Tuesdays: Social Media Engagement
Wednesdays: Client Calls & Meetings
Thursdays: Admin/Bookkeeping
Fridays: Networking & Marketing
Pro Tip for Those of us Working from Home
If you’re like me, working from home allows you to skip spending a bunch of time getting ready in the morning. Not putting much thought into my appearance allows me to get to my desk and begin my day earlier. I save a lot of time! Unfortunately, my “work from home” look doesn’t always cut it. That’s when this tip comes in handy…
List the tasks you perform that require you to get ready. The things that you want to wash your hair and put on makeup for. These could be things like meetings and taking pictures or making videos for social media. Schedule those things on the same day so that you only have to spend time getting ready once or twice a week. Then the rest of the week, you can rock your messy bun and athleisure.
It’s okay to start small…
Give it a try! Even if you find just one thing you can batch, such as meetings or designing social media graphics, once you get a system in place, you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish AND how much your stress level drops.
Utilize My Social Strategies
Don’t want to waste any more time on social media? Ask me about a Social Strategy! We offer Social Strategies by the month or quarter. They act as a roadmap, telling you what to post and when. Instead of batching things like content ideas, social media planning, and hashtag research, we provide you with a checklist type plan that will tell you exactly what to post and when. You just have to create/curate the content and post it. Everything else is taken care of for you. Learn more about Social Strategies and our other services here.
