Episode description

Hey friend welcome to this' week’s podcast episode where I’m going to be talking to you about a tool called task batching.

Before I dive into the episode I want to remind you about a free training I’m hosting next Tuesday, May 2nd called Distraction Detox. In this training I’m going to share with you why your brain loves distractions, how to retrain your brain to seek focus, three simple scheduling techniques to help you increase your productivity, and easy tweaks to make to your environment so you can get more done and lastly how to realistically plan your days so you can stop being overwhelmed. The training is completely free and there will be a limited time recording available. I hope you’ll join me!

Now, let’s talk about task batching!

Task batching is grouping similar tasks together and executing them in the same time block vs randomly completing them. It reduces context switching and the need for you to be in and out of a process multiple times. Task batching allows you to do similar tasks with similar tasks which helps you get in the flow of doing that type of task therefore becoming more productive and efficient. 

Take for example, social media content creation. Rather than everyday thinking about what you want that day’s social media post to be, writing it, creating it (reels, graphics), and publishing it, you might look at your social media calendar as a whole and plan from a place of what you need to create for the whole month at a time. This way you can sit down in one sitting and plan out your social media calendar, then separately write captions/content, then create social media posts, and schedule the posts.

So rather than being in and out of the entire process every day, you batch each step. The energy it takes to brainstorm and map out content is different than the energy it takes to actually create the content. This energy is the difference between preparation and execution. Switching between the two energies frequently can be draining. Which is why batching can help increase your overall productivity and energy. 

When it comes to batching you can start with one of two things:

• The task at hand
• The type of energy the task requires 
   

Areas to practice batching:

• Meetings: this could be internal or external meetings. Think about the different types of meetings you have and identify which ones are energy giving and ones that maybe take more energy from you. Become aware of the type of energy they are drawing.
• Sales calls: assign a chunk of time on your calendar where all you do is focus on making sales calls or outreach.
• Prep for sales calls: identity a chunk of time every week where you focus on creating your list of prospects, gather all the information you need to be prepared to tackle these calls. 
• Accounting: rather than trying to piece together parts of our accounting can you carve out an hour each week for accounting purposes?
• Podcast recording: I shared in an earlier episode I use to do podcast interviews for She Did It Her Way any day of the week and time. It was very draining. Instead, I made the decision to only record interviews on the first Thursday of the month, so I could also streamline my efforts. 
• Email responding: rather than living in your inbox all day, actually schedule time for when you’re going to check email and that’s it. Leaving the inbox open all day is like having an open loop and leaves you susceptible to being distracted. Batch when you are going to respond to emails. 
• For personal use: it could be doing laundry once a week and doing it all within one day vs doing it all the time. It could be meal prepping. It could be scheduling all personal appointments all on the same day vs having them spread out. 
• For example, my daughter’s nanny is here (for the most part) on Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s, so I do laundry on Monday’s because that is task that can be going on in the background while I’m with my daughter. I also don’t want it to crowd into my working days. 

How to get started:

• Make a list of everything you need to get done this week and begin to identify which tasks can be batched together. Pay attention to the type of task and the energy that is required of it. 
• The first step is bringing awareness to what you’re doing so that you can start to make tiny shifts that create big results over time. 
   

That’s all I have for you in this episode, my friend. Come find me on Instagram @attentionaudit and don’t forget to join me next Tuesday, May 2nd at 2 PM ET for the free Distraction Detox training!

I look forward to seeing you there!