Batch Your Way to Brilliance: Smarter Workflows for Better Results

How batch-processing your tasks will make you more efficient and more focused

Mar 31, 2024

According to Michael Hyatt, Batch Processing, or Batching “is the grouping of similar tasks that require similar resources in order to streamline their completion.”

Grouping similar tasks in specific blocks of time means you spend more time in the same apps or contexts and less time switching from task to task.

The benefits of batching

Batching your tasks offers many benefits :

Remove distractions

In the Getting Things Done methodology, David Allen speaks of contexts, locations you spend time in to complete your tasks. My accounting takes place in the QuickBooks software, while email processing takes place in Gmail.

By identifying contexts in your task list, you can “batch” your tasks by software and reduce distractions by avoiding switching programs in the middle of your tasks.

Improve your productivity

By constantly switching between contexts, or worse, by multitasking, you hinder your efficiency. Multitasking, for example, can increase the duration of your tasks by up to 40%. It also takes a while to enter a productive state when you start a new task.

Up to 15 minutes are needed for you to get the ball rolling. By batching similar tasks, you remain in that productive state and get more done than if you spread these tasks throughout the day or week.

Increase your focus

In productivity, there’s this concept called attention residue. When you switch tasks, by multitasking, for example, your brain remains focused on your previous action for a certain time.

That is one of the main reasons why multitasking affects your ability to focus. By batching your tasks, your brain remains in the same mindset while you process your batch. You can retain your focus much more easily.

Also, when you spend a certain amount of time on a task or project, you can enter flow state, which is a blissful state where you become more productive and experience a feeling of well-being that is unequalled.

You can feel the flow state when you’re doing something that captivates you and feel like time slows down, or flies by and you forget everything else. Avoiding switching tasks or contexts allows you to achieve flow state faster and more easily.

Reduce stress

We all have experienced the stress associated with multitasking, trying to do everything at once, and not getting anything done.

By batching our tasks, we can get much more accomplished and feel the momentum of getting things done. We know that we’ll get to the important stuff and that we’ll have enough time to get it done. Hence, a decrease in your levels of stress is probably the most important benefit of batching.

Increase your creativity

By reducing your stress levels, and taking care of all the trivial stuff in less time, you may develop more creativity for the really important stuff.

Darren Rowse, founder and editor of Problogger.com put it that way:

“In fact, putting boundaries in place around different activities allows me to be quite impulsive and creative in those times rather than getting stressed because of all the “urgent” things that I need to do distracting me.”

Batching different tasks

So how can you apply batching in your workday, and even in your personal life? Here are a few ideas of tasks that can be batched :

Email

The average worker can spend up to 6 hours a day in his email inbox. That’s a lot!

By batching your emails instead of replying as they come, you can free up a lot of time for higher-value tasks. I suggest using buffer blocks to take care of email.

You can schedule one to four blocks of time, from 30 minutes to an hour each, to answer emails. As an executive assistant, I plan one buffer block first thing in the morning, one after lunch, and one at the end of the workday. These buffer blocks are the only moments I would spend emailing.

Phone calls

Phone calls are easily batched in a buffer block. Answer voicemails and make calls a few times a day, instead of answering every phone call as the phone rings.

I like to keep my phone on “do not disturb” while working on important projects to avoid being distracted.

Writing

I batch all my writing for the blog on Saturday afternoons.

That’s the only time I dedicate to blogging during the week so that I protect some free time in my schedule for bigger projects. Likewise, I batch all my social media writing once a week and use a scheduling app called Buffer to post automatically on the chosen time and date I’ve planned.

Thinking

Thanh Pham, CEO of Asian Efficiency, has introduced me to the concept of thinking time in one of his latest podcasts.

I read about a similar concept in the excellent book Deep Work by Cal Newport. The idea is simple, dedicate a certain period of time to think of some of the challenges you face and brainstorm solutions.

I find that when I am in the mood for deep thinking, I can solve many problems in a relatively short timeframe.

Meal Prep

This is not a new concept, but batching your food prep for the week reduces the amount of time you spend cooking every night.

You can use your Sunday afternoons to cut up your veggies for the week, or cook a huge plate of your favorite meal and freeze it in individual portions.

Errands

On my to-do list, I have a context for errands. I do most of my shopping in my neighborhood by foot and I’ve divided my list into East and West areas, depending on where I have to go.

I label my errands by area so that I can find everything I need when I’m out and about. You can also have a context for groceries, hardware store, pharmacy, etc.

Try batching and shave time off your workweek

By batching similar tasks, you will free up a lot of time in your schedule to get working on your most important projects. You’ll feel less stressed, improve your ability to focus as well as become more creative in your work.

Give it a try and tell me how it feels! What are the tasks you will try batching? Let me know in the comments below!

Productive Happiness

Discussion about this post