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Today’s talking points:

Don’t we all want to work smarter, not harder?

I’m talking about productivity and exactly how we can get the most out of batch working.

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Are you the person who typically has a million tabs open on your computer and in your brain?

I’m talking to you!

I’m not calling you out - I am going to help you understand why and how batch working and focusing on one task at a time is going to change your business and your life.

The likelihood that multitasking is actually equaling more productivity in your life is very unlikely.

And while it might feel productive to work on a bunch of things throughout your workday, I can promise you it is affecting your productivity in a bad way BIG time.

We're diving into how to get the most out of batch working because don't you want to work smarter and not harder?

I thought so!

How to work smarter, not harder

So, before we dive deep into how batch working can revolutionise your business, I want to first give you an introduction to what it is exactly.

Batch working is when you take a chunk of time and dedicate them to one type of task only. You can group similar tasks together and do them at once, instead of switching between tasks and activities constantly.

When we stop multitasking and focus on one task at a time it saves us so much time and mental energy. In fact, according to psychologist Gerald Weinberg, each extra task or context you switch between eats up 20 to 80% of your overall productivity.

So according to Weinberg:

Focusing on one task at a time means you've got 100% of your productive time available
Switching between two tasks at a time means you have 40% of your productive time for each task and 20% is lost to context switching
Switching between three tasks at a time means you've got 20% of your productive time for each task and 40% of your time is lost to context switching

Basically, if you’re multi-tasking you are losing time and killing your productivity.

Batch working is not something I did at the beginning of my business journey, but now I could not be without it. Here are three ways you can master batch working in your business.

1) Time block

Time blocking is where you schedule and set specific blocks of time in your months, weeks, or days to work on a specific task or group of tasks.

For example, I batch plan my week to look like this:

Monday - My CEO day
Tuesday - I set aside the mornings for my podcast
Wednesday - A day full of client calls
Thursday - My business development day

I time block this in my Google Calendar.

You can time block at a large scale. So for example, every three months, you update your website, set a CEO date with yourself or do a financial review.

You can also time block at a smaller scale. So for example, maybe on Monday, you batch your blog posts and on Tuesday you batch your Instagram captions. That might look the same every week, or it might change every single week.

You've also got to allow for flexibility because remember, our schedules and routines are tools, not chains.

2) remove distractions

In my opinion, batch working will not work unless you remove distractions.

One study found that most people average only three minutes on a given task and only two minutes on a digital tool before moving on. So when we're batch working, we need to eliminate all distractions as much as possible. That means phones, notifications, house tasks etc.

Studies show that if a distraction is within your reach (i.e. your phone is on your desk whilst you focus on another task), it will distract you; even if you’re not touching it. If it's within eyesight or reach, your brain is going to be split trying to focus on both.

When I'm in batch work, deep work mode, I put my phone on silent, or I turn it off entirely and I put it in another room.

Some tips that may help with distractions:

Turn off notifications
Set blockers on your web browser to limit the websites you’re allowed to go on
Keep your workspace tidy to avoid a messy concentration

3) Take breaks

The final tip to master your batch working: taking breaks.

Studies have shown that the human brain can only really focus on one thing for a limited period of time. For the average human that is usually between 60 to 90 minutes.

So when you're batch working, try to only work for that length of time, and then take those breaks. The 90/20 rule is a great guide here, try to work for 90 minutes and take 20 minutes off.

When you take your break, take a real break, not a 20-minute scroll on Instagram! Restful breaks should look like a walk around the block, grabbing or making some lunch, doing some stretches in your living room, reading a book, or playing with your kids.

Honestly, a good break is anything that doesn’t see you continue to sit and stare at another screen. I'm all for a good Netflix show, but I think that there is something huge to be said about rest and breaks being non-screen time.

The whole point of taking a break is to give your brain a rest and your brain doesn't actually rest and take the break that it needs when it's looking at a screen or when it's scrolling on Instagram. Of course, there’s a time and a place for screens to be relaxing, but not during your work day when you’re trying to be productive.

Nature is a powerful way to recharge and energise your brain. So as much as possible, get outside, take a walk, move your body, get a healthy snack, or whatever works for you.

Cal Newport, the author of Deep Work has a few strategies to help you master this shift from work to non-work mode. He suggests four things:

Record your progress - Acknowledge what you accomplish, so the hours you worked, the tasks you completed, and the time spent on your focus work.
Organise any uncompleted tasks - Put everything in a place so it won't pull your attention. For example, planning for the next day.
Gance at the week ahead - Take a second to make sure there's nothing big on the horizon that you're forgetting. The goal is to convince yourself that you don't need to check in later when you're trying to relax.
Acknowledge that the day is over. Try to signal that you’re finished for the day, i.e. leaving your office and closing the door. For you, it might be closing on the laptop and putting it away. Think of this as another ritual.

LET’S QUICKLY RECAP

So the three ways to master batch working so you can work smarter, not harder, are:

Time blocking. So making sure that you're dedicating certain chunks of time to strictly one task or group of tasks. You can schedule that in advance, but just make sure you're really doing that and focusing on one task in and of itself.
Remove all distractions. You will not be successful at batch working or even time blocking if you are not in a very focused environment. Remove all of those distractions when you're batch-working.
Take breaks. So whether that's to work for 90 minutes, take a 20-minute break and keep going like that or you could use the Pomodoro Technique of 25 minutes on five minutes off. Whatever it is take breaks, you need them, your body needs them. When you do take those breaks, make sure it's not a screen so that you're not just continuing your workday in just a different way. Get outside get in nature do something that fills your cup.

I hope this helps convert you from a multi-tab brain running a mile a minute, to a systemised and intentional boss batch worker.