10 Ways For Batching Your Work Activities To Save Time (And Sanity)

Have you ever been trying to write an email to a client, then had the phone ring so you dealt with that, and then when you went back to your email, you basically had to start again because you’d lost your train of thought?

That’s exactly what happens when you get distracted. Our minds can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

It’s like being on train tracks. If a new action or thought comes along, our attention diverts to the new thing, and then suddenly we’re heading through the mountains instead of to the beach. We often need to backtrack just to get back to where we left off.

When we get caught in the jumbled-up flow of a typical workday, it’s like we are intentionally and constantly distracting ourselves on purpose.

As a solopreneur, there’s already soooo much for us to do, so every little bit of time that we can save will be worth it. Not to mention the clarity that comes with being able to focus on one task at a time.

When my train is on the track, it builds up speed the longer it stays on one course. The more time I spend doing one thing, the easier that one thing becomes, and the better the output.

I’ve found that batching my work activities is something that makes my day run a LOT smoother. It means I can concentrate on one thing fully.

Once I’ve prepared my tools and got all my equipment ready for the task (and I’m talking here about things like certain pages open, and my mindset being focused), then I may as well do as much of that as possible. It saves me having to set up and pack down over and over again.

Way back when I ran my first business, I would encourage my staff to batch their activities. I had learnt the best ways of doing their tasks (I did ALL the jobs before I hired anyone), so I had a little cheat sheet for them as well.

The more efficient they were, the happier and more satisfied they felt, and the more productive and profitable the company was.

However, I found it curious to realise, only the other day, that I was missing a trick when it came to batching in my personal life, and I learnt a wonderful lesson by living with my partner, Phil.

Before I met him, when I lived on my own, I took great pride in preparing my “meals for one.” I would buy a big batch of mince, and then portion it into me-sized chunks and wrap them individually in the freezer. Or I would buy a 12-pack of lamb chops to wrap and freeze them in 3s. (ok, I lie, 4s, I love lamb chops)

Every night, I would take out the one portion to defrost, cut up some veggies, get out the cooking pans, cook my meal for one, do the dishes, and then do it all again the next day.

But when Phil moved in, I learnt that he had a much better system!

He’d get the big mince too, and pre-chop veggies, and then he’d cook it all at once, and leave it in a big pot in the fridge. He’d cook up a big pot of rice, too, or sometimes a huge stew. Each day, all he had to do was scoop out enough for the one meal, heat it up, and eat!

Every day, (3 times a day!) he didn’t need to get the pots and pans out, the cooking oil, the knives and chopping boards, taking ingredients in and out of the fridge, wrapped individually for freshness.

I love the idea of only having to the use the equipment (ie do the dishes) once! I use this style of batching in my work, and I wonder why it never dawned on me to cook this way, too.

Now, whenever we cook anything, we do heaps more than we plan on eating, so we can have leftovers for a few days.

And we spend that precious saved time doing something fun like taking a walk, hitting the gym or planning our travels.

So now in my own business as a solopreneur, I know how essential it is to make the most of my time. Here are 10 ways I batch my work, and you can too!

Checking emails

The first thing I suggest you do – right now! – is disable that little pop-up notification on your desktop that tells you you’ve got a new email. Turn off the sound, the icon, the display note.

Email should be on YOUR TERMS, and you should never let an unexpected email interrupt your day, and take over control.

I check email first thing, and later in the day as well. And when I check my email, I first scan through all of the new items. I don’t action anything yet. I check to see what can be deleted, and then what needs some further action, and then I group them together around similar tasks.

For example, I might have 3 emails from students asking about log-in troubles for my program, 2 enquiries from my website, and 7 event invitations. I’m going to do the students in a row, the enquiries one after the after, and look at the events all together.

Creating social media posts

Once a month I’ll set aside a couple of hours and plan out my social media content for the month ahead. I’ll create all the posts together, the Canva images, and then pre-schedule them on the appropriate platforms.

By doing all the content together, I can activate my creative brain (which for most of us takes around 20 minutes to kick into gear anyway – it’s one of those old steam trains that needs to warm up), which means the content flows in balance, and pre-scheduling means the posts will come out automatically without me having to remember to log in and upload each day.

Doing videos

Good hair day? Wearing make-up for an event? I take advantage of days like this and do several videos at once, and then I preschedule them just like my social media content.

Or if I’m recording lessons for a new course, I’ll do several in one day (with outfit changes) so that I’ve got all the lighting and audio equipment set up, and I can get on a roll.

Bookkeeping and receipts

I use ReceiptBank (life-changer!) to send all my expenses and receipts to. I send them via email as soon as I receive them, and then once a week I’ll review all of them in the app, edit the details like tax code, and then publish them to my accounting software (I use Xero).

Not only does this little app save me time, it means all my expenses are in one place, and recorded digitally!

[Side Note – I don’t recommend waiting any longer than a week to go through your receipts, just in case you forget what each item was for. I used to do expenses quarterly and I realised that took me a lot MORE time because I was constantly looking up my calendar and trying to remember who I saw each day to claim against each coffee]

Networking and meeting people

Do you go networking? If you’re going to spend all that time getting out of your yoga pants and brushing your hair, you may as well make a day of it.

I like to book a 1:1 coffee date with someone who’s also going to the event, either before or after.

If I’ve had a potential client request a meet up, I’ll look in my calendar to see when I’m next out and about at a networking event, and schedule it on the same day, in the same area.

And if you’re so inclined, you could even use this opportunity to pop in to random businesses in the area, if they might be potential clients for you, and introduce yourself! (OMG I know that sounds really scary, but I built my first business from doing that, and it’s still by far the best ROI on my time!)

Writing weekly newsletters to my list

Even though my emails go out weekly, I write them once a month, and pre-schedule them.

That way, I know my content flows, I rarely repeat myself, and I don’t get stuck thinking of what to write.

Eating

A busy solopreneur’s gotta eat, right?

This may sound like I’m taking it too far, but I actually plan out what I’m going to eat for the day, and WHEN.

My days aren’t the usual 9-5. I’m often at a networking breakfast from 6:30am, or I’ll be out at lunch, or I’ll finish early and head to the gym at 4pm.

I like to eat regularly so that I’m not tempted to snack on the go, and it’s important for me to have good energy at the gym, which means eating properly before I get there.

So I’ll plan when I’m having my morning snack (usually nuts or piece of fruit), what time I’ll be eating lunch, and what I need to eat before I hit the gym (as this might affect what size lunch I have).

If I know I’m going to be out all day, and will need to eat between meetings, I’ll pack things I can eat in the car.

Engaging in social media

Similar to the first tip around emails – turn off your social notifications on your phone! You do not need to get a little ding every time someone likes your post.

[Psychologically speaking, social media is addictive. It activates the reward centres in our brain, and releases a little dopamine hit every time we get some interaction. This is why you might find yourself compulsively checking Facebook or your emails to see if anything new has come in.]

As with anything in your business, YOU must take control. It’s up to you to determine when you’re online, and how often you’re engaging. Don’t let the little red icon distract you from whatever you’re batching right now.

Choose a couple of times a day, or once a day, to review your notifications, respond to comments and contribute in your groups.

Client sessions

As with any work activity, I prefer to batch my client sessions to one day. I love having a full day where I don’t need to think about anything else except serving my clients and helping them brainstorm with their business.

And my clients love it too because I’m not distracted, or running between tasks.

This was a game changer for me when I first started, because initially I would accept any client booking, at any time, and even if I only had one client session on a day, I would feel like that was a “work day” and I couldn’t get anything else done. My whole focus was on serving that client and preparing for the session.

So for me, I chose two days per week that I would see clients, I selected set times, and they could only book in those times. It meant I had all my clients together, and I had 3 other FULL DAYS that I could dedicate to other work activities.

Projects

Use this batching philosophy to apply to any area of your business, and any projects you’re working on.

I always find it easier to concentrate on one task fully, than to chop and change.

I batch my sales sequence emails, my webinar creation, my goal setting, and working on one client project at a time.

[Side Note – saying that, sometimes it does help to sleep on things, and let them percolate, especially the creative tasks. If you find yourself getting stuck, frustrated, or making silly mistakes, it’s ok to stop that project, take a break, and move on to something else. Come back to it when you’re refreshed.]

Bonus Tip

When batching your work activities, one little hack I’ve found is turning my phone onto “Do Not Disturb” mode. Again, this leaves ME in control, and stops the unexpected distractions from popping up.

While I was writing this blog, my phone rang, and I seriously considered not answering it, but then I did because it was my friend and I knew she was about to ask a question that I could help her with.

Oh well, we’re only human!

These 10 tips are suggestions for you, not rules to follow. They’ll save you time and sanity even if you only do them occasionally, for some things. You don’t need to get it “perfect” to get the benefits.