Task Batching

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Have you ever started to do something then before you know it, hours have passed? Like when you finally start cleaning the kitchen then you end up doing all the shared spaces in the house.

It could be when you’re working on a project and you hit your stride, you’re full of ideas and you look up and realize you’ve made a ton of progress. That groove can increase your productivity when used to your advantage. It’s a technique called task batching.

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In simple terms task batching is the grouping of similar tasks to be done within a certain time frame without distraction. This increases your productivity since it limits the amount of “gear switching” you’ll be doing.

Gear switching- getting into your groove

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Switching Gears

Think about when you first sit down to make a grocery list or read a book. Usually, you’re still thinking a bit about whatever you were doing just before you sit down, you haven’t switched gears yet.

When you switch between tasks it takes some time for your brain to focus and adjust so that you’re using your time and mental energy efficiently.

The process of moving from groove to groove, the shift in energy and focus, is what I call shifting gears. The more often you need to shift gears the less productive you are since more time is spent in that semi-focused state.

Getting into your groove

There is a process for getting into the mindset you need in order to accomplish a task and that takes a bit of time. But after you start working on the task, your attention sharpens and your focus narrows.

Eventually, you’re only thinking about what you’ve set your mind too. That’s a productive space, your groove.

While you’re in your groove, the majority of your energy is being used on the task at hand. If you’re in a physical groove, like running, you can let your momentum carry you over the miles with less effort.

Maybe it’s writing a letter or a story. Once you’ve started to get your ideas flowing and you’re creating it just comes pouring out leading to a ton to work with.

On the other end, imagine running full out for 3 minutes then trying to read a self development book for 2 minutes then go back to running.

You’re not going to remember anything you read since you’re focused on catching your breath. These tasks don’t work well together and break your groove.

Goal

Our goal is to set up a schedule so that we can have longer grooves and less gear switching. Increasing our productivity and quality of work while decreasing our fatigue, stress and time wasted.

How to Start Task Batching

Write a to do list

In order to start task batching, write a to do list. We need things to batch after all. Put down everything that needs to get done this week in one big old list. Don’t worry about splitting them up just yet, that’s next. First you just need them all out of your head and down on paper.

Group Tasks

As promised, next you group your tasks based on resources needed to do them, place you need to be, type of task or energy needed to do it.

Examples: Group tasks that you need to be in a similar headspace to do can go together but make sure that they all need to be done at your desk. Don’t add “reading for book club” into a batch with researching for a work project.

Do group errands that need to be done in the same end of town. Things like dropping off library books, mailing a package and grocery shopping.

Time Block

After you have your batches you can estimate how long they’ll take to accomplish and drop that block of time into your calendar. Pick your blocks of time based on where you’re likely to be such as at home, work, driving or any other typical location you end up.

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What to Remember

When are you productive?

Task batching, as with every other productivity method, will not work all the time. For example, my one big to do for the day is to write this post. While I can usually bust out a rough draft in half an hour I’ve been working on this for the better part of two hours now.

You know why? For some reason I decided to block this into a time of day I’m not typically super productive. Even though I have nothing else to do and no distractions to speak of, my brain is having trouble focusing.

You can read more about how to plan your days around your productive times in this post, it has a worksheet to help you find those times (I’ve got your back). If I do say so myself, it’s pretty helpful.

Sometimes things get in the way

Even the most organized among us sometimes have stuff just pop up. Sometimes something important crops up and knock us out of the groove. Something like having one of the kids be sick causing an interruption when you get a call to pick them up from school.

At times it we just might find it harder to focus on a set of tasks because we have something else nagging at us. Or we might spend too much time on one block. Then we feel rushed when we move into the next which actually lengthens the time it takes to shift gears.

It’s not going to work 100% of the time. But when you do get into your grooves you should be able to accomplish a heck of a lot more with less energy, time, stress and fuss.

Recommendations

If you’re going to use task batching consistently I suggest one of two things to help you.

1. A giant wall calendar where you can visually block off your time week after week. You can use post-its to write out your tasks (colour coded by categories if you’re fancy) and then place them on the calendar so you know what you’re doing when.
2. Get a planner that has an hourly break down of the day so that you can block time off and write in your tasks there so you see the window you’re working with.

Of course you can just fly by the seat of your pants and say “I’m cleaning the bathroom now so I might as well clean the whole house since I’m in the groove” but by using one of these two methods when you’re task batching it will be more effective.

Are you task batching currently? Have you had any success? Do you hate it? Let me know if the comments below!