Six Tasks You Can Time Batch

Figuring out how to time batch can be overwhelming.  Everyone tells you you need to be doing it but it’s so difficult to figure out how to actually incorporate it into your life.  I’ve created a list of six easy things you can time batch (aka batch work, task batching, or any other term you’ve heard that means the same).  There are three for business and three for home so you can make your entire life just a little bit easier.

Life:

1. Meal planning and prepping – Seriously? Yes! This is time batching. When you plan out even some of your meals or spend time prepping breakfasts or lunches for the week, you’re combining tasks and knocking it all out at once.
   
2. Household chores – Laundry, vacuuming, cleaning windows, etc. can all be made easier if you do them all together.  It takes time to get out the supplies you need to do some of these chores.  By cleaning all your windows at once or vacuuming one entire floor of your house at a time, you’re saving yourself those minutes it would take to do each room individually.
   
3. Running errands – This one you’re probably already doing without even realizing it.  By saving up errands you need to do then getting them all done in a single afternoon or on the weekend, you’re actually batching those tasks together.  You’re saving yourself the time you would be driving to each place individually and creating a plan to use your time in the most efficient way (and, hey, stopping at your favorite coffee place to congratulate yourself for a job well done counts as an errand too!).

Business:

4. Creating content – Whether it’s writing blog posts or email newsletters, shooting video, scheduling social media posts, etc, knocking all of this out at one time can actually make you more efficient because you’re doing it all when you’re in the same headspace.  Decide what you’re going to write about, set a timer, and get it all done.
5. Backend work – Entering transactions into your bookkeeping system, going through emails, taking inventory, and anything else that’s necessary for your business to run but not necessarily your favorite thing to do are perfect to time batch.  Get it done, then set up a calendar reminder with a cadence for when you need to do them again (daily, weekly, monthly, etc).
6. Planning – Sitting down and making a plan once a week for the upcoming week can also help you to be more efficient.  By doing it on a Sunday or Monday, you can go into the week knowing you have a solid plan and don’t need to spend time each day figuring out what you’re going to be doing the following day.  You can also do this on a higher level each year, quarter, or month.
   

That’s it!  Like I said, you’re probably already doing some of these things and you just never knew they were time batching.  Was this helpful?  If you have any questions, send a DM over to @louandpine and I’d love to talk to you about this! Lou & Pine is a process improvement consulting company I founded for woman-owned businesses. You can learn more about it here!