PRODUCTIVITY HACK: HOW TO WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY BY BATCHING YOUR TIME

Have you heard of time batching?

If not, you need to know. NO WAIT, NOT NEED- LIKE HAVE TO, IMMEDIATELY KNOW.

Back in the day, when I first started blogging, I was a slave to time. I used to wake up, try to fit it all in one day, without really having an efficient plan. My calendar wasn’t filled because I figured it was fine to go with the flow as long as I got it done right?

WRONG.

ENTER: TIME BATCHING.

This is a very easy time-management hack that will enable you to take full advantage of your CONCENTRATION by doing a lot of the same things together at the same time.

Make sense?

Like for instance: if I wanted to shoot photos for a blog post- instead of doing a few photos throughout the week, I do the exact opposite. I put them all in one block, on one day. Fridays are usually my day to shoot content. My team knows Thursday is prep night where we set everything up for the shoot. My photographer knows the shot list. I brainstorm ideas for whatever I’m shooting & we make sure the weather is going to be right…because you know we can’t do cloudy.

Before we really get into it, let’s discuss the benefits of this:

VERY MUCH REDUCES START/CLEAN-UP TIME

Honestly the time it takes to set up, breakdown, rinse & repeat is obnoxious really. I mean, if I’m doing a coffee meeting Tuesday & then a dinner meeting Wednesday…NO!! I don’t want to get dressed up for two events, so I’ll batch the meetings in one day.

By going from one thing to another, you actually lose energy. I want to completely minimize start/stop times. Getting ready takes A LOT OF TIME. So does setting up for a shoot, sitting down to return 1023484 e-mails. I find it more efficient to batch.

GETS RID OF THE UNNECESSARY CLUTTER

Instead of checking your e-mail 20 times a day, you check it once. Even with text messages I do this- I don’t respond right away. A lot of people get mad at me for this but if I got caught up in my inbox & text messages I would be screwed.

HELPS WITH FOCUS…LIKE A LOT

It’s so much easier to focus on one thing at once. I’m all about a good multitasking moment but here’s the difference: when I get a facial, I batch e-mails for one hour. When I get a blowout, I write. When I get my nails done, I do DM’s. So essentially I still batch while multi-tasking. Does that make sense?

I learned about time batching through my best friend, Tim Ferriss- I kid, he’s not my best friend- but like in my head…maybe?

Anyway, I LOVE TO BATCH CONFERENCE CALLS. Conference calls are evil little shits. Conference calls are now all done on Wednesdays & I really don’t like to make exceptions. If I do, I am working off someone else’s time which takes away from the overall vision. Wednesdays are the day I buckle down & do about 10 calls in one day. Then Thursday, is a day to myself to write, read, plan and strategize with no calls.

This is weird but I have thinking time. Where I sit & think. I do this best in yoga. Yoga is my hour – 3 hours a week to think. Just sit there & practice yoga & think about my plans. Kind of like a strategy session with myself. Does anyone else do this? You can also do batch reading- which works well. This could be considered thinking time too. Michael batches reading a lot.

I batch a lot of random things too. Such as?

DM’s & Snapchat messages- I used to do them throughout the day which just wasn’t working for me. Now I sit down for 30 minutes in the morning & an hour at night, every night and reply to my messages. It’s most certainly a priority for me to respond to this amazing community so I make it a point to batch this specific thing.

E-mails are batched too- if I sit down to return e-mails, I GO CRAZY!!! MY TEAM SOMETIMES HATES THIS- because they will wake up to 23490 e-mails. Recently we added Slack & Trello so e-mails have lessened. But remember: when you add on things like Slack & Trello, you need to batch time to respond to these messages too.

Blog posts are one thing that are hard to batch- I write on the go. Just how I’ve always been- I don’t like writing a bunch in advance. I find it boring. I’m very sporadic & fly by the seat of my pants when I write. I prefer to write in REAL TIME. BUT if I’m going on vacation, I will batch blog posts on the plane. You know the plane is OPTIMAL for batching. No distractions, you can have a glass of champagne, & lightly ( hopefully? ) salted peanuts while you work uninterrupted. It’s kind of my version of heaven.

Playtime is always batched- if I am going to the movies with a friend, I like to grab dinner with another friend before. I feel like it’s the best way to plan for me. That way I can be the most efficient with my time. Any other way doesn’t work out well for me.

One last tip about batching

When you’re batching computer work, get creative. My favorite thing ever is to sit by myself at a restaurant ( like I am now! In Morocco! With burrata salad & a half order of spicy lemon pasta! Aperol spritz too if we’re being real ) & work.

I get some of my best work done at restaurants, sitting alone. There’s something calming to me about not being in my house & around people. I’m the type of writer that likes to be around people, but not talking to people when I’m writing. I need energy, not silence. So yes, restaurants really help me batch a lot of computer work. I’ve been known to close down restaurants because I’m focused on my computer- really, I could spend HOURS & HOURS in a café by myself working. I love it.

Things you can batch: cooking, cleaning, blogging, e-mails, conference calls, playtime, & reading.

When you batch you create more space for yourself which I’m guessing is a priority. Remember this quote: “Every time we become distracted, it takes an average of 15 minutes to regain complete focus, and that adds up over time.”

CRAZY.

Don’t waste your 15 minutes 10 x a day! It adds up, you know?

TSC TIP

Use a time-blocking cube to help you batch time. It’s seriously a life-saver guys. Read more here. I feel like everyone in the world needs one.

Now, since we went over batching- let’s talk about this outfit! HOW! FUN! The top & bottom is a two-piece set by Twenty. But what’s really fun are the shoes. Let me tell you about these shoes from HOKA guys, THEY ARE FAB!

I have multiple reasons I like these shoes.

1.) I’ve been wearing them for two years so I know they’re the best shoes.

2.) They’re perfect for errands, coffee runs, café days, batching, whatever! Because they’re comfortable AND chic. Just how we like it.

3.) I have worn these traveling for 15 hours- they’re so lightweight & cushioned that they make running around EASY AF. BASICALLY ideal for daily wear.

4.) I wear them for workouts all the time- Kim, my trainer, said they’re her favorite running shoes.

5.) I’m adding them to TSC Master List.

You can’t go wrong with them. I have them in three colors if we’re being honest: black on black, black & white, & white. My favorite is definitely the black & white. They go with everything I own.

ANYWAY! HOPE YOU LEARNED ABOUT TIME BATCHING & SHOES. Because when you’re running around time batching, you need cute shoes right?

Do you time batch? HOW! Would love your tips. With that I’m about to dedicate an hour to e-mails. See you soon, lauryn x

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++ this post is in collaboration with by Hoka. As always all opinions are my own.

SHOP THE POST: SHOES | TOP | BOTTOM | SUNGLASSES

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BATCH IN STYLE: ANYWHERE, ANYTIME