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	Task Batching

	by Donna Birk

Want to get more done in less time? Interested in decreasing your stress by actually getting to all of the things on your daily to do list? Need to free up time for other things? There are endless time-saving tips and ideas you could implement. But, if you want to make just one change -- if you are interested in working SMARTER instead of HARDER -- if you need to make a significant impact on your productivity, without adding any new task, checklist, or paperwork, then you might want to incorporate task-batching into your work style.

WHAT IS TASK BATCHING?

Task-batching is a fairly self-explanatory term. It involves batching or GROUPING together like activities or functions. The principle behind this strategy is that doing a bunch of similar tasks at once is much less time consuming than doing them separately throughout the day. Once you read the examples below, you'll see that this is really a simple concept to understand and apply. The challenge is making this work for you is to put on your critical thinking hat to IDENTIFY all of the ways in which you can make this a part of your work style. Here are a couple of real life examples of how this strategy works.

BATCHING MEALS

Meal preparation clearly illustrates how task-batching works. Let's say you are planning out your week's MENU. Monday is casserole night, Tuesday you're making tacos, Wednesday night it's soup, Thursday is pasta, and Friday is pizza. You'll need chopped onions for the casserole, the tacos, the soup, and the pizza. Ground beef is part of your Monday's casserole, Tuesdays tacos and Friday's pizza. You'll need shredded cheese for the tacos, pasta, and pizza. Now, if you don't apply task-batching, you'll be spending time on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday chopping onions. That's probably five to ten minutes each time (more if you count the clean-up!), a total of twenty to forty minutes or more for the week. Browning your ground beef on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday will take a total of thirty or more minutes and if you shred your own cheese that's another thirty or so minutes.

MAKING PREP TIME SPEED BY

Since you know your plan for the week, you can easily task-batch these same tasks. Chop all of the onions you need on Sunday (or Monday when you first need them), brown all of the ground beef AT ONE TIME, and shred the cheese once, instead of three times. Use zip-top bags to divide, label, and store your ingredients until the night you need them. You'll easily save at least an hour just in the time for preparation. Double that for the time to get the ingredients and tools you need ready and for cleaning up when you're done. All of this time is saved not by doing the actual tasks differently, but by adjusting your WORK STYLE and task scheduling to make the most of your time. That's working smarter, not harder.

HIGH-TECH BATCHING

These days most of us do at least some INTERNET research. Rather than scheduling separate times to do Internet research for each project, schedule one longer session to do all of your research. This way, you can focus on the task of research, maximizing your effectiveness with this specific process. In an initial research session, make your only goal to find sites that look like they might contain information that will be useful to you. Set up folders in your favorites or bookmarks section in your browser. The initial phase of your research task is to simply LOCATE and SAVE sites that appear to contain to what you need. That's it. Don't spend your time at this phase reviewing information closely. If a site fits into more than one category, save it in each appropriate folder.

DOING THE DEEP RESEARCH

Next, schedule a separate time to go back to the sites you've saved and look for the SPECIFIC information you need. Print out or save only that information that is related to what you need right now. Your goal here is to secure and categorize pertinent information. Lastly, schedule a separate time to actually READ, study, and analyze the information you've collected. Take notes about how you plan on using the information you've gathered in your work projects.

BATCHING COMMUNICATIONS

Schedule one time each day or even every other day to read and respond to E-MAIL. E-mail is not an instant method of communication -- not everyone has 24-7 access to e-mail and not many of us spend all of our time in front of our computers. Do the same with your PHONE messages and MAIL. Unless you are expecting or receive priority delivered mail, don't spend time reviewing your mail more than once a day or even once every two days.

FINANCIAL BATCHING

Set one or two times each month to pay your BILLS, balance your CHECKBOOK, and review your BUDGET. Do all of these activities as a group. You'll be focused on budget and numbers, so moving from balancing your checkbook to reviewing your budget will be seamless.

BATCHING AND GENERAL TIME MANAGEMENT

Separate your PLANNING from your DOING. Make the decisions about what you will do, when, and how you will do it up-front. Then just execute your plan. This saves you bunches of time you might otherwise waste in between trying to decide what to do next or how to do it -- that method merely causes interruptions to your work flow. Then think of your work in terms of FUNCTION instead of project or topic. You'll increase your effectiveness greatly if you coordinate and group tasks in terms of functions such as planning, budgeting, communicating, researching, preparing, organizing, tracking, etc. Also be sure to have everything you need in front of you BEFORE you start anything. You won't be wasting time searching for it in the middle of your work.

THE 20 MINUTE BATCH

Keep a list of miscellaneous tasks that can be completed in a FEW MINUTES time. When you get enough to add up to twenty minutes or more, schedule it in and execute that group of tasks. Run short ERRANDS together in a morning or afternoon instead of spreading them out over your week. You'll not only save time, but you'll feel less stressed, especially on the days that you don't need to worry about them.

Donna Birk is a writer, trainer, coach, and Licensed Social Worker. She founded and operates "People Builders," an organization devoted to helping people grow. You may contact her at or visit her website at www.youcangetitdone.com.

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