Time to Write: What is Batching? - article

Do you feel like you spend a lot of time spinning your wheels? Do you attempt to do three things at once but find nothing is getting done? You need to rethink the way you are managing your time. Don't continue to work within a broken paradigm. If you want to ensure your work is done well, consider doing specific tasks in batches to better utilize your work time so you have more time to be a writer.

Here are some common time management problems and some suggested solutions to help you streamline your writing time.

Not managing to tweet and blog on a regular basis? Try this. Write all your blogs and tweets in a three hour block one day a week. Then, employ social media management tools like hootsuite or socialoomph to schedule your posts over the next week. These tools make posting to all your networks at one time a snap, saving you time and ensuring your reach all of your network in a timely manner.

Distracted continually by email? Many of us are guilty of checking our email as it comes. Instead, check email at the top of every hour and give yourself 15 minutes to reply to it all. The rest will wait until the top of the next hour. That way the rest of your hour can be dedicated to the primary task at hand.

Are you setting aside enough time for research? Consider batching research time. Don't randomly go to sites while you are working on something else. You forget to write down sources and forget to follow up with good leads. Set aside an hour every morning and use it for focused research. You will be surprised by how much you get done with this method.

What about writing and editing? Do you feel that you just peck at your manuscripts and nothing gets done? Consider "batching" each writing task. For instance, spend an hour every morning editing and write during the lunch hour. Stick to your schedule, even when you are on a roll. Stopping at a high place can make it easier to get to work the next day.

Is the rest of your life intruding on writing time? Try "batching" your everyday tasks, too. For example, save chores for a block of 30 minutes every day and 3 hrs on the weekend. Then, when they pop up, don't focus on them until the designated time slot.

Use "batching" to manage your time and your resultant productivity may surprise you.