Have you ever found yourself wishing you had more time in a day to get things done? Despite having 24 hours each day, it may often feel like you’re constantly running out of time and never fully completing the tasks you’ve added to your to-do list, ultimately leading to more stress and frustration for you in the long run.
While you can’t add extra time to the day, the good news is that you can use simple tricks and strategies to make better use of what’s available to you!
You’re probably asking yourself, “What more can I do to manage my time better?” The answer to this question is time blocking and batching. It’s a convenient way to create structure and balance your daily tasks, helping you get more done in less time while staying productive.
When using time block and batching, you can:
- Group similar tasks together, completing them one right after the other
- Maintain a schedule that keeps you productive
- Stay motivated to complete assignments and get to the next block or batch added to your to-do list
Because it’s a way of enabling you to complete responsibilities without feeling like you don’t have enough time, knowing how to use time blocking and batching is a must. Follow these simple steps to have undeniable success with it.
#1. Prioritize Your Blocks and Batches
When creating your time blocks of tasks, make sure you’re prioritizing the things that need to get done first. We often feel stressed when we still haven’t gotten to something that may be due in a few hours. However, an excellent way to avoid that stress is to prevent procrastination by adding the most important tasks to the beginning of your block.
When you get started on your work each day, you’ll know what needs to get done first and can begin working on those things instead of getting distracted by other assignments that aren’t nearly as urgent.
#2. Make It a Habit
Don’t set time blocks and only stick with them for a day or two, or else you’ll go right back to feeling overwhelmed and mentally exhausted. Although it may initially be challenging for you to get in the habit of having more structure when working, you’ll soon notice the positive impact time blocking can have on you, helping you create a better work-life balance.
For example, you may set a time block between the hours of 8 AM and 10 AM, where you’ll only complete specific tasks, such as going through voicemails and emails, making calls, and handling scheduling assignments.
Next, you may decide to spend the hours of 10 AM to 12 PM doing social media-related work or marketing. While the specific tasks will vary from one person to the next based on their responsibilities, you likely get the idea of how to create time blocks that work best for you.
#3. Combine Related Tasks Into Batches
Now that you know the value of time blocking, create batches for blocks of time that consist of similar assignments. For example, you can spend two hours handling all social media-related duties or an hour pitching content. You may want to dedicate an hour or two each day to marketing yourself and your business.
No matter how much you need to get done in a day, it becomes that much easier to complete everything when you’re using the time block and batching system.
If you want to get more done in less time, use time blocking and batching to your advantage. The strategic approach enables hardworking individuals to break their assignments up into batches throughout the day to stay productive, complete various tasks, and achieve better results.
