1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to batch similar tasks. Batching tasks, sometimes 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: referred to as batch processing, cuts down on the time 5 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: and energy expended by task switching. You know those times 6 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: when you find yourself hopping back and forth multiple times 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: an hour between the document you're working on and your inbox, 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: suspecting you're getting nothing done, Well, you're probably right. You 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: aren't getting much done. Do one type of task at 10 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 1: a time, and you can save yourself all kinds of time. 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: We live in a world that encourages near constant tasks switching. 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: We carry around our phones in our pockets and we 13 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,319 Speaker 1: check them every time they buzz. The problem with this 14 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: is that cognitive scientists have found that tasks switching has 15 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: various costs. We make more errors, and although switching can 16 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: feel productive, tasks take longer to get done since we 17 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: lose time on every transition. If you listen to this podcast, 18 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: you probably already know this, but easier said than done. Right, 19 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: as I've been working on this episode, my fingers have 20 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: felt almost twitchy, wanting to pop into my inbox to 21 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: see what's going on in there or how many people 22 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: liked my most recent photo on Instagram. I see my 23 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: journal on my desk, and I know that I meant 24 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: to write in there too, So should I stop now 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: and do that? Yeah. It turns out that knowing and 26 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: doing are different things. So if you're serious about batch 27 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: ng similar tasks, there are a few things to do. First, 28 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: be intentional about it, which is always a good idea. 29 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: With time, sit down and make a list of all 30 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: the work tasks that you do in a regular week, 31 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: and think about when you do them. Consider whether some 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: of them could be badged for greater efficiency, and make 33 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: a plan for when you'll carry out your badge processing. 34 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: For example, maybe you save an hour for responding to 35 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: email at the end of the work day. This way, 36 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: you avoid the task switching costs of checking email when 37 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: you may be doing your deeper work, but you still 38 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: respond to all important messages promptly. Email at the end 39 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: of the day may be a particularly good idea for 40 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: those of us who feel like our brains are too 41 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: fried by three pm to do anything more complex. I 42 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: try to work on a week's worth of podcast scripts 43 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: in one block. You can send all your invoices or 44 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: pay all your bills at the same time too. If 45 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: you're setting up a lot of meetings for a project, 46 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: you can try to do all the scheduling at once, 47 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: which is helpful for then batching meetings meet for three 48 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: hours in the afternoons, and your mornings can be open 49 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: for other things. It's likely you're already using batched task 50 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: processing in some areas of your life without thinking about it. 51 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: Most of us wait to do laundry until we have 52 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: enough dirty clothes for a full load, rather than washing 53 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: every single item as it gets dirty. This is not 54 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: to say that all similar tasks should be batched. There's 55 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: often good reason for doing certain things daily are spreading 56 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: things out throughout the week. Not everyone feels like cooking 57 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: for the week on Sundays, but batchng light tasks allows 58 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: you to get in the groove and establish efficiencies. You 59 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: plow through your inbox, you actually write the memo you're writing, 60 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: you order all the kids summer clothes, and then you're done. 61 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: In the end, this technique should leave you with the 62 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: time and energy to focus on what really matters in 63 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening and here's 64 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd 65 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 66 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, 67 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E 68 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can 69 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at 70 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled 71 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look 72 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production 73 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 74 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 75 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.