Try Task Grouping for a More Productive Week
While most productivity techniques focus on time spans in a single day , few of them take into account what you can accomplish in multiple days. So much planning can be intimidating, but there is one technique that can help you structure longer stretches of time for the better. This is called task bundling.
What is task batch processing?
At its core, task grouping is the grouping of similar tasks or responsibilities and performing them at about the same time. Ideally, you can work on all tasks at the same time, doing multiple tasks at the same time, but still staying in the same frame of mind for all the jobs. Your goal here is to avoid context switching or changing mental energy between tasks. (In general, multitasking makes you worse at everything .)
For example, instead of going from your inbox to bills, video calls, dishwashing and cleaning, combine emails and video calls, combine dishes and cleaning, and save the bills for another day. By keeping yourself in the same mood, you will be able to stay focused and not let your thoughts drift in a bunch of different directions.
How to effectively group tasks
At the beginning of each week, start with your regular to-do list, but then group similar tasks together and schedule those groups for specific days. For example, if you need to buy dog food, summer school supplies, and groceries, schedule a shopping trip one day a week. If you have dinner with a friend and need to call your mom to check in, try doing all those social checks on the same day. Writing-intensive work comes in batches, whether it’s for study, work, or pleasure. Personal and professional emails are handled in one package. Household chores are done in batches, whether it’s cleaning or unpacking things from a trip.
If you have a big party or event coming up, plan to prepare for one day instead of packing one thing one day and another the next. Complete similar tasks in one day so that the next day you can move on to the next group and focus on it.
Indeed , one of the key steps here is not just to pre-plan your games at the beginning of the week, but to check their progress during the week. Deadlines can change (or be missed) and what was unimportant on Monday may suddenly become important on Wednesday. Task batching helps you get more work done in larger batches, freeing you from unexpected circumstances or responsibilities that may arise.