Why Batch Days Will Make You a More Productive Freelance Translator
Batching your work, i.e., working on a set of similar tasks in the same block of time, can be a real time saver and lead to more productivity. It takes a little bit of planning ahead, but by batching your tasks, you can avoid distractions and get more done during the work day.
There are many reasons to batch your tasks. First, there is a wide amount of research proving how much time is wasted when we switch back and forth from one task to another, or even between tabs in our web browser. It’s no wonder that we can sometimes work the day away and feel like we’ve accomplished very little. The amount of time it takes to stop and start a task, answer a random email in the middle of a task or creative project, take a client call or even pop on a social media app for a few minutes (which we all know can turn into much more than a few minutes!) takes away from valuable time we could be spending on business-related tasks that move the needle forward.
How does a batch day work?
The ideal batch day consists of putting all your related projects together in one large "batch" and working on them back to back, taking breaks as needed, and not allowing anyone to interrupt that planned work time. Yes, boundaries are key!
Remember that with batching tasks and your work days, you set the parameters. Let those around you know what you’re working on, and ask them to respect your work time. You can even do this with your clients. Set up an auto-responder on your email to tell recipients that you’re working on a time-sensitive project and you’ll reply to them the next time you check your email, or within 24 hours. If you work from home, ask your family members not to interrupt you during your work hours unless they truly need you for something that cannot wait.
Next, you’ll want to decide what days will work best for you to handle specific tasks. Do you prefer to handle client calls on a specific day of the week? I try to hold calls only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do you need to set aside time to work on balancing your books or invoicing your clients? I certainly do. I like to handle my accounting-related tasks on what I’ve dubbed “Finance Fridays.”
What kinds of tasks should you batch?
Once you feel comfortable that the right people are notified about your unavailable times, decide what tasks are most essential in helping you grow your business. These tasks can be related to client projects, content creation like writing blog or social media posts, updating your website or directory listings with new information, writing warm emails to clients as part of your marketing efforts, etc.
If you have a set of tasks that you find tedious to handle (think of those that you would rather put off by scrolling social media or checking your inbox every few minutes, even when you’re not waiting on a specific message from anyone!), batch them together and commit to finishing them before you move on to something else. For example, if you dread working on marketing, you can take all of those pesky tasks and handle them on Mondays. "Marketing Mondays," anyone?
Personally, I find batching tasks that are similar in nature to be the best way to make sure I get all of them done. This puts my mind at ease and helps me to do the rest of my work better, too. By taking care of tasks in batches or blocks of time, it ensures that I can stay on top of all the projects I have going on simultaneously.
How do you batch your tasks to maximize your work productivity and time?
You can do it any way you like, but if you're to make the most of your time, it's a good idea to first take a look at all the tasks you do on a regular basis (even those you would rather put off). Once you have things laid out in front of you, it's easier to see which ones are related. You can list them in categories so that you have a clear visual to work with, if you like.
For example, you could put all of your marketing tasks in one batch or break them into two batches if you find that you have several tasks to handle and little time. You could even schedule these tasks on Monday so that you are sure to get them out of the way for the week. It could look something like this.
Marketing Monday
Write to 5 new potential clients.
Touch base with 3 current clients to say “hello” and send them an article they might appreciate (this keeps you top of mind!).
Write a blog post.
Send a handwritten note to one of your favorite clients.
Prepare your social media posts for the week.
Outline your next client newsletter.
Even if you can’t work on all of the items under your marketing category list at once, you can choose two or three to do every Monday. This means that you are consistently marketing your business, something we all need to be doing regardless of how busy we are! This type of progress will continue to compound over time, and you’ll find that the couple of hours you put in every Monday are well worth it.
By blocking time to knock out several tasks of the same kind at once, you also give yourself more freedom to work on other items throughout the day. And you know that you've already handled these items and won't put them off for another week!
Here’s another example.
Finance Friday
Pay your business credit card and other business-related bills.
Balance your books.
Send any invoices or receipts to your bookkeeper or accountant.
Invoice clients.
Pay estimated taxes.
Pay yourself!
If you already know that you handle finance-related tasks every Friday, you won't have to stop during the rest of your work week to handle them. Again, by setting aside this time, you are being proactive instead of reactive!
As I mentioned above, another way that I handle batching is with phone calls and meetings. I try my best to hold calls and meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This way, I'm not spending an hour or two in meetings five days a week. This allows me to schedule specific and dedicated time to my client work, volunteer commitments, colleagues, etc. If this is something you’d like to try, check out Calendly for scheduling calls and Zoom for holding virtual meetings and calls.
Some freelancers I know even batch their client works on certain days of the week or at certain times of the day when they know they're most productive. Whether you do your best work early in the morning or long into the evening, choose the time of day when your brain tends to fire on all cylinders, and use that time for client and creative work. Leave the administrative work for the times when you don’t need as much creativity. This way, you won't be using precious work hours on the behind-the-scenes tasks that don't actually pay the bills.
Now, you tell me. Have you ever tried batching your work or tasks? Do you have certain days of the week when you handle marketing, financial tasks, etc.?
