Time Batching: How to Save Time and Increase Productivity!
Learning about how condoms are made via a process called time batching will teach you how to be insanely more productive. I promise!
Yup, that’s right, I said it!
“This dude is insane!” you are saying to yourself. “What the hell does understanding how prophylactics are made via batching have to do with me getting more stuff done?”
A lot…let me explain.
But first, do you often find yourself saying these types of things:
“There is not enough time in the day to do all the stuff I need to do!”
“I constantly find myself jumping from one task to another”
“I find myself busy all day, but when I look at my to-do list at night I realize I haven’t got much done”
“Sometimes I feel like I am always running around like a chicken with my head cut off”
If you do, read on.
If you don’t, read on anyway because you probably know someone who does.
Ok, back to condoms…
There are a bunch of steps to making a condom – from extracting the latex out of rubber trees, to treating the latex with chemicals, to dipping glass molds into the liquid latex to give it its shape, to washing/drying and covering it in talc to remove any stickiness (how ironic, right?), to a multitude of testing processes blah blah blah.
I’ll spare you any more details, but you get the point. There are a lot of things that happen from the rubber tree until that moment of passion when you need it.
Now imagine how long it would take if each of the 9 billion condoms used each year were manufactured one at a time – yup, a long time!
Hence, they are done in batches, meaning that at each step of the process, not one but thousands or tens of thousands are processed at the same time, then they all move on to the next step. In manufacturing, this is called batch processing.
You can do the same thing with your own tasks. Instead of jumping from task to task (aka task switching), the idea is to use time batching to group similar tasks together, get them done, then move on to the next set of similar tasks.
The rationale is that:
Bouncing from different task to different task means you need to get re-focused into what you are doing, which takes time.
There may be a setup and shut down process for various tasks that if repeated, waste time. For example, cooking (getting things out, setting up pots and pans, mixing, cleaning up etc.)
In an article for the Harvard Business Review on multi-tasking, Peter Bregman notes that “Doing several things at once is a trick we play on ourselves, thinking we’re getting more done. In reality, our productivity goes down by as much as 40%. We don’t actually multitask. We switch-task, rapidly shifting from one thing to another, interrupting ourselves unproductively, and losing time in the process.”
Let’s look at my imaginary friend Suzie’s To-Do list and see how she can use time batching to help her save time and increase her productivity.
Suzie’s To-Do List – prior to time batching
(1) Pick up groceries
(2) Email Mom
(3) Go to dry cleaners
(4) Clean bathroom
(5) Call Mary
(6) Handle work email
(7) Drop-off package at UPS
(8) Respond to emails from John
(9) Cook dinner
(10) Clean kitchen
(11) Wash dishes
(12) Go to Target
(13) Respond to voice messages
(14) Vacuum
Suzie’s To-Do List – after time batching
The idea here is for Suzie to group similar items together and do them at once. Let’s take a look at her to-do list and see if we can re-arrange it into time batches:
Batch #1: Errands
Pick up groceries, go to dry cleaners, drop-off package at UPS, go to Target
Batch #2: Email
Email Mom, handle work email, respond to emails from John
Batch #3: Cleaning
Clean bathroom, clean kitchen, vacuum
Batch #4: Calls
Call Mary, respond to voice messages
Batch #5: Wash dishes
Rinse off, load dishwasher, run it when it is full
Batch #6: Cook dinner
Instead of cooking dinner every night, meal prep on Sunday and put food in Tupperware
Some Ideas of Things You Can Time Batch in Your Life
Email
Cooking – meal prep
Errands
Calls
Reading
Paying bills
Studying/taking classes
Meetings
Running the dishwasher
Social media
Cleaning the house
So, when it comes to getting more stuff done…Stop bitching and start batching!
Thanks for reading, batch on, and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick
Use it Or Lose It – Time Batching
How to use time batching:
Figure out what you need to do – create your To-Do list (Use 80-20 rule or the Eisenhower or Personal Kanban to prioritize)
Group similar things together
Figure out how long each group of tasks will take and then schedule time
Eliminate distractions and get focused
Execute
Cross the item(s) off your list and move to the next item
When to Use Time Batching in Your Life
Use time batching when you find yourself jumping from task to task and not ever making headway on your to-do list
What Do You Think?
How have you used time batching in your life? Are there any other good examples you can think of?
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Your opening statement reminds me of a saying I learned while working at the Air Force Flight Test Center. We called it the Engineer’s Lament. I’m including the complete text here – –
There is not enough time in the day to do all the stuff you need to do”
What you don’t do is more important than what you do do.
Most of what you do do is do do.
Please refresh my memory, but I seem to recall you have written about task batching previously. The system works well. We even take it one step further, When doing errands, I try to figure out an order of the list of places to go so that it involves the least amount of driving. Yes, I can be anal retentive.
I never concerned myself regarding how condoms are made, rather that they were made correctly with a high burst point pressure. I could probably devise a lab testing program, but finding sufficient government funding and willing volunteers of the opposite sex might be difficult.