Written on June 12th, 2008 at 12:06 am by Darren Rowse
How Batch Processing Made Me 10 Times More Productive
Today I want to share a technique that has increased my productivity levels incredibly.
image by estherase
“How do you fit so much in?”
This is a question that I’m asked a lot.
Yesterday I kept track of the work that I did. It included:
- Researched & Wrote 5 blog posts (2500 words) - Planned a future series - Edited 3 guest posts
- Moderated 150 comments (Lara did the rest)
- Read 300 emails - replied to and wrote 50 emails
- Twittered 30+ times (including private messages) - Plurked 50+ times
- Participated in a b5 training chat (1 hour)
- Read (scanned) my RSS reader (600+ feeds)
- Used StumbleUpon, FriendFeed, Digg and other social media sites
- Took 4 Skype calls - IM’d around 8 others
- Oversaw the upgrade of DPS forums
- Did an email interview to promote the book - Arranged to do a radio interview later in the week
It was a reasonably busy day (on top of all that I did the normal dad/husband things as well as managing to go out for beer with a mate) - but not untypical at all. In fact last night I went to bed at 11pm - I often work for another hour or two.
So how do I get it all done day in day out?
The technique that I’ve been using more and more is what I call ‘batching’ or ‘batch processing‘.
It’s not a new concept by any means and I’m probably not using the terminology correctly - but it’s what I call it.
Batch Processing 101
In my understanding of the term ‘batch processing’ it was always used to describe systems (usually computerized ones) where data was collected together for a period of time before it was processed. Instead of doing every small ‘job’ as it arrived jobs were ‘queued’ or collected until the computer was ready to process them all at once. This meant that the computer could do these ‘batches’ of jobs all at once when it would otherwise be idle.
My First ‘Discovery’ of Batch Processing as a Blogger
My own ‘discovery’ of batch processing was quite intuitive. I’d not heard of the term until this last term but when I did I realized that I’d already been doing it to some level.
I’ve written numerous times before about how I apply the principle to writing blog posts.
image by Karsoe
I generally set aside Monday mornings (and usually Wednesdays also) for writing posts. I take my laptop - camp out in a cafe - spend most of the morning off-line (so there are no other distractions) and just write. My goal is to write at least 5 posts that I can then use later in the week. Quite often I’ll write as many as 10 posts in a 5-6 hour period.
Having these batches of posts in reserve means that during the week my time is freed up to engage in other blogging activities. Of course I supplement these batched posts with others during the week but having the bulk of my writing done in one go enables me to be more efficient. It also means that my posts quite often build on one another as one will spark another idea. If I get on a roll it’s amazing how much can be written in a short period of time.
This was my first taste of ‘batch processing’. As mentioned above - I started doing it intuitively (I think the first time I did it was when the internet went down at our house for a week and I had to go to the library to use the public computers to post for short periods of time).
My Messy Life
The problem was that while batching my post writing helped free up the rest of my week - that the rest of my week was a jumble of activities - I ran from one task to another and never seemed to get anything done. My life felt like a traffic jam with tasks coming from all directions.
A typical day would see me checking email 30 times a day, moderating comments as they hit my inbox, being interrupted by IM throughout the day, reading RSS when I remembered to do it between using social media sites and writing extra blog posts. The result was that my inbox had over 10,000 unread emails, I never cleared my RSS Reader and that I would get to the end of most days feeling like a nervous wreck.
My mistake was feeling compelled to deal with things as they came to me.
This only worsened as my blogs became more successful and as I took on more commitments (writing a book, speaking engagements etc).
Batching Everything
Over the last six months I’ve taken batch processing to the next level and applied it to many aspects of my blogging.
I have discovered that most of the activities that I do in my work can be ‘batched’ in one way or another. I have discovered that many ‘urgent’ things can wait and in fact to make them ‘take a number’ and ‘get in line’ brings order to mess.
image by BenJTsunami
Siphoning off time for bursts of focused activity around a certain task means that I’m less inclined to flip from one thing to another. It means that I finish tasks. It means that I free up more and more time for the things that are important to do - not just the things that seem urgent.
Different activities need to be ‘batched’ at different intervals. Some are weekly (like my Monday morning writing sessions), others are every other day (like reading the bulk of my RSS feeds), others are daily (checking vanity feeds) and others I do for short sharp bursts multiple times a day (reading my A-list of of RSS feeds for breaking news, checking email).
Some of the tasks that I Batch Process
By no means are my processes perfect. I’m still a fairly impulsive guy so don’t have a set routine that I follow every day. I’m also fairly flexible and shift things around a lot - but here’s a list of some of the activities that I batch process and a short description of how I do each one:
Writing Posts - I’ve already described my weekly rhythm for this (Mondays and Wednesday mornings) but I also set aside other shorter times to write on a daily basis. This usually happens late morning on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and in these times I aim to write a shorter post for the day (often more news related).
Email - I’ve written previously about how I overhauled my inbox using Gmail but batching my use of email has helped me even more than the systems I put in place to filter my inbox. I generally do a very quick scan of my inbox first thing in the morning to look for anything genuinely urgent - but then do most of my processing mid morning and then in the evenings. Of course I scan it a few other times a day in case there are urgent emails (or if I’m expecting something) but attempt to get it right down to 0 every day (I don’t always succeed).
RSS Reading - I have two rhythms of reading RSS. I check my A-list folder in Google reader numerous times a day (my A-list contains just a handful of blogs that often break news in my niches). The rest of my RSS reading happens in less frequent batches. I do try to do it every day in one ‘batch’ but quite often I’ll only get through half of it and so ill do the 2nd half the next day. I tend to do this in 30-60 minute batches.
Twitter/Plurk/FriendFeed - These social messaging sites can be a time sucker if you let them so I tend to only allow myself to do them in 5-10 minute batches. On an average day I probably have 4-5 such ‘batches’. The reason that I do this numerous times a day is that it helps me to connect with different groups of people in different time zones.
Social Bookmarking - other time sucking services including Digg, StumbleUpon (especially) etc - I tend to do these for short sharp bursts - usually at the end of the day.
Editing Posts - At DPS I have a great team of bloggers who write weekly posts for me. They have taken a lot of the load off considerably when it comes to writing posts - but I still edit them (formatting pages, checking spelling and grammar, layout etc). I tend to do this in the evenings - but lately have tried to do 2-3 days worth at a time. So I allow incoming posts to queue up and then process/edit them in a sitting.
Instant Messaging - my old habit was to leave IM clients on all day every day and to respond to people messaging me as the messages came in. As a result I was constantly being interrupted. These days I have stopped using most IM clients and focus upon Skype and Gmail chat but don’t leave them on at all times. And when I do have them on I don’t always respond to IM’s straight away (I turn the sound off). Instead I let a few IM chat requests come in at a time and then respond to then all at once every hour or so.
Comment Moderation - I now filter all of the comment moderation emails that come in to an email folder dedicated to capturing them so that they never hit my inbox. I then moderate them periodically in batches throughout the day. The frequency between moderation batches changes depending upon what else I’m doing but also what is happening on the blog. For example if I’ve done a reader question post where I get lots of answers I moderate more regularly to keep the conversation flowing.
Book Writing - while I was writing the book I found it very difficult to fit it in to what was already a full day. As a result to get my part done I put aside extended periods of time just for writing. This included a few mornings at cafes but also one weekend away where I booked myself into a bed and breakfast down the coast and did nothing but write for the whole weekend.
image by margolove
The list could go on
There are very few (if any) tasks associated with my work that I don’t batch process (or at least attempt to). As I’ve mentioned above - my system isn’t perfect - I still have days when I’m less disciplined and return to old messy habits - but in general I find that batching my day into different activities means I’m being more focused and as a result more productive. As a result I tend to fit a lot more in than I used to and am able to achieve more.
A Word About Personality Types
Perhaps batching works best for me because of my personality type - I know some would resist it because they work best when they’re able to be very impulsive and have freedom to jump from one thing to another.
I used to think that I was this way - I thought I could be more creative if I approached each day like a ‘choose your own adventure’ book and flitted from one thing to another as my impulses led me. However I found that this kind of approach only worked for me when I didn’t have as many things to do.
When life gets busy I need systems and structure to keep on track. In fact putting boundaries in place around different activities allows me to be quite impulsive and creative in those times rather than getting stressed because of all the ‘urgent’ things that I need to do distracting me.
What about You?
Do you batch process tasks in your blogging (intuitively or strategically)? What would you add to my list of tasks? What ‘urgent’ things take up your time that might not be that important (candidates for batch processing)?
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167 Responses to “How Batch Processing Made Me 10 Times More Productive”
Robert Akehurst
June 12th, 2008 12:17 am
Great post! I really understand how this could benefit my blog. I always struggle to get things done and hopefully using doing things in batches like you describe will make me more productive.
Debasis Pradhan
June 12th, 2008 12:17 am
Excellent post Darren! Let me see if I can apply this to my own hectic working schedule.
Robert Akehurst
June 12th, 2008 12:17 am
Great post! I really understand how this could benefit my blog. I always struggle to get things done and hopefully getting things done in batches like you describe will make me more productive.
markowe
June 12th, 2008 12:19 am
Yes, when I did a Time Management course (didn’t really work, never got round to applying any of it!) this was referred to as “Grouping like tasks”. Simple as that - when you dig into one uniform tasks, or a group of similar tasks you are much more productive because your brain doesn’t have to keep switching. This is a lifesaver for people like me who have hopeless concentration.
Matt @ Face Your Fork
June 12th, 2008 12:24 am
I batch process just about everything you said! I have a “list” of tasks I do in order, every single day:
- Check E-Mail, Analytics, etc., all the blog background stuff; take notes on what can be improved.
- Moderate comments on my blog (also happens throughout the day)
- Write the post for the day, edit, post it up
- All Things Blog Marketing (several checklists worth of items)
- All Things Blog Improvement (from the notes earlier in the day)
- … then I do anything else that might have come up during the day.
I found that a mix of batching and keeping a running list of objectives for the day helps keep everything organized and streamlined. Only doing things *once* a day definitely helps as well! Some things I can’t batch well (such as blog posts), but other things like moderating comments and checking e-mail I batch and then forget about until the next day.
The Davinator-Viral Marketing Strategist
June 12th, 2008 12:24 am
Wow, I really enjoyed that post Darren. At the start of your post I can completely identify with the traffic jam. At the end of the day I’m literally burnt. Although I do work, all day, everyday, for the most part, some days almost end up being write off.
I sure gained some great insight from that, just from how you break your writing up into a couple of days of the week. The writing part is always something I struggle with. Between that and writing for my auto-responder it’s crazy sometimes.
Thanx for that! You gave me some great ideas on sectioning tasks a lot better.
Cheers on ya,
Davin
nicole
June 12th, 2008 12:25 am
this is an awesome post! I do many of the same things in addition to public relations and relationship building and feel overwhelmed at times…I’m working at ‘batching’ and it is going well, although I get little hiccups in there sometimes…prob because I cannot turn my im off!
thanks again!
Abhijeet from Jeet Blog
June 12th, 2008 12:27 am
Darren, your idea of batch processing is nice and I have been doing that intuitively for some time now.
However, I don’t think I’ll catch up with your pace anytime soon. I mean as you said, you write 10 posts in 5-6 hours, which means that you finish a good 500-600 word post within 30 mins. Thats pretty cool and I am yet to accomplish that, because it can easily take me an hour to plan, frame and write a good post.
I also wanted to ask that how many hours you are in front of computer on your usual work day? And how many hours do you sleep usually?
Maing
June 12th, 2008 12:32 am
“I ran from one task to another and never seemed to get anything done.”
This is exactly how i feel :(
-M-
Online Businesses Blog|Del Sauzo
June 12th, 2008 12:33 am
I am exactly at the point where i need a post like this. Right now Im wondering what I’ve been doing online for the last 5 hours.
Time to batch process. Thanks a whole lot for sharing.
Stumbled this post.
Rebellious Arab Girl
June 12th, 2008 12:35 am
When I first read your title I thought you would be talking about some cron job that you put together to deal with your daily activities.
But I like this article.. has many good tips to be organized.
Daniel Scocco
June 12th, 2008 12:50 am
Holy crap Darren, no wonder your blogs grow as they do.
Batch processing you say… I sure need some of that. The concept was familiar, but taking a honest review at my routine I do need to apply it with more discipline.
Rajaie AlKorani
June 12th, 2008 12:53 am
You practically mentioned everything I do wrong. IM, email, RSS, writing, all at the same time. At the end of the day, I feel that I haven’t accomplished anything.
I should start using your ways, thanks for the tips!
Louis Liem
June 12th, 2008 12:56 am
I can’t believe that I’ve planned the same thing. I schedule Monday and Tuesday to post, Wednesday to blog marketing, Thursday to explore another niche, Friday and Saturday for guest blogging. But you know, the schedule is as far as those plans went. They never well implemented.
Beside of I wasn’t determined enough not to get distracted, I never really see a real “proof” of batch processing really works.
I’m glad that I watch the problogger and know that his secret is something actually everybody can do. way to go!
Crazykinux
June 12th, 2008 12:58 am
Oh boy!
This post comes at such a great time for me! I currently have 3 blogs going; well 2 actually since the 3rd is a personal diary which I only update weekly at most.
I’ve been trying to setup a new one and have had the greatest of difficulties focusing on the task and making sense of my day.
I’ve already applied some of these ideas, but I can see how things will improve once I’ve applied a few more.
Thanks Darren!
CK
BW
June 12th, 2008 1:01 am
I think that doing this type of ‘batch processing’ is even more important for those of us that still have full time jobs. We have even less time to devote to our sites and really nead to focus on maximizing the time that we have.
I think most people would be shocked if they actually spent the time to track how they went about there blog activities. But its probably a very useful thing to do, to see where things could be grouped together to increase efficency.
Jillian
June 12th, 2008 1:12 am
I love this idea, and while I tend to (subconsciously) “batch” things while I’m working, I don’t seem to be able to do it effectively in regards to my blogging. This may be due to the fact that I have a one-year-old son, and all of my blogging activities occur in 10-15 minute bursts.
As my blog (and son!) grows, I think this approach to time management will naturally fall into place. In my day job, I’m most efficient when I concentrate on one facet at a time. I imagine the same will hold true for my blogging.
Leo
June 12th, 2008 1:13 am
Great post Darren very insightful. With out a doubt that is one high productive. Probably off the excel sheet in six sigma.
Jade
June 12th, 2008 1:21 am
I like your “choose your own adventure” analogy. I often think like this as well, which is nice in theory, but it is true that organization and discipline work better in practice. Thanks for the post; it’s really good advice.
Dave Navarro
June 12th, 2008 1:22 am
You’ve got the right idea. Batching forces you to focus & hammer at things (so you can get to the next batch, and the next …)
Act - don’t react -
Dave
James Kolacz
June 12th, 2008 1:28 am
Those are good rules to go by. I’ve doing those sorts of things for a while day in my day job. I was pretty curious on hope bloggers did keep up with everything. I see now that “regular” job techniques can be carried over. Also my BlackBerry has help a lot more then I thought possible.
Sheamus
June 12th, 2008 1:33 am
It’s a good post Darren. I think what you’re hinting at is something that a lot of other power-bloggers have been reporting of late - that multitasking = fail.
For what, a decade, maybe two, we’ve been told that multitasking is the way forward, but I’m now guessing that way of thinking has been responsible for an awful lot of mess that includes (but is not limited to) the home, the desk, the computer, and the mind.
People don’t work that way - men or women - not for things that require proper focus, anyway (watching TV while eating a burger does not count). You get nothing done. Fifteen minutes of total focus is far bettern than a couple of hours of scattered, easily-interrupted bursts of attention.
Patrick Sweeney
June 12th, 2008 1:38 am
This blog just keeps getting even better and better!
This is one of those things that really is common sense, but that you sort of have to take a step back and realize that you can always make yourself more efficient. Thanks for the reminder!
Keep up the awesome work!
Marc
June 12th, 2008 1:40 am
I picked up a copy of the 4-hour work week in the airport at the weekend and have been reading it solidly the past 2 nights. My productivity has at least doubled at work, just by removing igoogle as my homepage (no distracting emails and RSS) and dealing with emails for only 1 20-minute period in a day (batching).
This definitely works.
Michelle at Scribbit
June 12th, 2008 1:42 am
Excellent. Now I have a word for how I’ve been managing my blog and a way to do it even better.
I have different styles of posts I write during the week and I tend to group the styles together for writing sessions–take care of all of the same types of posts for the month at a sitting too.
Eric
June 12th, 2008 1:54 am
@Darren thanks for passing along the advice. I am definitely *not* a batch-processor. Something I have got to start picking up, but it does take some discipline.
One thing I must learn is to batch-process reading problogger ;)
Krissy Knox
June 12th, 2008 1:56 am
Great idea. Now I feel like I can finally make things managable.
Krissy :)
blabrmouth
June 12th, 2008 2:00 am
I RSS first thing
I select topics to write about and save them
I do email by mid-morning
I do outline for post in the afternoon
I do research for post early evening
I write post in evening after kids go to bed.
mark
June 12th, 2008 2:01 am
@Dave Navarro - “Act-don’t-react”…very well said!
The Tech Juice
June 12th, 2008 2:31 am
I have been doing this type of processing for years. I absolutely love it. It took me a while to realize that not every communication, every email, and every website must be read immediately.
One tip that I would like to add
Most RSS readers have a flag or start system that works quite well for batch processing. I understand you have your A-List and your Vanity list but in addition to this, you have your starred list.
With your A-List you may not want to read every single post, as goes with your vanity list. A good method I find is to star the posts you want to read (that are not urgent or breaking news), and then go ahead and batch process those specific posts when you set that time aside for it.
If you cover as many RSS feeds as I do, you can imagine that trying to stay on top of it all is a huge task in and of itself. This is especially true in the technology niche, as fancy new websites, gadgets, computers, etc. are coming out what seems like daily.
Hope this helps add some substance to the post.
Thanks for a great article.
Cheers,
The Tech Juice
Muscle Post
June 12th, 2008 2:47 am
I’ve heard of batch processing before but have never really read an in-depth summary of the process, so this was a very helpful and informative post. Thanks!
Melody Watson
June 12th, 2008 2:57 am
Darren, you’ve written the golden guidebook for us creative, ADD types. Among my blog’s topics is actually sharing the process of the “focus-impaired” (some Type A friends asked me to include some educational pieces so they’ll better understand the strangeness of my people.)
So at times I embrace and revel in the creativity-generating stream within my brain. But very often it’s such a hindrance to accomplishing all that’s necessary. While I’ve considered more than one of the things you’ve shared with us here, what seems so intuitive, now that I’ve read your piece, surprised me with its clarity and seeming “no-brainer-ness”!
Gonna’ print this one out and see if I can’t remember to refer to it often. Fantasizing I’ll have some magnificent work-flow days now. Thanks!
rjleaman
June 12th, 2008 2:59 am
On the days when I can manage to discipline myself do this, there is no question that productivity just sky-rockets!
The real trick is to muster that self-discipline in the first place, against the false-urgency of so many disparate calls on our time and attention in the course of the workday, yes?
Frugal Dad
June 12th, 2008 3:00 am
I write blog posts in a similar fashion - setting aside large chunks of time (usually early Saturday mornings at a local cafe) to write my daily posts for the week, along with any freelance work I have to do. It’s the other blogging chores that give me trouble - commenting, moderating comments, answering emails, etc. I tend to work in very small windows of time at each of those and it is a very undefined process (at best). Your post has inspired me to come up with dedicated schedule for batching these chores and knocking them out around the same time every day. Thanks for sharing your system.
A Suresh Kumar
June 12th, 2008 3:02 am
I love your ideas. its really very helpful for beginner bloggers. I am spending about 3 hours in blogging. Bcz i am a web developer, i need to work on my projects too. here are my activities
1) Check email
2) Check google analystics tools
3) Write POST( 2 posts/day)
4) social bookmarking
5) social networking sites
6) writing comments in other blogs
Shanel Yang
June 12th, 2008 3:05 am
I still enjoy “picking my own adventure.” Maybe it’s necessary for novice bloggers with next-to-no computer knowledge (such as myself) to just go with the flow until we at least figure out which are the high-value tasks compared to the low-value ones. Or even what the tasks are, for that matter!
I look forward to the day when I know enough to start batching a whole bunch of different level tasks. Right now they all seem pretty high-value to me. Thanks for the great post!
MrCooker
June 12th, 2008 3:06 am
Now that I read your post, it made me realize how messy I am. I’m Plurking, reading rss feeds, writing a bit, watching tele, mixxing and what not all at the same time.
I think it’s about time to do things in batches and prioritize things.
Thanks for the wake up call Darren.
Dave Cynkin
June 12th, 2008 3:14 am
Great post, Darren!
This is so important, especially with so many new media platforms and communication access points that we’re all compelled to try out and adopt.
Let’s see…I’m tweeting, blogging, reading blogs and tweets, participating in 4 forums, fielding messages from 6 separate email accounts, and potentially handling 3 phone lines. Several work projects going on at once and new ones waiting in the wings. Family time, workout time, maintaining the household time, and sleep time also has to fit in there. Sounds crazy when you quantify your activities.
Without efficient workload management, there would be no way to sleep. I try to move through things quickly, and have batched naturally with some items as a habit, but I haven’t consciously set up a batching pattern as you described. I’ll try it, and it I’m thinking it’ll save even more time. Which, I’ll of course burn up using more new media tools and social media communication platforms just released. :D
Thanks Darren, there’s so much to learn here every day on your blog.
Best Regards,
Dave Cynkin
CMO, Sleep Deprivationist & Thrillseeker
BlogWorld & New Media Expo
Nancy Nally
June 12th, 2008 3:31 am
I so needed to hear this right now! Funny thing is, I do this in my personal tasks but not in my work tasks! I am starting to become overwhelmed with the workload in starting up my new websites and this post was the perfect reminder that I need to impose some structure on my workflow the same as I do on my personal tasks.
Now I need to sit down and figure out the best way to do that…already have half an organizational system in place for managing my sites but need to figure out the rest: time management.
The Happy Rock
June 12th, 2008 3:37 am
I am guilty of ‘multi-tasking’ my efficiency down to nothing. It is great to be challenged by a pro!
Thanks for the motivation.
Austin
June 12th, 2008 4:04 am
Thanks for the great tip, but I have a question. How do you handle your research and writing “batch” when you have inspiration problems?
Jared Goralnick
June 12th, 2008 4:21 am
This is a really great post, Darren. Probably the best in detail, to-the-point overview on the topic of batching I’ve come across. Just wrote a blog post about it–as you know, batching is kind of the whole principle around my product, too :-). Glad to see the approach works for you!
Alexandra Hancock
June 12th, 2008 4:30 am
I’ve been reading your posts in my Google reader for a while now and I tend to lurk. :) This post was truly helpful as I have been juggling my blog, my 7 month old son, being a part time student, and trying to work from home. I’ve been tinkering with the batching concept and wanted to thank you for giving me an example to build off of.
money-attraction
June 12th, 2008 5:03 am
Thank you for your experiences of batch processing. I always use batch processing in such area:
1 buy food
2 check emails and IM messages
3 read news
4 prepare for experiments
D.F. Rucci
June 12th, 2008 5:17 am
Amazing post. Extremely helpful in many ways, thanks
Jess Stratton
June 12th, 2008 5:23 am
I find that my curiosity of ‘What’s new and exciting in my Inbox’ seems to be a big time-waster for me, I could never resist running back to the computer and checking. I solved this problem by getting a smartphone that pushed my email to my phone. It doesn’t beep when I get a new message, but whenever I’m curious, I can just glance at my Today screen on my phone and check it. It’s never important enough to warrant an immediate reply, but at least I know it’s there. Now, some day I don’t even need to turn on the computer! Well, that’s a stretch. :-)
GirlPie
June 12th, 2008 5:33 am
Your swell post helps me realize that my love of doing business “as I like it” for the childlike freedom I felt is actually working against me.
You’ve given that well-worn concept of “focus” a real structure that isn’t set in stone, isn’t restrictive. Ah, maturity, what a concept!
Mama Luxe
June 12th, 2008 5:51 am
Very helpful and timely as I drown in e-mails after taking the weekend off. Thanks for the tips.
Kirsten
June 12th, 2008 5:53 am
I need to apply this to my blogging - I might be able to post more often rather than the “I found time/spur of the moment” schedule I keep now.
At my full-time job, we recently were Kaizen-ed. They are more suited to manufacturing processes, but they came to our finance department instead. They kept insisting that we do single-item processing because it was faster, despite our proof with their own stopwatches that batch processing was quicker. I wish I had the email address of the consultant that kept telling me to do one at a time… I’d send him this post!
Carol Clifton
June 12th, 2008 5:57 am
Words of wisdom just in the nick of time. Thank You! TYou are one powerful mind reader… as I was so close to picking up the phone and calling in an organizational consultant to my rescue. I have two Starbucks just blocks from my home that I will visit this week. You have convinced me that it is possible to put my arms around what feels like a total daily disorganized mess.
Rich Williams
June 12th, 2008 6:51 am
Great Post. I might give batching a try. I’ve been using “Things” a Mac program based on the Getting Things Done book by David Allen. Which has helped me to get a lot of information out of my head and into a system. That has made my multidiscipline life a little more bearable. You can use the program without the book (they dont acyually go together) but reading the book puts everything in perspective. Save a couple of “new agey” passages. Thanks again.
PublicRecordsGuy
June 12th, 2008 7:17 am
So when you’re “off-line” and in the cafe writing posts, what application are you using? Are you using notepad, etc.? What about the “links” from your research? Are you placing a filler, ie LINK LINK LINK where the a href is to be? Thanks.
Mandy
June 12th, 2008 7:59 am
I like it, it’s a great idea. Again I probably do it already on some level but not in an organised way.
I’m British we love queues!
But honestly Darren even with batch processing how many hours do you have in the day down in Australia?
Nate Smith
June 12th, 2008 8:13 am
I tend to shoot from the hip, rather than batch process. But I want to change my ways!
Bryn
June 12th, 2008 8:24 am
Well I have just started up my blog recently (mostly after reading yours) and I have yet to have to batch process anything. Although I used to run a successful online virtual item store which I would sort of do a batch process, for instance I would check my email and deliver all the orders lined up, then I would go to the support and answer/fix all the problems and from there I would do my finances and monitor traffic/advertising. So I guess I have some experience with batch processing which should provide to be useful in the coming future.
Kelvin Kao
June 12th, 2008 9:08 am
The biggest advantage for batch processing is probably the cut-down of context-switching time… which is true for describing computer systems, and also accurate for this metaphor.
Batch processing wasn’t that much of an issue at my day job, because there’s a workflow that has a good rhythm already going on. As for the emailing, I tend to process them as I go, since I don’t get massive number of emails like you do. I do have a lot of blogs to go through though. That I do batch process.
Meangreen
June 12th, 2008 9:12 am
You seems to do alot in a short time. This batch thing seems to really work out for you. Even grabbing a beer with your mate, that is incredible, that you have a social life next to making money online. Since I started to mange 3 blogs I have no social life, but I have fun and a life online. The batch thing seems to increase me my productivity too. anyway thanks. for sharing. Since I have become making money online I have become a really geek. I am rather a geek with a lots of money than social failure. Great post. I am impressed that you wrote 2500 words within three posts. This inspired me lot I am challenging my self to come up with more unique content. Time seems to eat me up these days, anyway you set the new standard to keep up with the time. Thanks again and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Firestone
June 12th, 2008 9:18 am
I have experimented with batching before its a great way to up the productivity. It forces you to decide what is important and what is urgent. I waste so much time on a daily basis treating things as urgent that really are not.
Email is a great example of non-urgent communication. I had an older boss had a very simple take on “urgent emails” “If it was really that important why didn’t you call me?”
The only problem with batching is if you have a boss it makes it a lot more difficult to look busy.
Phil Baumann
June 12th, 2008 9:32 am
Advice that couldn’t come at a better time for me. Twitter has, for the time being, become my quai-RSS feed and it really can be time-sucker (but it’s fun for now).
I used to use batch processing and looking back at that time I was a lot more productive, more relaxed and had more time left for living it up. Now that my work load has sky-rocketed, I’ve been relying too much on real-time GTD. That’s not working our very well.
Your tips are useful (my past experience bears that out (in my case at least)).
I like the idea of setting aside 1 or 2 time-slots per week to write posts. It forces you to get out your posts, keep a stream of posts going and leaves away time to ensure that the posts are quality.
Darren Rowse
June 12th, 2008 9:41 am
thanks everyone for your really encouraging feedback - looks like I’m not the only one to stumble onto this technique (or to need it). Thanks for everyone’s stories and tips - you’ve made the post a lot better!
Polka Dot Bride
June 12th, 2008 9:42 am
This is perfect timing. I’m about to start batch doing my posts and then woke up and read this! I needed this post!
Farah
June 12th, 2008 10:25 am
I love your blog soo much!
This post is really great. The tips are really good for whatever you do, not only blogging. Although I agree with your ‘personality type’ section. For me, personally, I dont’ like to batch process my blog posts. Maybe because my blog is more like a personal journal where you can’t really write ahead of time.
But when I write other then journal entries, I also use the same technique.
Thanks for sharing.
Trisha
June 12th, 2008 10:45 am
Batching might work for me with some things - but with comment moderation I’d rather do those as soon as they come in. I don’t get that many people commenting, so I want to make sure they get approved as quickly as possible.
DarylG
June 12th, 2008 12:04 pm
Love this post. I have tried to batch my writing time but the email and message related stuff is a struggle since its always in front of me. Maybe turning it off until I’m ready will be a better approach.
Thanks for all you do,
Daryl
Lyn Leckie-Matassa
June 12th, 2008 12:18 pm
Great post yet again Darren, I especially like the idea of sitting down somewhere and just writing posts and not getting distracted by other things.
We can spend so much time just fluffing around and not really achieving anything. Batching seems like a great way to get on top of things. I tend to call it goal setting, achieve one goal then the next and set goals both daily weekly and even hourly before you let yourself get distracted.
Selene M. Bowlby
June 12th, 2008 12:49 pm
Darren, thank you so much for this post! I’m 2 days away from being a full time freelancer, and have been thinking about how I should best organize my time to be most productive.
I’m really looking forward to spending a full 8 hours a day working on updating my web site and blog, marketing (esp through social media) and of course doing the actual work for my clients. The fact that I’ll have so much time to spend on my own work (as opposed to an hour here, half an hour there, between my full time job) means that I get to create a whole new set of habits and structure, etc.
You’ve definitely given me some great ideas to think about. I find there are certain times that I like to write blog posts (early morning) - but I also like to get all of the “quick” client jobs out of the way early in the morning as well. I like your idea to have a couple days a week where you specifically write, etc.
I’m also addicted to Twitter / Plurk - and while they are very useful, they can also suck you in (as does IM, etc.) so having a set number of times to check these each day is a very smart idea, as well.
I believe I’ll be spending a bit of time this weekend re-reading this post and putting together a tentative work schedule for myself. Thanks for such perfect timing on this post! :)
becky
June 12th, 2008 1:08 pm
I’ve tried this in bits & spurts, but never across the board. I will have to do that, especially for the sites that need daily posts. I think it will free up my time to do them in batches. Sometimes we just need someone else to point these things out before we have the “aha! that will work for me!” moment.
Dominique
June 12th, 2008 1:31 pm
Excellent system that you have Darren.
I should start to apply what you have written to my daily chores so I can be more time efficient
Cory @ Dental Heroes
June 12th, 2008 1:40 pm
I think “batch processing” as you call it will save me loads of time. I’ve batted around the idea of getting my posting out of the way in just an evening or two during the week. This would leave me time for all of my promotion/marketing activities throughout the week. Since I work a 9-5 outside of blogging, batch processing is particularly attractive.
Ann
June 12th, 2008 1:47 pm
I’ve set up a sort of batch processing routine for household management; it draws on ideas from flylady and Getting Things Done.
Every Thursday I get up early, and instead of heading to the gym, I make some coffee and work at my desk, processing my inbox.
Flylady recommends a weekly “desk day” and David Allen recommends one central place to collect to do’s - aka an inbox, and together, they works well for me.
bnpositive
June 12th, 2008 2:00 pm
Great post and tips. Hopefully I can combine and apply these tips and many of your others into my regular routine.
bugsy
June 12th, 2008 2:04 pm
i think this post may have given me more concerns than fixing the ones i have.
i’m impressed! you are a very well organized and productive person. congrats!
shedding light on how much you do in a single day makes me (and i’m sure others) feel pretty far behind.
blog4net
June 12th, 2008 2:06 pm
i think my blog has not yet taken me to that stage of busy schedule. Of course i am doing something similar in quite a miniature way.
Serge
June 12th, 2008 3:03 pm
What about me!? I don’t need to worry about things you do, I only write an article or two a month, sometimes months past by with no posts, not exactly the active type I am, although last month I wrote quite a few.
Good tips, thanks for sharing, hope will need them some time!
Money Manatee
June 12th, 2008 4:12 pm
Wow! This is one of the best posts I’ve read on Problogger in awhile… I honestly think this technique/subject could be expanded on into a book or perhaps another blog.
I suppose one reason this technique works well is you build momentum for each task at hand and you work more efficiently/get more done once up to speed on each task.
I’ve used this batch processing technique but never conciously thought about it…. I’m going to re-read this article and try to apply this to my daily life as well!
JLow
June 12th, 2008 6:51 pm
I recall reading about this practise a while back, very likely on this blog too, because…
After reading that I too have started “storing” posts waiting to click “publish” in a later date, mainly to avoid posting too frequently as well as for dry days of writer’s block.
In fact, I have gone as far as creating blank posts with only photos, ready for content when they come to mind! I do this because I want a personalised blog using photos that are really of my kids or are related the actual content of the post.
Which means, I have a bookmark of my draft-posts in the admin area for quick access!
Make Money Talks
June 12th, 2008 9:20 pm
Nice tips Darren, normally i don’t do work step by step and then
i have two much to finish at same time!
Krissy Knox
June 12th, 2008 11:06 pm
Excellent post Darren! I am applying your ideas. I stumbled you and gave you a very positive comment. :)
Metro
June 12th, 2008 11:32 pm
At “The Secret” website they have a blank check that can be downloaded. I made the check out to my company with a date 2 years from now.
It’s pasted on my wall where I can see it all day. When I become distracted and unproductive I look at that check and reorganize. I want that check. Then I clean my desk, get back to my plan and produce.
I’ve developed my best content when I hit the wall. Then I use my brain and think. Then I come up with something valuable and get back to producing.
Thanks for the post. I know I’m going to have a productive few days.
Corey Freeman
June 12th, 2008 11:34 pm
Personally, I have set work blocks throughout the day. 8-11 , 3-8 if need be, then if I’m up, I’ll even go from 11 - 2 and start all over again the next day.
I don’t necessarily focus as well as I could during these blocks. I try to get most administrative stuff done in the mornings, then dig into clients in the afternoons. At night I’m working on my own projects.
Trisha Cupra, Web Design Watchdog
June 13th, 2008 12:07 am
I’m loving this. I’d already heard of batch processing for housework and have been trying that out. Applying this idea to my blogging is just brilliant. My whole life will end up batch-processed! Very exciting.
Sherrylove.net
June 13th, 2008 12:19 am
I don’t know why but I can hardly stick to batch here and there throughout the day like you. I only have about 4 hours after 8 to work on my blog so I have to use the time wisely.
I imagine my blog is like a bowl. If I put in all of the big rocks in first, then if I have time I can put in some small rocks.
My big rocks are:
1. Writing posts
2. Social networking
My small rocks are the rest of list above.
I often wrote 20 posts if I have time and then schedule each of them for 20 days. That way I don’t be stressed out about the post and has more time on other things to promote the blog. This works for me so far. But writing 20 high quality posts really drain the energy out of you.
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
June 13th, 2008 12:22 am
Darren, well done and thank you. Thank you because your day sounds very much like mine and I don’t feel like such a fool for having so much to do.
I had to laugh at the “How do you fit it all in?” We receive that same question a LOT. I guess people like you and I make this type of work level look like magic, but the truth is, it takes some infrastructure behind the scenes to pull it all off.
Neil
June 13th, 2008 12:41 am
I really want to be able to do this and I will when running my own business. Too bad it’s hard to do when working for someone else and client issues or “emergencies” come up. This is how I want to structure building my own business clientèle and writing schedule. Thanks for the detailed post.
Amy Guth
June 13th, 2008 12:49 am
Great post! I completely agree and, in fact, have had an inclination to do this very thing as of late, as I, too, have been hype-aware lately that my days are little more than diving headfirst into a traffic jam first thing and busily leaping from task to task, only to arrive at the end of the day feeling spent. This post solidifies my inclination to batch process my day that much more.
I think this batching method is certainly a way of working that I’m already wired to incorporate easily and intuitively, and, in fact, as I’m sitting here thinking about it, I would say I do this for personal tasks already. In my workday, the “act, don’t react” phrase would be one well worth taking deeply to heart that I suspect would bring fairly immediate results.
I would add, for my own workday that not batch processing is a likely culprit of my occasional unnecessary fretting, too, so shifting to this sort of work style will, I image, do much to lift my spirits at times, as well.
Off the top of my head here, I’m thinking my batches will look very similar to yours listed, with the addition of batching my editing projects, writing my articles and essays, writing my next book manuscript, as well as batching my daily and weekly interactions with magazine/journal editors for future work, my publisher for the odds and ends he and I toss back and forth during the week, as well as the email exchanges needed to book events, readings and the like. It’s the solidifying of future work and events that will likely benefit the most, as an even slightly unproductive day in that regard can send most of us authors into fret-mode.
Thank you for all your wonderful and insightful work!
Ian Romaine
June 13th, 2008 12:51 am
Having only just entered the blogging arena, one of the things that had put me off was the prospect of ever-increasing task lists just getting longer and longer.
I’ve been self-employed for a couple of years and have probably always worked on a scatter-gun approach, but on the days when I’ve been disciplined enough to ‘batch process’ then it’s definitely been worthwhile.
I’m going to make a genuine effort to conduct all my blogging activities using the ‘batch processing’ method… if I get into a regular pattern from the beginning then that can only help - surely? :)
tish
June 13th, 2008 1:21 am
Darren — I congratulate you on conquering a vast array of tasks and getting your time in order! I often wondered if you worked 22/7 to get it all done.
I’ve left my regular writing job at Midwest Airlines (well, the job actually left me due to cutbacks in the industry) so I must organize my time more efficiently in my home office. I was able to contract with the airline to take my travel blogs with me. Plus I’m starting an Alzheimer’s Web site. Plus I need freelance writing gigs. So my schedule is getting jammed up. I travel…I blog…I research…I write…I look for clients…I have a home life, too. Your tips have inspired me to make a greater effort to organize. Batch processing is a great idea. I’m going to get it started for myself and hope it works as well as it does for you.
Thanks for this helpful post.
jocelyn - oddpodz
June 13th, 2008 1:27 am
What a coincidence! We JUST had a meeting about this yesterday. Everyone in our tiny team has been feeling stressed and pulled in many directions.
“My mistake was feeling compelled to deal with things as they came to me.”
We were all making this mistake - answering emails in real time, always on top of IM, etc. I was feeling totally out of control, nervous and unproductive. Then, finally realized that we needed some organization and infrastructure to maximize our output and minimize the running around like our hair was on fire.
I am working this week and weekend to come up with my own batching system.
We have an added layer of complexity. In addition to our blog, we are building out a network for our users.
That development process needs to be highly organized and has a batching system all its own which I intend to borrow from for my own daily task management.
I would add phone calls to this list. I used to answer the phone everytime it rang, but now I schedule a time to listen to voicemail and return calls. Once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. I also prepare a quick agenda for the calls to make sure that questions get answered and everyone is clear.
Thanks for this excellent (and timely!) post.
Dave Weinberg
June 13th, 2008 1:46 am
Another great post!
I already use so many of your techniques and any way to mix and match to better my use of time will be done. I added a yahoo pipes to my twitter feed to catch any tweet with a url. That lets me read everything at my pace on my schedule in google reader and have everything saved ad searchable.
thanks!
Dave Weinberg
Marketing Manager
GeniusRocket
Carolyn Price
June 13th, 2008 1:57 am
What a well-timed post. I was just about three hours away from a complete and irreversible brain implosion because of this exact problem. You’ve inspired me to plan my days better.
But how does eveyone deal with this: You open a very important newsletter and half way thru it you follow a great link to some handy information and half way thru that you follow a great link to a seriously cool blog and….next thing you know it’s lunch time! THIS is my biggest time guzzler!
Steve Young
June 13th, 2008 2:04 am
Great post Darren.
I first learned about batch processing after reading Tim Ferriss’ 4HWW book. Started tinkering with it a bit here and there, but haven’t really executed fully. Your post is good example of what happens when you actually take action on it!
Motivating for sure…think I’ll actually give it a go this time.
Todd
June 13th, 2008 2:23 am
This is a great tip and SO helpful. Another thing I’ve become aware of is not stacking too many “energy-zapping” batches back-to-back. Sometimes I can be really efficient with time, but be neglectful of energy (as spelled out in the book “The Power of Full Engagement.”) If I don’t have anything left to give when I move on to the next task, it doesn’t matter how well I’ve organized my day…
Jeffery
June 13th, 2008 2:29 am
Another great post over there. I used batch processing more many other things but not checking email, replying blogs and etc. However, I’m trying to do batch processing with it, cause it really takes time and I don’t have much time because of my work and study.
—————————————————————————-
Regards,
Jeffery
http://www.mysuperbrand.com (Advertising)
http://www.mybaby.com.my (Baby Shop)
Carla
June 13th, 2008 2:42 am
Working full-time and trying to start a web business, this is exactly what I need to do. I do some blog writing, etc during my lunch breaks and other breaks that I set aside from work, but I really need to implement this at home where I have less time and more distractions.
Scott Fox, Author of Internet Riches
June 13th, 2008 3:08 am
Darren,
Good post that highlights a huge issue for the digital economy - how do we all keep up with all the incoming stimuli and still get any work done?
Delivery rules on your inbox, RSS readers, and segmenting your days into task-specific “batch” periods are good starts. But the larger issue is that everyone today has a megaphone (including me at http://www.ScottFoxBlog.com).
I think the future really belongs to quality content providers that earn the trust of their audiences as original thinkers and/or reliable filters. We’re all likely to be forced into choosing just a few key info providers to rely upon while we get the rest of our work done. This “flight to quality” is a good sign for you at Problogger.net!
Scott Fox
Joe mcCoy
June 13th, 2008 3:59 am
The batching concepts work for non-IT work too. The Lean consultants out there cringe at the word batch, but reducing the number of times you change between different kinds of tasks in a day increases the amount of time available.
I did some consulting work with a large architectural firm and we created a name for the wasted time switching between projects and tasks - TRANSITION TIME. We measured it and found “busy” people were only productive about 1-2 hours a day. The rest was transition time.
Great post, great concept Darren.
No Name Blogger
June 13th, 2008 5:12 am
Fantastic post.
I read about the same idea in “The Four Hour Work Week” recently. I’m new to blogging but last night I wrote 9 blog posts - 3 which I posted yesterday, 3 which I posted today, and 3 which I’ll post tomorrow. So I’m done for this week!
I’ve impressed myself with how much I’ve been able to accomplish when I focus intensely and don’t allow interruptions.
Referáty
June 13th, 2008 5:18 am
Thank you for these tips. I have problem with wasting my time with icq, emails, comments etc…
pam munro
June 13th, 2008 5:29 am
Guess I batch already - & all my twits are in a lump - also only plurk in a lump - but my blog entries tend to be more or less spontaneous, easier for me to write that way. I also like to have some days in the week when I don’t GO anywhere, but can just sit home & catch up. Writing a book, too, &do find that blogging can be a way to avoid writing - but luckily the are both on the same topic - so feed into each other!
Stef Levolger
June 13th, 2008 5:37 am
I have tried it at times to somewhat chunk up my blogging load in a similar fashion as this and it works good within holidays and such, but other than that fact remains that blogging isn’t my full-time job making it hard to fit in an efficient schedule as it always depends on how much time I have available free.
The best I can manage on the average day is to go through some feeds in the morning and take out some more time for it in the evening, quickly manage comments when opening up my browser and directly afterward interact with the reader by replying to the given comments if any and write posts usually in the evening or days off.
Deva Hazarika
June 13th, 2008 5:54 am
An often overlooked aspect of this is that not only does this focused time let you get more done, it often lets you get that work done in a more creative and higher quality manner. I reference a couple of other good pieces on context-switching and the cost of interruptions in this blog post: http://www.emaildashboard.com/2008/06/interruptions-c.html
Winning Startups
June 13th, 2008 6:23 am
You all sound so organized.
As soon as I wake up I comment on ten blogs in my area of interest. Then my kids get up and I play with them till noon, they both go down for a nap and I write posts in advance, email people, network, read problogger. There just isnt enough time to do everything I want.
Kim Woodbridge
June 13th, 2008 6:56 am
This article came at the perfect time for me. I’ve been trying to do too many things at the same time and was finding that I didn’t feel like anything was accomplished. I’m trying to stick to a batch processing model such as you described but since I also work full time it can be difficult to do the the things that have to get down and find time for the things I want to do (twitter, play a game, read). I’ve been getting less sleep but that is not a long term solution.
Rob
June 13th, 2008 9:00 am
Darren -
Wondering what you do with the random thoughts and reminders that jump into your head as you are processing one batch. What is your method for capturing the “oh right, I have to call XXXXX today.” and “Need to get stamps” stuff that jumps into your mind during the batch sessions?
Great post. Thank you…found you via chrisbrogan.com
Miguel Wickert (Pineiro)
June 13th, 2008 9:43 am
Well done! yeah, I also complete tasks in batches but I like to set a timer because like you said it’s easy to lose track of time.
This is one of the best posts I’ve read in some time. Thanks for showing us an inside peek of your schedule, and how you tackle your daily batches.
Lee
June 13th, 2008 10:37 am
Thats an incredible regiment. Most of that stuff overwhelms me everytime I try to make it into a process. I can’t tweet that much and I can’t handle the idea of jumping to plurk too. And I have enough trouble writing a post a day, but 6 at once… Ah!
Jodie
June 13th, 2008 12:30 pm
Excellent post, thanks! As I find myself juggling writing work and other commitments, I’m beginning to have more and more messy days, as you described. I’m going to try batch processing my work and see how it goes.
GeekMommy
June 13th, 2008 12:51 pm
Thank you.
I already apply this ‘batch processing’ to email and other aspects of my life - it never occurred to me to apply it to blogging.
I suppose that’s because blogging, for me, arose out of a need to express myself and communicate to others.
But as a writing process, it makes MUCH more sense to do it this way.
This is probably the most important & relevant post I’ve read all year.
Thanks again.
Denise
June 13th, 2008 1:31 pm
Good one Darren!! THanks I am just planning to embark on this next week and this post gives me a boost to know I am headed in the right direction! There is so much I want to get done this summer! Now.. if I can just apply it!! And if I can work around the kid inertia!!!
Anne
June 13th, 2008 2:44 pm
What does this say about me? I could maybe research and write 5 blog posts, but that would take the entire day.
To read 300 emails would take me half to 2/3 a day. Writing 50 emails would take me a week.
Jeanne Elle
June 13th, 2008 5:15 pm
Awesome post! I find for myself that establishing a schedule and sticking to it enables me to be more consistent about getting things done. I have certain days of the week when I write, and the other days I do “blog admin”. As I get more involved I’m going to break it down even further, but at the moment even as simple a schedule as that has made a tremendous difference.
thinkjayant @ smartblogtips
June 13th, 2008 7:49 pm
nice post darren…
i have been trying to do this not with my blog… but with my other day today things….. managing friends and social networking in today’s world can really be daunting….
hope i can use some tricks of yours…. will update with some of mine once i put it into practice and end up saving time and energy
PodChicks
June 14th, 2008 1:12 am
I like your game plan. I shall ponder upon it for a bit to see how I can modify it for my schedule. Have a great weekend. And thanks to Chris Brogan for sharing your link with us. Namaste.
Nate Moller
June 14th, 2008 4:19 am
I’ve been looking for an answer for quite some time when it comes to organization. Hopefully I can take a little (or alot) from this article and implement it in to what I’m doing.
Thanks for the ideas.
Claudine
June 14th, 2008 9:07 am
I don’t batch process, but I need to start immediately. I need to just sit down one day and get ahead, because when you are behind, it’s difficult to catch up, never mind getting ahead.
Noobpreneur
June 14th, 2008 7:34 pm
Darren,
This is a great tip for people who has multiple blogs or sites to manage by his/her own!
Any softwares you use to aid your batch processing?
Cheers!
TechTrendzi
June 14th, 2008 7:51 pm
When do you pray?
Your day seems to very busy doing things for this world, but did you asked yourself what are you doing (praying) for the God who created this World?
Please ignore, if you do pray in your daily life and do not mentioned it in your post, thanks.
Lewis
June 15th, 2008 2:03 am
Great content!
I have the same trouble with checking email too many times and being on social sites for longer than batching periods.
I will definately use your suggestions to become more productive.
I am half way done with your book as well and there is some great content in there, I look forward to reading the rest of your secretes!
Thanks Darren
Tink *~*~*
June 15th, 2008 2:03 am
I’m still a blogging hobbyist, so I have my “day job” that seriously cramps my blogging style :D However, even in my career, I’ve always been a batcher. It’s a classic time management technique; batch similar tasks together to maximize the number of tasks you can get done during the work day.
With regard to blogging, it’s a different story when I am in mobile mode, but when I am not, I tend to blog at night and on the weekends. I have been known to queue up a daily post for times when I am away on business. I don’t want my meager but beloved subscriber base to get bored looking at the same post all week, simply because I had to go away on business.
I’d like to get to the point where I am queuing up posts all the time, either in draft mode or else pre-dated to post automatically. This would be a great contingency in the event of unexpected business activity that prevents me from blogging.
Tink *~*~*
A. Reis Designs
June 15th, 2008 3:23 am
I am really happy that you brought up task and time management issues when it comes to blogging. I have just given in to the fact that I need to be blogging, so have not been at it very long, but I am quickly finding that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. I am going to take some of your approaches, and I think that I am actually the type of person that needs to build myself a schedule. Although, it could be just one more headache — another list to check and worry about clearing it off. Thanks for the insight into how you do it.
Tomás Mendes
June 15th, 2008 5:42 am
As I’m not a “full-time blogger”, I don’t feel the pressure of posting. It’s not a problem for me if I don’t for a week or two. I just do it because I like it and when I want to do it.
However, when I’m blogging I set up priorities. First I post, then I answer the comments, then I update digg (and others) and finally I do RSS reading.
NDK Creative Artist
June 15th, 2008 6:58 am
Ah, so that’s what I’ve been doing all this time is called! Great to be able to put a name to it, and an excellent post that really adds some clarity.
I realized several years ago that keeping the communication lines open was pretty importa