For a busy solopreneur, you need to be on top of your productivity game to ensure you make the best use of your time to get things done.
Many people think multitasking makes them more efficient and that it is a great skill to have. But in reality, it means you don’t give anyone thing your complete attention. You are actually slower at completing the task, and the results are of lower quality.
Research has shown that multitasking makes you more stressed and your productivity is 40% less.
As a result, if you want to be more productive, you should avoid multitasking as much as possible.
This is because it takes more brainpower and energy to switch between tasks. This leaves you feeling drained and overwhelmed.
In fact, if you want to increase your productivity and be less stressed, you should try batch working. This means grouping together similar types of activities and doing them together. Your brain won’t need to keep switching, making you less stressed.
Multitasking does not increase your productivity.
You lose time every time you switch tasks as your brain has to adjust to the new processes that it has to deal with.
This is even true for simple tasks.
You save more brainpower if you don’t need to switch between activities and can focus on similar rapid succession activities. Task batching works because you’re maintaining the same mindset for all the functions involved.
“We often think that combining tasks will save us time, but scientific evidence shows that it has the opposite effect. Even those who claim to be good at multitasking are not very productive. In fact, they are some of the least productive people.
Our brains can take a million bits of information but can only process a few dozen per second. When we say we’re multitasking, what we’re actually doing is quickly switching back and forth between tasks.
Unfortunately, we’re not computers adept at parallel processing. We spend all our energy alternating between tasks instead of focusing on doing one of them well.
Concentrating on one thing at a time may be the single most important factor in achieving flow.” ― Héctor García, The Japanese Secret of Long Life.
Switching between different types of tasks will take its toll on you. By the end of the day, all the constant swapping between activities will make you feel drained and low in energy.
Yet, suppose you do similar tasks together. In that case, your brain isn’t so overworked, and you have more energy to spend on other activities.
Schedule similar activities together
It is always a good idea to schedule similar activities together when planning your day. It’ll definitely make your day flow better.
This is where breaking down tasks into manageable chunks, as detailed in take control of your to-do list, really helps.
You can see similar activities that could be done together by breaking down the tasks,.
Whether it is similar process steps, or activities in a similar location, having a list of everything you need to do helps.
Batch processing anything will help you streamline your time management and make you more efficient.
Think of all those listing photos you need to edit. Do them all together, and you will find you process them quicker than if you do them all at seperate times.
The same could be said for social media content. Batch up some of the processes involved in getting your content out into the world. Then you can schedule it ahead of time. Not only will this make you feel more organised, it will reduce the actual time you spend on creating your content.
This can work for anything. Try it out and see for yourself.
If you want more time management to help you get things done then take a look here.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please check out our privacy policy for more details.
