The truth about content batching (+ how to make it work for you)

Let's chat about the actual mechanics of a great content batching session so that you too can benefit from that all illusive batching magic.

Struggling to make content batching work for you?

Every time you schedule a batching day you end up wasting 2 - 4 hours either:

• Working on the same blog post

• Starting a whole bunch of things that you never finish

• Scrolling Instagram because YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING to be so dang 'productive and effective'

Sound familiar?

Let’s start by defining exactly what batching is so that we’re all on the same page, ok?

What’s batching?

“Batch (noun): a quantity or number coming at one time or taken together.”

Batching works on the idea of completing similar tasks together so that you’re more efficient and productive overall (at least... in theory). This productivity technique can help you make quick progress, get a chunk of content done at once, and give you some (much needed) space. All good things!

The goal of batching tasks is to:

• Help you be more efficient and effective

• Save time in the long run

• Get off the hamster wheel (and that feeling of always spinning your wheels)

In theory, batching works in same way as making muffins. AKA it makes waaay more sense for you to make a whole tray of muffins at one time, rather than put in all that time + effort for one single, lonely carrot cake muffin.

How to structure your content batching session

Now that we're all on the same page with the definition of batching, let's talk about the actual mechanics (AKA structure) of your batching session.

The main reasons why batching doesn't work are:

• No planning

• Trying to do too much

• Not properly structuring your session

Let’s break these down one by one, shall we?

1. No planning

Here's the thing...

You can't just sit down with a blank page and expect to have a productive batching session. That'd be like turning up to a triathlon without doing any of the prep work beforehand. (And you wouldn't out yourself through that kind of pain!)

So don't treat your content in the same way, ok? If you go into your batching session without a plan, you’re only setting yourself up to fail.

2. Trying to do too much

Another common mistake with content batching is to set overly ambitious goals of what you want to achieve during your session.

So be sure to avoid this trap by setting a realistic goal for yourself. I strongly recommend halving the number of posts that you think you can write or film during a single session, and use that as your guide.

3. Not properly structuring your session

This is a big one! When it comes to structuring your batching session, I want you to think about creating content in three different phases:

1. Brainstorm

2. Outline

3. Write/create

Because here's the thing… you can batch WITHIN each of those categories/phases, but you can't batch ACROSS them.

So what does that mean? If you're scheduling a batching session, you can use it to brainstorm all of your content ideas, OR you can use it to outline, OR you can use it to write and create.

Note the OR, not the AND.

If you sit down on your batching day and try to brainstorm AND outline AND create content all in the one session, you're going to fry your brain!

Batching within these categories/phases works because they all use your brain in distinctly different ways. How your brain operates in the creative brainstorming phase is very different to how it operates in the more rigid outlining phase, which is very different again to how it operates in the actual writing or creating phase. Structuring your batching session by working with your brain gives you the best chance of success!

So remember: Batch within the categories/phases, but not across them.

A final reminder before we close...

Batching doesn't work for everyone or in every situation.

Let me say that again for the people at the back:

Batching doesn't work for everyone or in every situation.

So explore and play around and see what works best for you.

Maybe that’s setting aside time each morning to work on your content, or having a weekly date to write your newsletter. Maybe that's deciding to batch your Instagram content, but being more flexible and off-the-cuff with filming videos for YouTube.

“Experiment. Play. Figure out what works for YOU.”

A tool or productivity technique, no matter how popular, is only useful if it works for you.