Batch Like a Productive + Profitable Girl Boss
Learn how to batch your content for your business like a productive girl boss.
Content creation usually isn't the favorite part of any content creators business. Like much of life...there's so many moving parts.
When you see a beautifully written blog article, you rarely think about how long it took for that article to be produced.
Rarely as in NEVER!
However when you are the creator, you might think what in the hell am I going to produce. An easy way to rid yourself of those thoughts: create an editorial calendar.
What's that?!?
A fancy or not so fancy plan for your upcoming content.
An easy way to develop an editorial calendar is to think of 3 categories that you address in your services and(or) products. You want these to be general categories because you'll get specific as you move on.
For example: Productivity, business tips and systems.
Then brainstorm topics underneath each. Assign a date and how you'll distribute this content. Boom!
There's some marketers that will tell you blogging is dead.
Content is king and you're the queen.
You need each other.
Content creation goes so much deeper than blogging. Whatever your poison [blogging, video,podcast, etc], make sure you have a beautiful castle for this content king to reside [your website].
So we've established that you're the queen! But to become a true boss, you'll need to batch!
Batching is what makes producing content manageable and easy.
Batching is when you do a lot of one thing for a set period of time.
Let's say you set a schedule where you blog weekly.
That's 4 blog posts a month. I know my math skills are remarkable...stay with me.
Did you know it's easier to push out all four articles than each one individually?
Yep. Science and psychology back me up on this.
Switching tasks or multitasking reduces your productivity by 40%.
When multitasking, we typically switch tasks every 3 minutes and 5 seconds.
When work is interrupted it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task.
Batching decreases the time lost between switching tasks.
Ultimately batching allows you to increase concentration and decrease distraction.
Cookies are made in batches because it's easier and it saves time. Besides who eats just one cookie?
Batching your content is the same. Well, it might not be as sweet and gratifying instantly like a cookie, but it saves time with your processes.
Here are some things in your business and life that you can start batching this week:
Email: set up a time and system so you can check your emails and respond to them within an hour or two [an hour would be awesome]. Tim Ferris says he checks his once a day and responds all at once. Such will power that guy has. I’m on a twice a day schedule, that works pretty well.
Phone calls: have a running list of who you need to call on a sheet/in notebook on your desk. Set aside a day or two throughout the week and a time for you to make/return all the calls.
Content creation: Pick one day a month and block off 4 [or more] hours of your most productive time to create content. Add additional days if you have multiple streams of content to create.
Editing content: Pick one day a month/week and block off a set amount of time during your most alert time of day to edit your amazing content.
Curating content for social media shares: Once a week pick a light day to peruse your favorite websites for content to share with your peeps. Doing this on one day at one time, saves oh so much time. Versus taking a few minutes here and there, because the whole act of switching is time consuming. Once complete, schedule your social media for the week.
Client work or projects: complete client work or similar projects all at once until complete. So when you’re done...you’re done. No need to keep your mind boggled down with uncompleted work.
Expenses: weekly or monthly set aside time to review your personal and business expenses. Have a plan on what you’re documenting and reviewing. What actions need to be taken as well as what milestones/rewards you should set for meeting your expense goals each month.
Productivity to profits is the goal around here.
Cooking: schedule in time to plan what you’ll eat for the week, even the days and nights you plan to eat out. On Sundays, set aside time to meal prep and have a cooking party preparing for the week.
Cleaning: schedule in time to tidy up. Cluttered spaces really deter productivity and creativity.
Planning: each week you should have time scheduled in to plan for your next week. Include time to brain dump and sort out new ideas.
Often times people think that when you plan and essentially control your time, that it stifles creativity. Batching is quite the opposite. You are ensuring that you set aside time to go deep within your creative space without being interrupted and produce a greater value of work
Batching provides you with freedom to have fun or take a nap when all the work is complete. What more could a girlboss ask for?
You’re taking too long (how long all your blog posts should take)
I have a client whom we'll call Kai. During our pre assessment, I asked Kai what was the average time it takes to write a blog post? Kai said it took her 8 hours write one blog post.
That's an incredible amount of time wasted. Her content was phenomenal, but her process was unremarkable. 8 hours for a single blog post is unproductive.
Brain surgery is completed in less time.
Babies are delivered in less time.
You can fly from New York to Milan on a non stop flight in eight hours.
The other night I asked on Facebook: What's the average time it takes to write a blog post?
The answers varied significantly but with each answer I saw who had control of their business and whose business had control over them. Majority of the Facebook responses were similar to Kai. 28 to be precise.
Stop wasting your time...if you’re part of this 8 hours [plus] crew.
Blog posts should not take 8 hours!
You're taking too long to write your blog posts. Let's streamline the process.
Chic Systems Blog Process
Research & Brainstorm
Only have two tabs (preferably one) open on the computer
Disable notifications on phone & computer
Start with the introduction for the post.
Write freestyle- just write. Don't edit misspelled words or incorrect grammar. Just write. Forget the backspace button. Just write.
*go do something else*
If something new comes to you- write it down and add to post when editing.
*Editing time- Welcome back!*
Correct the misspelled words and incorrect grammar. Hello DELETE button.
Organize the content.
Pick/create images and(or) gifs
Create related tags (SEO baby) - you do want people to read the post that you previously took 8+ hours to write.
Create a CTA (call to action) at the end of the post- Tell your reader what you want them to do.
Pick 2-3 catchy titles (1 is for the site and the others are to sprinkle on social media).
and POST!
Here's what you need to construct a remarkable post:
Editorial calendar or a content idea storage bank
Evernote & Evernote Web Clipper
Toggl if you're fancy
Time required: Two hours MAX
Here's how the process looks streamlined:
20 minutes to research & or brainstorm
30 minutes to write article
15 minutes to edit & organize content
15 minutes for images
10 minutes to create 3 catchy titles
10 minutes to create tags
20 minutes to post and distribute to newsletter
The secret to streamlining this process is when you see articles that are relevant to a topic you know you plan to write about, clip it to an Evernote folder titled Research and tag the article with “blog post idea” and a relevant tag to the topic that you will recall.
Create a folder in google drive to save images that you like and think you may want to share on your website. I have a folder for images and one for gifs.
Next time you get ready to write your blog post use Toggl and track how long it takes you. No worries toggl tracks projects spread over time if you need to write and resume in a day or so. Theres so many things you can do with the 6 hours you just saved.
Click here to get more done in 4 days than you do now in 5.
