2 Ways To Increase Your Business Productivity (By Multi-Tasking Less)
Nov 06, 2023
Entrepreneurs are obsessed with being productive because that’s how your business grows. So you try to do more and more and more. You run out of hours in the day, so you start trying to multitask.
“Our biggest problem is that we are so hard on ourselves.
We feel like we need to do more and more and more and more.
We’re never satisfied until we are completely overwhelmed with a monstrous list of tasks!”
Kerry Zarb
Does it sound familiar?
Did you know there is a way to do far more things than you ever thought possible, and have more time to do what you love? And it’s not through multi-tasking.
Stacking and batching are 2 strategies that will change your life and business as an entrepreneur, and both start with thinking about things differently.
Goodbye Multitasking - Hello Stacking!
“Stacking is the opposite of multitasking.” Kim White
Multitasking is not something you can do and give 100% to everything.
If you're dividing your 100% between things, then you can't give 100% to any of those things you’re working on.
Multitasking is setting you up to fail. (Especially when it’s something really important like growing your business.)
Stacking is the opposite. Stacking involves taking the time to do one thing (and give it 100% of your focus and energy) knowing you will use that one thing for multiple purposes.
Stacking is a way to be more productive in your business and have more free time for yourself.
How To Be More Productive With Stacking
Here is an example of how Kerry and Kim use stacking to be more productive.
You can record a podcast and give it 100% of your attention knowing that you will have one excellent piece of content with multiple uses later on.
You can pull clips from the audio or repurpose quotes for social media posts. You can create blogs from the transcript or expand for chapters for a book and even use the content for email newsletters. Imagine doing all those things from scratch and all the time it would take you.
And if you have created one really good piece of content (eg. a podcast) then you can easily delegate the repurposing to your team, which also means you will have more time available to you.
But maybe you are not at the delegating stage in your business just yet, and you are the one repurposing the podcast. In that case, you will still have more time because you aren’t starting each new piece of content from scratch. And each social media post, blog, and newsletter will come from the podcast you gave 100% of your energy to.
Using one thing in different areas of your business gives you more time without having to multitask. It allows you to grow your business with quality content without leaving you overwhelmed.
Batching And Business Growth
“We batch because there is an on-ramp and off-ramp to everything we do.” Kim White
Every time you work on a new task, you spend time getting into the zone and coming out of that zone. We call that on-ramping and off-ramping.
Batching is a way to be more productive in your business without wasting time on extra on-ramping and off-ramping. You’ll have more time to grow your business in other areas or to rest and recover.
Batching is where you put similar items together in your business and spend your time and energy getting more done on one project, or one element of your business instead of jumping around between tasks and clients.
When you're batching something it means you stay in that zone of getting things done, and you stay there longer. And that’s another way you can grow your business without multitasking.
How To Be More Productive With Batching
Let’s use the podcast example again. You can use batching to grow your business by recording a few episodes one after the other.
That way, you stay in the sweet spot of creating valuable content. It’s a time investment up front, but it’s a way to have more time for you and your business later on.
You’ve gone up the onramp, prepared yourself to record, and all the juices are flowing in your mind around the conversations you want to have for your listeners.
You can also use batching to edit the episodes at a later stage as a way to be more productive. No multitasking is required.
“Once you're on a roll, don't break the roll.” Kerry Zarb
Staying in the zone allows your creativity to flow, especially with things like social media and copywriting.
And when you get into that zone, don’t be afraid to stay there a little longer even if your calendar says stop, an extra 15 minutes can make a big difference. It's going to be harder to pick it up again later.
How Can You Start Stacking and Batching Today?
There are different ways for everyone to do this. There is no “one-size fits all” in business so you have to spend some time thinking about how you can customize these strategies to be more productive in your own business.
Start by paying attention to the pain points.
- What's feeling heavy in your day and schedule?
- Where can you stack and batch in your calendar right now?
- Are you doing things at the right times of the day and week?
Think of what you're doing already and how you can use it in other ways, instead of trying to add more and more and more to your calendar. Find things that go together.
Make sure you’re doing the right things in the right order. See what you can do to take the heavy off. Don't be afraid to try new things as you grow your business!
“These 2 things are game changers in life and business just from thinking of things differently.” Kim White
Stacking can be by itself. Batching can be by itself. But when you marry the 2 of those things, that's the most significant gain of time and being able to move the needle.
Are you ready to join a community of entrepreneurs who are serious about being more productive in life and business? Join our Groundwork Brigade - a place to practice stacking, batching, and other business skills to grow your business into one that you love.
If you missed the conversation between Kim and Kerry on their podcast Buckets and Boom Gates, you can catch it here.
To connect and find out more about Kim or how to create a sexy business for a sexy life, you can reach her and the My Sexy Business Team at www.mysexybusiness.com
And to connect with Kerry Zarb go straight to her website www.kerryzarb.com and you’ll find her there!
