I decided that I wanted to be able to take a few months off of my regularly scheduled work program, but I wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. How does one simply stop working but still make the train keep chugging?

BATCH WORKING! I didn’t know that was a thing until I started doing it naturally. And that’s my point here – I think it is natural to do this. Batch working allows a state of creative flow and maximizes our potential to put out cohesive content.

Batch working is pretty simple. It’s when you group together like content and produce that content all together, rather than spread apart over long periods of time.

I’ve recently used the batch working process to write 25 blog posts in one day, and record 24 videos in one day!

It sounds impossible, right? And yes, some people will be more or less prolific in their ability to batch work. I’m particularly well suited to batch working because I focus easily and I love a juicy and hard-to-achieve goal. But you don’t have to be some content-producing mastermind to dive in.

1. Find your purpose first. If you understand your long-term mission, you’ll find it easier to focus on the work that will take you there rather than feeling scattered. Take copious notes here. Draw up vision boards.

2. How can you be a resource to your community? If you understand the ways in which you can give most successfully, you can spend your time doing those things without guilt. Make lists and hone in on what aligns with you!!!

3. Spend a lot of time planning your specific content before you make your content. This is perhaps the most important point. Take the time to write spreadsheets or detailed lists about the exact content you want to make, the long-term plan for it, and how it will impact your community.

4. Clear your schedule entirely by doing the work ahead of time. Emails? Get to “Inbox 0” before batch working. Meetings, social media, etc….do it all in advance so that you can spend the time you need to batch.

5. Write notes for yourself. If you’re creating a lot at once, know exactly what your plan is. Before I was able to record 24 videos in 5 hours, I spent many more hours writing notes for each video, prepping files, and going over my talking points.

6. Motivate yourself to get through the work by reminding yourself of how much content you’re producing. I like to think in terms of weekly releases. For example, by making 24 videos, I produced 6 months of weekly content.

7. Action > Perfection. Keep reminding yourself of that as you batch. You an always scrap something you made later, but you can’t release something you never created in the first place.

8. Creative flow: figure out how you are creatively effected in terms of where you work, noise you like playing (or silence), snacks/drinks, and anything else that soothes you, like candles/scents.

9. Batch! Remember when producing your content to match like-content together. Choose one day for photographing (try 3 images at one location instead of just one!), one day for writing (try creating 10 social media posts in one day!), etc.

10. Long term planning. Create a production calendar with deadlines that are realistic yet challenging. Write your do to list every evening for the next day so that you don’t feel overwhelmed with just the big goals and deadlines.

Find a sweet spot that works for you. It might not be 25 blog posts in one day, but make it 5. We all work at different speeds. Don’t be ashamed of whatever speed you work at.

The important thing to remember when batch working is that it’s all about creative flow and productivity. Set yourself up for success. If you wake up and feel off, don’t push it. Get yourself into the flow and let it happen organically when possible. But always be proactive in your attempts to get yourself into that headspace.

As for me, I’ve got to edit the videos I recorded, write another 50 blog posts, create newsletter templates, upload to YouTube, and produce 10 photo shoots with behind-the-scenes content. Needless to say, I’ve got another 1-2 months of work ahead of me before this “time-off” experiment kicks into full swing 😀

I hope this helps – let me know in a comment!

Lots of Creativity,
Brooke