Batching your days essentially means “putting like things together.” If you do similar tasks together, you’ll maximize your productivity because you aren’t wasting time and energy constantly switching from one task to another. But why does that matter?

The 4-day workweek is one of those buzzwords you hear in the entrepreneurship circle. The thing that so many people strive for, yet few seem to achieve. 

I was so busy with work that I didn’t think it was even possible for me to have a 4-day workweek. I barely got everything done in 5 days! 

But then I realized that for me, it was important to have time in my week to do things besides work. That’s the whole reason I started a business in the first place—to have more time to do things that are important to me. 

So I decided to try to make it work. 

I wrote out all the types of tasks I did for each client (i.e. blogging, social media scheduling, graphic design, etc.) and then put similar tasks together. I realized that I could get everything done in 4 days, if I focused.

It’s really a matter of prioritizing. I prioritized Fridays as a day off, and prioritized the work that I love. That does sometimes mean saying no to inquiries who want me to do tasks that I know I wouldn’t love (like inbox management), but it’s worth it in the long run because I have created time in my week to focus on my life outside of work. 

Batching your days keeps you focused. Here’s what I do:

Batching my days allowed me to take Fridays off because I wasn’t wasting time trying to prioritize everything on my to-do list. Instead, I could focus on specific tasks and know that everything would get taken care of over the course of my workweek. I communicated this to my clients (who were all 100% on board!) so they know when to expect things from me. 

Do I still work on some Fridays? Yes, but not regularly. Do I get every single thing done every single week? No, but most of the time, I can end my workday on Thursday knowing that I checked everything I needed to off my list. 

I know what to work on every day, which makes creating my daily to-do list so much easier. I also have the freedom to change things around if it’s not working. That’s the freedom of running a small business! 

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Curious to know more about productivity? Check out these blog posts:

• How to be more productive
• How to jumpstart your day when you’re behind
• Using email templates to streamline your business

And from the experts:

• The work/life balance (Shay Cochrane)
• Six ways to organize (Ashlyn Writes)
• Accomplish the most important item on your list (Donald Miller)