023: Finance: Batch Processing
Topics
- What is batch processing?
- When is it useful?
- How it helps
What is batch processing?
When you have several tasks to do, you lump them all together and take care of them all at the same time.
When is it useful?
An example might be when you have bills to pay or receipts to enter into your budget. You can do this at a set time each week or month, and do it regularly and all at the same time.
Reconciling bank statements need to be taken care of about the same time each month.
Another example might be when you have several phone calls to take care of. Find a time when you know it will be quiet with few distractions.
Doing laundry, going grocery shopping and running errands can be batch processed. It’s also more economical to run several errands at the same time, saving gas and time, rather than taking lots of little trips. Keep in mind though, that it may take more preplanning in order to take care of everything at once.
Going through email can also be batch processed. That’s more productive than multitasking and giving a fraction of your attention to several different tasks at once.
Spending quality time with your family can also be thought of as batch processing relationships. When you are with them, focus all your attention and energy on them. Don’t try to check email or Facebook. The idea is to give dedicated, focused time to one particular activity.
The key for organized families to remember is that grouping several similar tasks together, working on them at a set time and then being consistent will help you be more productive.
How it helps
Batch processing helps group like-tasks together so you can focus all your energy on that one task and be more productive.
The Pomodoro Technique applies batch processing by attaching a group of tasks to a set amount of time which helps you stay focused and also helps be productive the whole time with regularly scheduled breaks. We talked about it last week.
If anything, just remember to FOCUS and BE CONSISTENT.
Image is “Krispy Kreme Assembly Line”, by Steve Jurvetson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/5201796697)
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