How free up time to make more digital products for your online business using deep work and batching

Many new creators and small business owners have a problem. They’re always trying to do more. Trying to make more impact and sales in their business. Trying to find the time to make digital products and reach more people, and make more content.

More. More. More. More.

The problem you’re probably finding out is more doesn’t equal better.

Many of these things we think will make a difference are actually just distractions. Social media and trying to create more content (hoping to go viral) when it usually only has a life-span of 48 hours most of the time – this can’t possibly be what is needed to grow your business, can it?

More equals burnout.

The distraction of making more social media content is exactly what is stopping most of us from working on the actual creation of digital products and a sustainable marketing strategies that move the needle!

What can you do to make more progress in your digital product business? Focus on the deep work

Instead of adding more to your plate, first, give yourself more credit! You’re doing enough.

Then, realize what you probably need is to do less.

 

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Let’s face it, most of the work that will make you progress is deep dedicated work that is hard.

Things you can do to grow your business:

• Master Instagram Reels
• Master Product Creation
• Master Email Marketing
• etc..

These are all very valuable things to do, but they’re hard! Don’t let anyone tell you these are easy. They’re not. And because they’re hard to do, they’re better done one at a time and with focus!

What better way to master one thing at a time than with deep work and that’s exactly what we’re talking about today.

@the_ivorymix this is hard to do.. don't let anyone tell you it's easy. #womenownedbusiness #smallbusinessmarketing #smallbusinessowner #canvadesigner #canvatemplatedesigner #onlinebusinessowner #sellingonline ♬ original sound – Kayla Butler • Ivory Mix

How I use deep work and batching to free up time and make real progress with digital products, which helps me earn passive income.

This post is about how I use deep work and batching to free up time for making real progress with digital products, which helps me earn passive income.

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic and how you can create more progress in less time, keep reading!

If your goal is to improve your productivity and find more time to make more digital products, then this might be helpful for you too.

2 Hours of Daily progress is better than no progress

If you want to make more digital products, whether that’s blogs or e-books or courses, then it’s important to get started with some form of daily progress.

But getting started can be hard. It requires making time for something that doesn’t yet exist. And if you’re like me, you’re probably busy with other things!

But, when you don’t find the time to do the work, no progress is made.

That’s why setting aside 2-4 hours of time a few days a week is my best strategy for getting it done.

Example Weekly Schedule:

• Monday: 2-4 hours of writing blog posts
• Tuesday thru Thursday: 2-4 hours of product creation
• Friday: 2-4 hours of admin work

It’s really important to find a time that works for you and block it out on your calendar. I’ve found that 2 hours is usually enough time to make progress on most projects without feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done. Anything less than 2 hours makes it hard to make a lot of progress.

You might need more or less time, depending on your schedule and lifestyle, so adjust accordingly. If you can only manage 60 minutes for a while, that’s okay.

The way I got this done in the beginning when my business was a side-hustle was by scheduling it. I would wake up early or going to bed a little later or fitting it in during the weekend, and following these next few tips!

Always aim to batch your harder tasks

It’s better to work on a single thing for a long time than do many things for a short time because you’ll make more progress in one sitting than spread out over multiple sessions.

Batching doesn’t always mean, make a lot of things in one sitting either. It just means focused work on one type of thing!

For instance, let’s say you sit down to “batch social media content” but only manage to make 2 things. It’s OKAY! It’s always better to put out less content, but more quality content, than to rush through making a ton of bad content.

By batching your tasks, you can focus on one thing at a time and make things of quality. Instead of switching between multiple tasks every hour, trying to keep up with social media, and your goals all at the same time.

Batching means less distraction overall and more quality output in less time.

Stop Relying on Checklists to build a digital product business

Understand that building a digital product business is hard work – if it where easy to be successful with checklists, everyone would be doing it.

Checklists are a great place to start, but don’t rely on them.  Do the work, pay attention to what’s working, and then make your own.

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to build a business that works for me, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my experience it’s that you can’t just follow a checklist. There are no shortcuts when it comes to building something real. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.

You have to be dedicated and focused to doing deep work that takes time. You have to be willing to put in the time and effort to get the results you want. But don’t worry! You can do this!

It isn’t easy or quick; however, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you will get results. You just have to be committed to doing something that works for you.

Stop Multi-Tasking With Your Goals

You ended up having more stress because your multi-tasking between two or more tasks and not just focusing on making digital products.

You may think you’re getting more done, but in reality, multitasking is like a giant time-suck that makes us less efficient, effective and productive. The truth is that we can’t really multitask. When you try to do two things at once, your brain quickly switches between each task and gives them equal attention—so when one task is finished and you switch over to the next thing on your list, you don’t actually get any more done than if you just did one thing at a time.

Multitasking also takes longer than doing each task separately because it takes more time for our brains to process what’s happening when switching back and forth between different activities (a phenomenon known as psychological refractory period). So instead of being able to work faster or more efficiently by multitasking with multiple tasks at once—as many people seem convinced they can do—they’re actually performing both tasks slower than if they had worked on them sequentially.

Do One Thing At A Time For Bigger Results

Spend longer amounts of time doing a single thing at a time, this will create big results.

In our modern world, we are constantly bombarded with information. We are constantly distracted by our phones, emails and social media so it can be hard to focus on what’s important. What if you could spend less time doing the unimportant things and more time doing the important things?

Here’s how:

• Spend longer amounts of time doing a single thing at a time: It sounds simple but is surprisingly effective. The concept is known as “deep work” and involves working on an activity that isn’t easily distracted by other thoughts or tasks for long periods of time (at least 20 minutes). It may sound boring but this technique can help you focus your attention on the most important tasks and achieve more in less time than ever before!
• Focus your attention on the most important tasks: There will always be distractions so you need to prioritize which ones matter most right now. Identify what needs done right now so that future actions aren’t hindered by not getting them done soon enough!

The more consistently you practice deep work techniques like these two tips above, they’ll become second nature over time allowing them great value down the road when applying these principles again later down the road ahead.

Batch Hard Work and Easy Work Together

The best way to find time to make more digital products is to batch the harder work one one day and the easier work during a different day. Batching is a great way to get in the flow and you can use it for nearly any project.

Let’s say you want to write an ebook but don’t have much time.

Making an ebook requires different tasks such as:

• Writing
• Editing
• Design/Graphics
• Marketing and Selling

You can batch your tasks by doing all of the writing in one chunk and then do all of the editing in another, or you can take a different approach entirely.

Batching might look like dedicating a week to each of these topics. You would dedicate 2-4 solid hours of time, 3 days during the week. Then each week, change to the next type of task.

After a month of time, you will likely get it all done!

Rotate Through Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Routines and Rituals

The best way to batch is not to get it all done in one day, but instead, set aside weekly rituals where you are getting in the zone for deep work.

The best strategy is to set aside certain hours of the day, days of the week, weeks of the month or months of the year where you’re doing your deep work projects.

Example Weekly Schedule:

• Monday: Bach Content
• Tuesday thru Thursday: Batch Product creation
• Friday: Batch admin work

Example Monthly Routine (recommended):

• Week 1: Batch Blog Posts
• Week 2: Batch Products
• Week 3: Batch Social Media Content
• Week 4: Work on Projects / Admin

Example Quarterly Routine (repeats Quarterly:

• Month 1: Batch Products
• Month 2: Batch Content
• Month 3: Batch Projects/Admin

By doing this, it makes it easier to get in the zone because you know that at this time each week/month/year you will have uninterrupted time set aside for completing these types of tasks.

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Here’s an example of my deep work ritual that helps me get more done and make more digital products

Deep work is a state of concentration that allows you to make more progress in less time. It’s something I’ve been practicing for years, but I didn’t have a name for it until Cal Newport introduced the idea to me in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.

Cal recommends that you set aside at least one hour per day for deep work. He also recommends blocking off periods where you’re not allowed to check email or social media (he calls these “email sabbaths”).

I’ve found that setting aside 2-4 hours per day is even better; this gives me enough time to do all my deep work tasks without feeling rushed or overwhelmed.

Every time I get ready to do my deep work, I do a few key things:

• I get some snacks and drinks
• I turn on focus mode on my chrome browser
• I put my phone on silent, and I turn off all notifications. This means that if someone texts me or calls while I’m doing my deep work, they won’t get a response.
• I turn on my essential oil diffuser
• Then I pick a music playlist or white/brown noise to listen to

All of these things signal to my brain that it’s time to work because I have set the mood so that I am in the zone the same way every time.

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Use A Pomodoro Timer to get your digital products created and done

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique that helps you focus on one task at a time.

The concept is simple:

• you work for 25 minutes
• then take a five-minute break.
• After four cycles of working and resting, you’re done with your task for the day
• If you must continue past 4 cycles, take a longer 15-30 min break and restart

This method can be applied to any kind of task—whether it’s writing a blog post, making digital products,  or reading through emails—and there are many apps out there that can help keep track of your time using it.

If you prefer to do things the old-fashioned way, though (or if your phone runs out battery halfway through), consider using the this Timer I got from Amazon instead.

 

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Still Struggling? Do it for 20 minutes

When you’re learning a new skill or struggling to do something you’ve never done before, do it for 20 minutes. That’s all it takes to get into the flow state. Set a timer, and don’t stop until the timer goes off.

Set yourself a goal for your 20 minutes—say you want to finish one chapter of a book or watch one video about that skill. When you finish your 20 minutes, take a break and then come back at some point later in the day or week and do it again!

Try starting with PLR products you can resell like the ones we make here at Ivory Mix

Instead of starting from scratch with digital products, try starting with PLR products. Private Label Rights Products are content you can resell like the ones we make here at Ivory Mix. They’re ready to go and can be sold as is or you can change it and make them more uniquely you. You can resell them and keep 100% of the profits.

Check out our PLR here

Not sure what PLR products are? Learn More here and see that we just launched a series of digital products with a resale license including planner templates, social media Canva templates, content ideas, and captions – and we included them in the Ivory Mix content membership.

 

Takeaway:

The takeaway from this post is simple: if you want to make more digital products, then start by figuring out how to get more focused on this work. Focus is the key to making more digital products and progress in your business. If you can get focused using deep work and make some of these techniques a priority, then you’ll be able to create more and make more sales in your business as a result.

What Next?

• Check out these 9 Content Ideas To Help You Sell Your Digital Products

• Learn how to make passive income reselling these digital products

• Best types of digital products you can create in Canva to make your first $1000 in online income

• Your first digital product – How to actually plan, create, and sell digital products online

• How to sell your first digital products with a tripwire and welcome sequence

• Learn How to come up with endless digital product ideas