# Batching
Batching is the [[Productivity]] technique that involves grouping like tasks together and doing them together. It is based on the principle that [[Context-switching]] is detrimental to productivity and that reducing context-switching as much as possible is the best way to get things done.
Batching is also called Pipelining.
## Batching approaches
Batching can be combined with [[Parallelism]] to spread out tasks over different workers:
![[Parallelism-batching.excalidraw.png]]
However, a single worker can also employ batching by processing like tasks sequentially:
![[Batching-single worker.excalidraw.png]]
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Batching tasks even with a single worker can improve [[Productivity]] by decreasing [[Context-switching]] overhead.
## Related concepts
- [[Day Theming]] involves assigning topics or types of activities to certain days, and is a way to implement Batching that makes scheduling a little more apparent. For example, having a Buffer Day to catch up with email and have meetings or a Free Day to leave unscheduled are ways to apply theming. [^kruse]
[^kruse]: Kruse, K. (2015). _15 secrets successful people know about time management: The productivity habits of 7 billionaires, 13 olympic athletes, 29 straight-A students, and 239 entrepreneurs._ The Kruse Group. [[15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management|My highlights]].