Blocking an afternoon to batch content often ends with 1 half-written post and 40 open tabs. The session gets spent deciding what to say, hunting for an example and drafting, all at the same time, and the deciding eats the clock.
A 90-minute batch works when the thinking happens before the timer starts. Prepare 3 questions with source notes and an example for each, run a fixed agenda that produces 3 distinct drafts, then review them the next day and book the next session.
By the end you'll have a prep checklist, a timed agenda, a fallback agenda for weeks when the material is thin, and a time log that keeps preparation, drafting and editing separate, so you know what a post costs you.
Jump to the free 90-Minute Content Batching Planner
Prepare questions, source notes and examples
Preparation for a 90-minute batch takes 30 to 45 minutes, done earlier in the week. Choose 3 questions that do different jobs, attach a source note and a specific example to each, and write a 4-line brief. If an answer won't fit in 1 sentence, that material needs more work before it's ready to draft.
Keeping prep out of the session protects your attention. Sophie Leroy, a business professor at the University of Washington Bothell, studies what she calls attention residue: after people switch away from an incomplete task, part of their attention stays on it, and their performance on the next task suffers. Stopping mid-draft to hunt for an example is a small version of that switch.
The prep checklist
- Pick 3 questions from your backlog, one per job: name a problem, show a method, help someone choose.
- Attach a source note to each, such as notes from a call, a voice memo transcript or an email you've already sent on the topic.
- Add 1 specific example per question: a number, a before and after, or a quote with identifying details removed.
- Write a 4-line brief: question, 1-sentence answer, example and call to action.
- Set up the session document with 3 headings, each brief pasted under its heading, and the timer ready.
If your questions live in scattered notes, start with a backlog built from client questions, which ends in briefs this session can use as they are.
Worked example: a leadership coach's prep
Ruth Kim (illustrative) coaches engineers in their first year as managers at software companies. She prepared these 3 briefs on Monday in 2 sittings, 45 minutes in total (5 more than she'd planned).
| Field | Draft 1 | Draft 2 | Draft 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Name the problem | Show a method | Help them choose |
| Question | "Why does my team go quiet in 1:1s?" | "How do I give feedback to someone who used to be my peer?" | "Is coaching worth it, or should I take a management course?" |
| 1-sentence answer | New managers turn 1:1s into status updates, and people stop raising problems in a meeting about tasks. | Say the change in roles out loud first, then give feedback on 1 observed behavior and its effect on the team. | A course teaches general skills, and coaching works on your team, your calendar and the conversation you're putting off this week. |
| Source note | Session notes from 4 clients, anonymized | Her feedback worksheet | Notes from 6 intake calls |
| Example | A manager who moved status updates to a shared doc and opened 1:1s with "What's in your way?" | A missed code review from a former peer, handled in 1 conversation | A manager who took a course, then booked coaching for 1 hard conversation |
| Call to action | Follow for the series | Reply for the worksheet | Book an intro call |
Each answer fits in 1 sentence, and each example has a detail you can picture. Ruth's briefs pass, so she runs the standard agenda.
Run the timed drafting session: a 90-minute content batching schedule
The session runs 5 minutes of setup, drafting blocks of 25, 25 and 20 minutes with a 5-minute break, and a 10-minute first-pass check. Draft fast from each brief and mark gaps for later. The output is 3 complete rough drafts, ready for a short edit the next day.
The Signature Series System treats batching as the habit that keeps a series on schedule, and it counts a single 90-minute creation sprint as a legitimate place to start. Here's that sprint, minute by minute.
| Time | Block | What you do | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:05 | Setup | Read the 3 briefs aloud, then close email and chat | Briefs in view, timer running |
| 0:05 to 0:30 | Draft 1 | Write the problem post from its brief, start to finish, with no editing | Rough draft 1 |
| 0:30 to 0:55 | Draft 2 | Write the method post and mark any missing fact with [CHECK] | Rough draft 2 |
| 0:55 to 1:00 | Break | Stand up and walk away from the screen | |
| 1:00 to 1:20 | Draft 3 | Write the choosing post and its call to action | Rough draft 3 |
| 1:20 to 1:30 | First-pass check | Confirm each draft states its answer early, carries its example and ends on the right call to action | 3 drafts tagged for editing |
The session runs on 3 rules. Drafts stay in 1 document under their briefs, gaps get a [CHECK] tag while the timer keeps running, and any new idea goes on a parking list at the bottom.
Ruth's time log
Logging prep, drafting and editing separately shows where a post's time goes. The actual figures below are illustrative.
| Activity | When | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prep: pick 3 questions | Monday, 8:30 a.m. | 15 min | 15 min |
| Prep: notes, examples and briefs | Monday, 4 p.m. | 25 min | 30 min |
| Drafting session | Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. | 90 min | 90 min |
| Edit draft 1 | Thursday | 15 min | 15 min |
| Edit draft 2 | Thursday | 15 min | 25 min |
| Edit draft 3 | Thursday | 15 min | 15 min |
| Total | 175 min | 190 min |
That's about 63 minutes a post. Ruth's overrun sat in prep and in editing draft 2, where a [CHECK] tag meant looking up the exact wording of her worksheet.
The fallback agenda
Use this version when 2 or more briefs fail the 1-sentence test. It still runs 90 minutes, and it produces 1 draft plus 2 finished briefs, so the next session starts ready.
| Time | Block | What you do | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:05 | Setup | Choose the strongest brief | 1 brief ready |
| 0:05 to 0:30 | Draft | Write that post start to finish | Rough draft 1 |
| 0:30 to 0:50 | Talk it through | Record a voice memo answering each weak question out loud, 10 minutes each, as if a client had asked | 2 recordings |
| 0:50 to 0:55 | Break | Step away | |
| 0:55 to 1:20 | Outline | Play back the recordings and pull the 1-sentence answer and best example for each | 2 complete briefs |
| 1:20 to 1:30 | Book | Put the next 90-minute block in your calendar with both briefs attached | Next session booked |
The 90-Minute Content Batching Planner puts the checklist, both agendas and the time log on one sheet, with Ruth's session filled in.
Review the work and schedule the next production step
Drafts get reviewed the next day, after a night away from them. Give each one 15 minutes against the same 5 checks, mark it ready, needs a fact or needs a rewrite, and put publication dates and the next 90-minute session in your calendar before you close the document.
The 5 checks
- The answer to the question appears in the first 3 lines.
- One example carries a specific detail, such as a number, a quote or a before and after.
- Identifying details about clients are gone, or the client has agreed in writing.
- Each call to action matches its job: follow for a problem post, a reply or download for a method post, a call for a choosing post.
- Reading it aloud takes under 2 minutes without a stumble.
Sort, schedule and book
| Status | What it means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | Passes all 5 checks | Schedule it for a publishing slot |
| Needs a fact | A [CHECK] tag is still open | Resolve it in 10 minutes or carry it to the next session |
| Needs a rewrite | The answer or example doesn't hold up | Return the question to the backlog with a note on what's missing |
Ruth's draft 1 came out ready. Draft 2's [CHECK] took 10 minutes to resolve (the overrun in her log), so it joined draft 1 in next week's Tuesday and Thursday slots. Draft 3 still needed a fact, what a typical management course covers, so she carried it to her next session and gave it the Tuesday after.
Book the next block before you close the document. A weekly session suits 3 posts a week, and every 2 weeks suits 1 or 2. Move the parking-list ideas into your backlog and pick the next 3 questions while the session is fresh, then place the drafts on a 30-day content calendar for a one-person business so each one has a date.
Pick your 3 questions today and give the prep 40 minutes before your first session. Run the standard agenda once and log the times through the next day's edit, and you'll know what a post costs you and whether the next batch needs the fallback.