Batch Processing versus Real Time Processing Mentalities

In computing there are a number of different approaches to processing information.  Two rather antiquated concepts that for a time formed the fundamental approaches were Batch Processing and Real Time Processing.  I've been thinking about thought processes and how we as people often mirror the machines we create and act in the same way.  Specifically when it comes to workload and our approaches to repetitive tasks these two processing approaches can be found in human behaviour.

In computing, real time processing is the approach whereby you process data as and when it becomes available, whilst batch processing is the approach whereby you save data up until you reach a specified level before you process it all at once.  These processing approaches can be seen in human behaviour in things as simple as our washing.  People who hold a real time processing mentality will wash their clothes as they go along, doing smaller loads more often.  Whereas, those who hold a batch processing mentality will let their washing pile up until they reach a critical mass, either defined by the capacity of the washing machine, or until you run out of clean underwear for example.

Beyond daily tasks however, the distinction between the two mentalities interests me because I don't think it's accurate to say people conform to one or the other exclusively.  I've seen people who do certain tasks daily without complaint yet they let others pile up.  Personal and Professional lives provide a wealth of behaviours to examine.  Take shredding as another example.  I've seen many people, myself included, amass a mountain of paperwork to shred until they have the time to sit down and do it all at once.  The truth is if you actually did it as you went along you wouldn't need to alot a time to do it. 

Beyond computing, this concept extends into other industries, with equivalent approaches existing such as marginal accounting for example, where the cost of a purchase isn't just the principle cost but the associated expenditures factored in to the figure - "light bulbs" costing £50 on a balance sheet doesn't actually mean they spent £50 on a light bulb it means the cost of the bulb plus the resources used to purchase, fit, and dispose of the old bulbs - "parts and labour" in essence; this is equivalent to real time processing as it factors in complete cost of activity as you go.  The obverse of this is financial accounting, this is transaction based and states the actual cost of the light bulb which is settled later by accounts payable, the additional costs of labour etc appear separately as transactions in and of themselves.  This is equivalent to batch processing as whole amounts are exchanged at once to resolve outstanding balances.

The question this raises is which should you actually pursue personally and professionally?  Which is more efficient?  Is it better for example to write one article every day, or is it better to write a month's worth of articles in the first week of the preceding month?  Do you work better doing 5 different things each day, or would you work better devoting a day to each thing?  What do you do in a gym?  Do you have a full body workout you do each time you visit or do you have days where you target a specific area? 

At its base: "Bit by bit"  vs "All at once"