Automate Your Busywork

2Divide and Conquer

The divide‐and‐conquer stage of the automation flywheel can help you figure out how and why you're overwhelmed with busywork. You probably have some sense of this already; maybe your schedule is crammed with unproductive meetings, or you lose hours to instant messaging. As you explore what's eating up your time, there may be some surprises along the way. The most potent drains are often hiding in plain sight. These are the repetitive, manual tasks we tacitly accept as part of our workday when, in fact, they could be automated right off your to‐do list.

In order to automate our busywork, we need to first determine how much of our work time is gobbled up by it. For that, see the Audit Your Busywork exercise to follow.

Exercise: Audit Your Busywork

You can audit your busywork several different ways; following, you'll find instructions for each approach with prompts to help you get started.

HOURLY

Guidelines

At the end of each hour, jot down what occupied your time. And note, don't go by your calendar. Let's say you had a conference call booked from 10 to 11—but it took only 35 minutes, and you spent 25 minutes rescheduling appointments. It's important to capture exactly what you spent your time on, and those details can evaporate quickly if you don't record them right away. Try to make a few notes about your experience too. Use a few descriptive words, doodle your thoughts, or add emojis. Whatever works. (Note: some might find it a bit tedious to stop ...