5Design a Life Without Busywork
The American author Annie Dillard once wrote, “How we spend our days, is of course, how we spend our lives.”1 I've always found this line both inspiring and daunting. There's a poetic beauty in imagining that all the whispered conversations, cups of coffee, and daily minutiae add up to create a rich and textured story. Then there's the reality of modern life: emails, chat notifications, system backups, and taxes.
Our digital world has empowered us to accomplish so much, yet, many of us are proportionately beholden to electronic tools and tedious processes. My goal throughout this book has been to loosen their grip, to help you find more space and freedom. Because once you've developed your automation flywheel, it can help you in so many ways.
Just as we're not defined by the busywork that occupies our days, we don't live our lives in neat, administrative categories like banking and vacation approvals. Trying to force a wild human brain into precise, professional boxes is one of the reasons we're so overwhelmed in the first place.
With this in mind, I've organized this final section into holistic automation categories. We've already covered how to identify priority areas: the high‐impact workflows that could slash your most egregious busywork. Once you complete that list, it's good to train a wide‐angle lens on your work and life. Otherwise, it's far too easy to get lost in the forest of possibilities.
In the following pages, you'll find a variety ...
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