AUTOMATION THAT WILL
SAVE YOU TIME
One way to become more productive is to automate the things that you can. Today there is an enormous amount of automation that you can do, both at work and in your personal life.
Let’s go over a few ideas that might make a massive difference in your day, making it that much more simplified using technology and good habits.
- Set Up Your Computer Properly – Your computer can maintain itself with the right additions of software.
Set up your computer so that it automatically updates, automatically checks for viruses, and keeps the computer clean. Whether you have a Mac or a PC, there are options for you to learn about.
- Pay Your Bills Via Your Bank’s Bill Payment System – Now, most credit cards and bills today let you set up automatic payment options directly through them, but setting them up via your bank’s system is a better and more organized way to do it because if you need to change something it’s all in one place. You can automate the payment process, or you can simply go online and click to pay when you’re ready. Most banks today offer this service free too.
- Automate Meal Planning with a Dinner Kit – If you find that meal planning and shopping take too much time, you can automate much of this by signing up for a meal kit delivery service. They will then send you an email before each shipment, letting you now the additional things you need to buy. Then you can set up an order via Instacart.com for your local grocery store too, and even automate some of that via Amazon’s Subscribe and Save options.
- Go Paperless – If you have a lot of paperwork you’re always going through, try to find a way to go paperless. Paperless files are easier to find with a search than other types of files. Plus, you can set it up to do some of this automatically if you learn how to use your computer. On Mac, it’s called "Automator on the Mac," and on Windows, it’s called "Actions on Windows." You can also learn how to use Zapier.com to automate a lot of filing functions, both at home and at work.
- Learn to Use Your Smartphone – Everyone has this wonderful device today called a "smartphone" that has more computing power than the computer that sent people to the moon the first time. If you learn to use the tools such as list keeping, shut on, and shutoffs, and so forth, you’ll be more productive.
- Record Shows – If you like to watch shows on your television, get a DVR or other system that enables you to automatically record the shows you want so that you can watch them on your down day instead of when they come out.
- Habituate Organization – Once you spend time organizing to simplify your life, you can make it feel automated if you just turn organization and cleaning into a habit. This is how most people learned to brush their teeth. It became a habit. Throwing away your trash each time you get a fresh cup of coffee can become a habit too. Incorporate little habits into your day, and it’ll feel as if everything is happening automatically.
- Make Your House Smarter – Today you can have a house that unlocks the door for you, turns on the light, preheats the oven and so forth – all from a distance and at your command. If you can afford to invest in this time-saving technology, it is a great way to ensure that things get done. You can even water your lawn or house plants using automation technology.
- Hire Household Help – Even if you can’t technically outsource some of your tasks at work to automate something, you can at home. Automate your household chores by hiring someone to do it for you every single week the same day.
- Create Systems – Anything that you know must be done regularly needs a system. Whether that’s paying bills, bookkeeping, or taking a bath, it all happens regularly. Setting up systems that use a combination of technology, delegation, and habit creation will go far in getting more organized through automation.
When you look at new opportunities to automate something, first think about the time that it takes you to accomplish it, what your opportunity cost is for continuing to do something manually that can be automated in some way, and the value of that task. Even if you only shave an hour off your day through automation, remember that’s 365 hours a year. That’s over fifteen days. You can accomplish a lot in fifteen days.
