How do you decide when to automate a task in your business? 🔄
Casper Brix
16 replies
Personally, I like the idea of "3 strikes"
If a task occurs 3 times, everyone should ask themselves "can we automate this?"
Worst case, it leads to a more streamlined process, even if we can't automate it 100%.
Replies
Tessa Lynch@tessa_lynch
I use a similar approach if a task is repetitive and takes up significant time, it’s a candidate for automation. Even if it’s not fully automatable, it’s worth exploring.
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I like this 3 strikes concept!
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@nathancovey What's that about, nathan?
Flow State Training
Launching soon!
When you've enough revenue to reinvest.
I automate a task when it starts taking too much of my time consistently. Like if I have to manually generate a report every week and it takes an hour each time, that's when I know it's time to automate that sh*t! Zapier has been a life saver for connecting different tools and making things run on autopilot. Highly recommend checking it out if you aren't automating stuff already!
minimalist phone: creating folders
Agree with this. To repeat something takes so much time and energy. I would rather spend it finding new solutions for new problems :)
Yeah, I agree! Goes with the saying work smart, not hard! :D
This is similar to our inspiration to create our product (LoonaLabs) where we automate things that take up time and effort, so we can skip the tedious or monotonous steps and focus more on refining and polishing our work instead.
For me, It's about frequency and consistency. If a task is done regularly and follows a clear pattern, it’s a good candidate for automation to free up team members for more strategic work.
I look at tasks based on their impact on efficiency. If automating a task could save a considerable amount of time and reduce errors, it's time to consider it.
It comes down to the cost to automate it and if the thing that’s reoccurring is something that is really taking up as much time as you think.
I am all about effeciency but sometimes you may spend more time trying to build something to automate the task than the task is actually taking. If it will impact revenue (positively) and the ROI is there then that’s the best time to automate something.
I think we need to evaluate the investment in automation and the actual benefits. maybe automation is not always good.
I'd say if it takes you less than 5 minutes to do the task manually each time it comes up, don't bother automating it. If it takes 5-30 min, consider automating if it's a frequent task. And definitely automate anything that takes 30+ min of manual effort on a recurring basis. Time is precious in a small biz! 🙌
If it's a repetitive task that takes up a good chunk of my or my team's time each day/week, I'll consider automating it after doing it manually 3 times. This helps validate if it's truly repetitive and worth the upfront automation effort to save time in the long run. Tools like Zapier and Integromat make it pretty easy to set up basic automations without coding.