A practical system for busy entrepreneurs, creators, and professionals who want to free up hours, cut the busywork, and make space for what actually moves them forward.
Nice practical breakdown of how to spot the inefficiencies! It's a good reminder to slow down and be intentional about how we're working and wether it's still serving us and our goals.
Something I've been doing lately is dumping my tracked activities from Rize (an automatic time tracker) into gpt and asking it how I can improve the way I work. Usually it'll tell me I'm task switching too much (which is spot on). It told me I should batch my content and dedicate times during the day to engage to avoid context switching and burning energy.
I love this, Tam, such an amazing tip! I’ll 100% test Rize tomorrow. Really curious to see what patterns pop up for me and how GPT analyzes them. Thanks so much for sharing this
This is a great question... I'm more concerned about privacy and security but at this point that tradeoff is worth it to me.
I don't pay too much attention to how long it takes me to do things or how distracted I am that day.. etc. It's part of being human and I accept that my days won't always look the way I want them to. <-- this happens more than I care to admit haha.
As long as I get my 1-2 priority tasks done for the day, I'm set. Everything else is extra credit :)
Exactly. It’s too easy to become self-critical when it comes to productivity. The good news is that there will always be more work to do so maybe let’s not worry about it too much 😂
Jenny, thank you so much! And you’re so right, even when we try to stay intentional, those routines still sneak back in. Would be super curious to hear what’s at the top of your list (of areas to optimize)
Most recently, it is about gathering AI leaders and top voices, and performing relevant analysis.
But personally, I have a stack of things to do, e.g. build a collection of plugins to help me use browser easier, host a local LLM so I can do a lot of funny things for free, help me learn a bunch of video games my kid is obsessed with…
Life is so much richer, I’m the end, I want to hand off a lot of these work so I could enjoy life without feeling burden and guilty :)
Love this! Such an exciting list, both on the professional and personal side. I really hope you end up writing about these as you go, especially the local LLM experiments and the plugins (that sounds super useful!). Thanks so much for sharing this.
I could go on forever too! :))
For me, one big one is figuring out how to manage reading all the amazing newsletters I’ve subscribed to while keeping my inbox clean, right now it’s a total mess, and my OCD can’t stand seeing that crazy number of unread emails. I’ve thought of so many ways to go around this, even tried one, but I missed the reading part even more, so I know I need to try someting different.
Then there’s the stack of ideas sitting in my notes that I rarely revisit unless they’re tied to a task or something I need to do immediately. Feels like there’s so much in there I could use better.
I’m also trying to optimize and build more systems to help me write on Substack, because right now it takes me like two days per article. I usually start weeks before, keep feeding in ideas, but I’m still doing so much of it manually :))
And with research, I’ve been wanting to build a scraper for ages, but I keep getting stuck on prioritizing which resources I want to pull from, I like too many, and the FOMO that I might miss something makes me keep postponing it.
Also, I want to create a way to save all the prompts I’m building into a personal library, so I don’t have to do it manually later on.
Experiencing the same chaos :), hitting all sorts of traps (even though I recognize and know how to avoid them), piling up todo list... and same as you, cannot stand having so many unread emails, but still not on top priority... hilarious to see we are facing the same problems and striving to solve them :D
“Our brains simply aren’t wired to constantly question familiar patterns.”
This explains why some people including me find it hard to answer which repetitive tasks that we do often. If we cant figure out these problems, it’s hard for AI to improve it because u cant improve what u cant measure.
Yep, awareness really is a skill in itself and it’s become so much harder to stop and reflect with all the speed around us. Sometimes when I’m driving through Romania and pass these small villages, I see people just sitting in their yards, chatting at tables, life moving slow, with a totally different rhythm. It’s such a contrast to the life I’m living now, where everything’s go-go-go. Always makes me wonder if they actually have more time to just think, reflect… and breathe :))
This was truly insightful and so informative. I’ve saved it to revisit and try it out later. Thank you for always sharing such thoughtful and helpful prompts.
Thank you so much for the tips and fr taking the time…it is more complicated that it seems…but I’ll be working on it and yes I’ll start working more with AI somehow…
It definitely feels overwhelming at first, I’ve been there too. But it’s not as complicated as it seems. If you want, feel free to DM me and I’m happy to help you work through one of these as a starting point :)
Thanks so much for sharing this! there’s a lot AI + automations can already help with here or at least decrease your load.
For client data intake, you could use smart forms like Typeform or Jotform that directly pipe responses into Notion, Airtable, or a CRM, cutting out manual re-entry.
For bookkeeping, most cloud accounting tools now integrate directly with bank feeds and can auto-categorize transactions + you can layer in automations like Zapier or Make to handle receipts or push summaries into your system.
Project updates are a bit trickier, but tools like Otter.ai can transcribe quick voice notes if needed into the project record. And there's also some automations you could build that can pull client updates from Slack or email into your project tracker.
Of course, all of this depends on what systems you’re already using, the solutions can be tailored to fit your specific setup.
One tip: if you go to GPT and use the o3 model, you can describe your process in detail (it’s important to give it enough context) and ask it to come up with multiple automation solutions for you, from researching existing tools that could help, to custom automations you could build within your systems. You can also have it analyze whatever matters most to you to make a decision (on which solution to implement), like costs, implementation difficulty, or pros and cons. Once you’ve picked one, you can even have it generate a step-by-step plan to help you implement it.
This post has given me a whole new set of issues to think about. You're right about the challenge in picking a repetitive task. Even as I read the post, I kept wondering what's that I'm repeating. The one that's top of my mind is regularly posting on FB and Twitter (X). I fed the prompts you had mentioned into ChatGPT and looks like am getting somewhere. Thanks for the post. Very informative and practical! I enjoy the questions you post, probably because am still learning and growing little by little.
I love hearing that the post gave you new things to think about, that’s the best outcome I could hope for.
And it’s awesome that you’re already testing the prompts and seeing progresst. If you ever want to share what you automate next / need help with anything, I’d love to hear about it
This is literally on my to-do list too, my notes app is packed with ideas I almost never revisit. I’ll make sure to share the process once I figure out the best way to pull them into Notion and actually make use of them
The side benefit of tracking my tasks is to focus on "wisdom work", rather than knowledge work and become genuinely curious, compassionate, and practical in everything I do.
Yes, exactly, it’s like you’re doing an audit of your life, not just your tasks, so you can see if you’re actually working on the goals you’re so eager to reach.
Sometimes I even add personal tasks into my calendar. It helps me see how much I’m nurturing each area of my life. Kind of like that “wheel of life” exercise, where you track where you stand in each area of your life (career, finances, health, family & friends, romance, personal growth, fun & recreation, physical environment) vs. where you want or need to be, so you can reflect on what’s working and what you want to improve.
Your point about being 'blind to time-sucking tasks' is SO real. I call it the 'productivity fog' - when you've done something the same way for so long, your brain literally stops registering it as inefficient. It just becomes 'the way things are done.'
The friction points you mentioned? THOSE are where the magic happens. Every time someone thinks 'ugh, not this again' - that's an automation opportunity screaming to be discovered!
Can't wait for the next parts of this series! Already thinking about what repetitive tasks my community struggles with most...
P.S. - That NotebookLM tip for pattern spotting? Chef's kiss 👨🍳
I love “productivity fog”, such a good way to put it! You’re so right, we normalize too much the inefficient stuff just because we’ve done it the same way forever.
I’m so glad you’re already thinking about what your community struggles with, totally same here!! Thanks so much for the energy and excitement, can’t wait to bring you the next parts
Omg Daria!! Yes—exactly!! 🙌 It’s wild how fast inefficiency becomes muscle memory. We keep doing it just because we always did. That’s the productivity fog in action.
I love that you’re digging into this with your community too! Honestly feels like we’re all waking up to the hidden time-suckers together. Can’t wait for the next drops, you’ve got my wheels turning already!
Let’s keep cross-pollinating… this convo is giving AI-fueled clarity meets community healing and I’m so here for it.
A great reminder that the first step to working smarter isn’t automation, it’s awareness. Our most time-consuming tasks are often camouflaged as ‘just the way things are.’ The real win is in noticing and act on it. Thanks for sharing, another amazing piece!
This gets at one of the toughest things people deal with when trying to make the leap from just asking ChatGPT questions to integrating AI into their lives.
The cold start problem is very real for most people, myself included.
Fantastic job with this piece and I’m definitely going to do this!
You’re absolutely right. It’s one thing to play around with AI, but actually integrating it into your day-to-day workflows is a whole different mindset.
Can’t wait to hear what you uncover when you start applying it. Please do share what works (or where you get stuck) along the way.
My biggest time wasters by far are browsing the endless social media and news feeds. If we could automate that out of existence it would free up an extraordinarily amount of time! If we are honest, most work tasks are structured and repetitive and not time wasting per se, are actually pretty dull and lend themselves to automation. In time I'm sure most tasks could become obsolete. But, once we're done with that, what will we do with our time ?
I’ve also found a fair component of tasks that are structured and repetitive in my own professional experience, but I couldn’t say that’s all of it. Which industry or role are you in? Curious to hear where you’re seeing this much repetitive work.
Also, I actually don’t believe most tasks will become obsolete. Machines can automate processes, sure, but they still need to be supervised, guided, and checked by humans. Context matters. Social skills matter. Judgment calls matter. A lot of work involves navigating uncertainty, adapting to messy real-world inputs, and handling situations where rules and templates just don’t fit.
Nice practical breakdown of how to spot the inefficiencies! It's a good reminder to slow down and be intentional about how we're working and wether it's still serving us and our goals.
Something I've been doing lately is dumping my tracked activities from Rize (an automatic time tracker) into gpt and asking it how I can improve the way I work. Usually it'll tell me I'm task switching too much (which is spot on). It told me I should batch my content and dedicate times during the day to engage to avoid context switching and burning energy.
I love this, Tam, such an amazing tip! I’ll 100% test Rize tomorrow. Really curious to see what patterns pop up for me and how GPT analyzes them. Thanks so much for sharing this
let me know what you think!
Curious though, have you noticed it having any negative effect on your mindset from constantly tracking your work like this?
This is a great question... I'm more concerned about privacy and security but at this point that tradeoff is worth it to me.
I don't pay too much attention to how long it takes me to do things or how distracted I am that day.. etc. It's part of being human and I accept that my days won't always look the way I want them to. <-- this happens more than I care to admit haha.
As long as I get my 1-2 priority tasks done for the day, I'm set. Everything else is extra credit :)
such a healthy mindset, highly necessary to make it work and not let the tracking start affecting you negatively
Exactly. It’s too easy to become self-critical when it comes to productivity. The good news is that there will always be more work to do so maybe let’s not worry about it too much 😂
That's what I'm afraid of, I'm already self-critical, haha, just wondering how the tool might amplify that. Will keep you posted after I give it a try
Feel like I can resonate with almost every sentence in this article!
The way it captures how people get trapped in routine, and the psychology behind lost productivity, is spot on.
Even when we’re trying to stay intentional, things still manage to slip through the cracks.
I really needed these strategies. Now I’ve got a whole list of areas to optimize!
Jenny, thank you so much! And you’re so right, even when we try to stay intentional, those routines still sneak back in. Would be super curious to hear what’s at the top of your list (of areas to optimize)
It’s nearly everything lol
Most recently, it is about gathering AI leaders and top voices, and performing relevant analysis.
But personally, I have a stack of things to do, e.g. build a collection of plugins to help me use browser easier, host a local LLM so I can do a lot of funny things for free, help me learn a bunch of video games my kid is obsessed with…
Life is so much richer, I’m the end, I want to hand off a lot of these work so I could enjoy life without feeling burden and guilty :)
What is on your list?
Love this! Such an exciting list, both on the professional and personal side. I really hope you end up writing about these as you go, especially the local LLM experiments and the plugins (that sounds super useful!). Thanks so much for sharing this.
I could go on forever too! :))
For me, one big one is figuring out how to manage reading all the amazing newsletters I’ve subscribed to while keeping my inbox clean, right now it’s a total mess, and my OCD can’t stand seeing that crazy number of unread emails. I’ve thought of so many ways to go around this, even tried one, but I missed the reading part even more, so I know I need to try someting different.
Then there’s the stack of ideas sitting in my notes that I rarely revisit unless they’re tied to a task or something I need to do immediately. Feels like there’s so much in there I could use better.
I’m also trying to optimize and build more systems to help me write on Substack, because right now it takes me like two days per article. I usually start weeks before, keep feeding in ideas, but I’m still doing so much of it manually :))
And with research, I’ve been wanting to build a scraper for ages, but I keep getting stuck on prioritizing which resources I want to pull from, I like too many, and the FOMO that I might miss something makes me keep postponing it.
Also, I want to create a way to save all the prompts I’m building into a personal library, so I don’t have to do it manually later on.
Thank you for such honest share!!!
Experiencing the same chaos :), hitting all sorts of traps (even though I recognize and know how to avoid them), piling up todo list... and same as you, cannot stand having so many unread emails, but still not on top priority... hilarious to see we are facing the same problems and striving to solve them :D
Still love every part of it!
1 line that sticks with me the most:
“Our brains simply aren’t wired to constantly question familiar patterns.”
This explains why some people including me find it hard to answer which repetitive tasks that we do often. If we cant figure out these problems, it’s hard for AI to improve it because u cant improve what u cant measure.
Yep, awareness really is a skill in itself and it’s become so much harder to stop and reflect with all the speed around us. Sometimes when I’m driving through Romania and pass these small villages, I see people just sitting in their yards, chatting at tables, life moving slow, with a totally different rhythm. It’s such a contrast to the life I’m living now, where everything’s go-go-go. Always makes me wonder if they actually have more time to just think, reflect… and breathe :))
This was truly insightful and so informative. I’ve saved it to revisit and try it out later. Thank you for always sharing such thoughtful and helpful prompts.
Thank you, Sae! Please do share any stuck points, I’m happy to help you work through them
I need this. Desperately 😂
Hahah, glad it landed at just the right time. If you try, lmk what repetitive tasks you surface out.
Those repetitive tasks that I know of are the ones I feel I can just delegate to a real person…
Like intakes of clients data, inserts of daily payments and bookkeeping, updates and notes on pending projects, etc…
I can’t figure out how AI could help with that…
Thank you so much for the tips and fr taking the time…it is more complicated that it seems…but I’ll be working on it and yes I’ll start working more with AI somehow…
It definitely feels overwhelming at first, I’ve been there too. But it’s not as complicated as it seems. If you want, feel free to DM me and I’m happy to help you work through one of these as a starting point :)
Thanks so much for sharing this! there’s a lot AI + automations can already help with here or at least decrease your load.
For client data intake, you could use smart forms like Typeform or Jotform that directly pipe responses into Notion, Airtable, or a CRM, cutting out manual re-entry.
For bookkeeping, most cloud accounting tools now integrate directly with bank feeds and can auto-categorize transactions + you can layer in automations like Zapier or Make to handle receipts or push summaries into your system.
Project updates are a bit trickier, but tools like Otter.ai can transcribe quick voice notes if needed into the project record. And there's also some automations you could build that can pull client updates from Slack or email into your project tracker.
Of course, all of this depends on what systems you’re already using, the solutions can be tailored to fit your specific setup.
One tip: if you go to GPT and use the o3 model, you can describe your process in detail (it’s important to give it enough context) and ask it to come up with multiple automation solutions for you, from researching existing tools that could help, to custom automations you could build within your systems. You can also have it analyze whatever matters most to you to make a decision (on which solution to implement), like costs, implementation difficulty, or pros and cons. Once you’ve picked one, you can even have it generate a step-by-step plan to help you implement it.
If I can help, lmk.
This post has given me a whole new set of issues to think about. You're right about the challenge in picking a repetitive task. Even as I read the post, I kept wondering what's that I'm repeating. The one that's top of my mind is regularly posting on FB and Twitter (X). I fed the prompts you had mentioned into ChatGPT and looks like am getting somewhere. Thanks for the post. Very informative and practical! I enjoy the questions you post, probably because am still learning and growing little by little.
I love hearing that the post gave you new things to think about, that’s the best outcome I could hope for.
And it’s awesome that you’re already testing the prompts and seeing progresst. If you ever want to share what you automate next / need help with anything, I’d love to hear about it
Well, yeah, of COURSE I have noted on my phone (and screenshots!) I never look at again. Lol You’re telling me I can AI them into Notion?
Hmmm….
This is literally on my to-do list too, my notes app is packed with ideas I almost never revisit. I’ll make sure to share the process once I figure out the best way to pull them into Notion and actually make use of them
That is a big sticking point for me! Lol!
Insightful as always.
What you can't measure cannot be optimized - measuring and curiosity are the starting points !
100%
measuring and curiosity really are the starting points. Without them, we’re just guessing in the dark.
totally. Btw- i posted a note on AI usage that i think you are going to like :)
Great post.
The side benefit of tracking my tasks is to focus on "wisdom work", rather than knowledge work and become genuinely curious, compassionate, and practical in everything I do.
Yes, exactly, it’s like you’re doing an audit of your life, not just your tasks, so you can see if you’re actually working on the goals you’re so eager to reach.
Sometimes I even add personal tasks into my calendar. It helps me see how much I’m nurturing each area of my life. Kind of like that “wheel of life” exercise, where you track where you stand in each area of your life (career, finances, health, family & friends, romance, personal growth, fun & recreation, physical environment) vs. where you want or need to be, so you can reflect on what’s working and what you want to improve.
Daria, this is GOLD! 🙌
Your point about being 'blind to time-sucking tasks' is SO real. I call it the 'productivity fog' - when you've done something the same way for so long, your brain literally stops registering it as inefficient. It just becomes 'the way things are done.'
The friction points you mentioned? THOSE are where the magic happens. Every time someone thinks 'ugh, not this again' - that's an automation opportunity screaming to be discovered!
Can't wait for the next parts of this series! Already thinking about what repetitive tasks my community struggles with most...
P.S. - That NotebookLM tip for pattern spotting? Chef's kiss 👨🍳
I love “productivity fog”, such a good way to put it! You’re so right, we normalize too much the inefficient stuff just because we’ve done it the same way forever.
I’m so glad you’re already thinking about what your community struggles with, totally same here!! Thanks so much for the energy and excitement, can’t wait to bring you the next parts
Omg Daria!! Yes—exactly!! 🙌 It’s wild how fast inefficiency becomes muscle memory. We keep doing it just because we always did. That’s the productivity fog in action.
I love that you’re digging into this with your community too! Honestly feels like we’re all waking up to the hidden time-suckers together. Can’t wait for the next drops, you’ve got my wheels turning already!
Let’s keep cross-pollinating… this convo is giving AI-fueled clarity meets community healing and I’m so here for it.
A great reminder that the first step to working smarter isn’t automation, it’s awareness. Our most time-consuming tasks are often camouflaged as ‘just the way things are.’ The real win is in noticing and act on it. Thanks for sharing, another amazing piece!
Thanks so much, Alex! I’m so glad this landed with you, thanks for reading and for the thoughtful comment.
This gets at one of the toughest things people deal with when trying to make the leap from just asking ChatGPT questions to integrating AI into their lives.
The cold start problem is very real for most people, myself included.
Fantastic job with this piece and I’m definitely going to do this!
You’re absolutely right. It’s one thing to play around with AI, but actually integrating it into your day-to-day workflows is a whole different mindset.
Can’t wait to hear what you uncover when you start applying it. Please do share what works (or where you get stuck) along the way.
My biggest time wasters by far are browsing the endless social media and news feeds. If we could automate that out of existence it would free up an extraordinarily amount of time! If we are honest, most work tasks are structured and repetitive and not time wasting per se, are actually pretty dull and lend themselves to automation. In time I'm sure most tasks could become obsolete. But, once we're done with that, what will we do with our time ?
I’ve also found a fair component of tasks that are structured and repetitive in my own professional experience, but I couldn’t say that’s all of it. Which industry or role are you in? Curious to hear where you’re seeing this much repetitive work.
Also, I actually don’t believe most tasks will become obsolete. Machines can automate processes, sure, but they still need to be supervised, guided, and checked by humans. Context matters. Social skills matter. Judgment calls matter. A lot of work involves navigating uncertainty, adapting to messy real-world inputs, and handling situations where rules and templates just don’t fit.