Automate Your Busywork

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Publisher's Weekly Bestseller

Learn to automate your busywork and focus on what really matters

In Automate Your Busywork: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of Jotform Aytekin Tank delivers a can't-miss blueprint to help you make the most of your most precious asset: time. You'll explore what's possible when you offload repetitive tasks, why automation has democratized innovation, and how you can use cheap—or even completely free—no-code automation tools to transform your ability to focus on what truly matters in your business and life.

In the book, you'll discover:

• Why the future of business is no-code, and how you can use an automation-first mindset to unlock your productivity potential
• How to move from busywork to less work, and finally to having the time you need to accomplish your most important work
• How you can use delegation and automation to achieve "timefulness," the state of having enough time

A must-read handbook for every entrepreneur, founder, business owner, and freelancer who just doesn't have enough hours in the day, Automate Your Busywork will also earn a place in the libraries of managers, executives, and other business leaders looking to maximize their most valuable resource.

Introduction 1

The Revolution Will Be Automated 7

Chapter 1 Automation Fundamentals 13

Identify Your Busywork, Define Your Meaningful Work 14

Trash Your To-Do Lists 17

Introducing the Automation Flywheel 20

Chapter 2 Divide and Conquer 25

DIVIDE: Learning the Power of Workflows 30

Master Your Workflows, Master Your Work 32

Workflow Candidates 35

Workflow Models 36

Workflow Elements 38

Sorting Out the Steps 40

CONQUER: Spotting and Plotting Workflows 42

Developing an Automation-First Mindset 44

Corralling Your Workflow Candidates 48

Plotting Your Workflows 56

Chapter 3 Design and Implement 59

DESIGN: The Power of Maps 60

Visualize Your Workflows 61

Workflow Design in Action 66

Two Design Tips 71

Breaking Down Complicated Workflows 74

Common Business Workflows 78

Choosing Workflow Software 87

Elements of a Good Workflow 89

IMPLEMENT: From Design to Deployment 92

Take It Step by Step 94

Start Where You Are 95

Consider the Cloud 96

Choose Recommended Products 98

Conduct a SWOT Analysis 101

Chapter 4 Refine and Iterate 103

REFINE: Measure What Matters 105

Establish Your KPIs 106

Prioritize Your KPIs 107

Apply Systems Thinking 111

Improve the Outcome, Not the Output 113

Scale Your Expectations 115

ITERATE: Test, Change, and Innovate 117

Tools and Techniques of Process Improvement 117

Continuous Improvement 121

Iteration and Innovation 132

A Final Note About New Solutions 134

Chapter 5 Design a Life Without Busywork 137

Automate Your Memory 138

Automate Your Peace of Mind 144

Automate Your Communication 150

Automate Your Creativity 157

Automate Your Growth 163

Automate Your Happiness 168

Conclusion 175

Appendix 179

Technology Review Platforms 180

To-Do Lists (Individuals and Teams) 180

Personal Development/Self-Management 181

Communication: Incoming 183

Communication: Outgoing 186

Alerts and Reminders 188

Meetings and Events 189

Managing People 191

HR Concerns 193

Money and Finances (Personal and Business) 194

Content Development and Information Management 196

Online Presence 200

Sales and Marketing 204

Order Fulfillment/Customer Service 207

Miscellaneous Management and Automation 209

Notes 213

About the Author 221

Index 223

AYTEKIN TANK is the founder and CEO of Jotform, an online form builder with 20 million users. He regularly contributes to columns in Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and Lifehack.

In Automate Your Busywork: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff, entrepreneur and Jotform CEO Aytekin Tank delivers an essential and insightful roadmap to help you make the most of your most precious asset: time. You’ll discover what’s possible when you offload repetitive tasks, why automation has democratized innovation, and how you can use cheap—or even completely free—“no-code” automation tools to revolutionize your ability to focus on what really matters in business and in life.

In the book, you’ll discover how and why the future of business is “no-code”, and how you can use an automation first mindset to unlock your productivity potential. You’ll learn how to move from being preoccupied with busywork to having less work, and finally to having the time you need to accomplish your most important work. The author also explains how to use delegation and automation to achieve “timefulness”, or the state of having enough time to get critical tasks done.

Automate Your Busywork demonstrates why—with the innovations offered by “no-code” solutions—you no longer need an entire IT department, or even a single software engineer, to automate your most repetitive tasks. You can collect data, automate payments, and create simple contracts with the click of a button.

An incisive and must-read blueprint to rededicating your time to the tasks and jobs that matter most to your life and business, Automate Your Busywork is the time management guide that managers, executives, board members, entrepreneurs, founders, and other business leaders have been waiting for.

Reclaim your time and focus on what really matters in life and at work

Automate Your Busywork: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff is a singularly powerful blueprint to unlocking your most precious resource: time. In the book, you'll discover how you can use "no-code" automation and delegation to free yourself up to accomplish the most important jobs and tasks in your life and work. You'll learn to achieve a state of "timefulness", where you’ve actually got enough time to get critical tasks done.

The author describes what’s possible when you offload repetitive tasks, how automation has democratized innovation, and how you should use cheap—or even absolutely free—"no-code" automation tools to reclaim your focus on what matters. Using the knowledge he gained as the CEO of Jotform, one of the industry's leading "no-code" automation SaaS tools, he explains how to achieve your productivity potential.

A can't-miss roadmap to refocusing on what matters and delegating or automating the rest, Automate Your Busywork is the time management resource that belongs in the libraries of busy executives, managers, and founders everywhere.