Things You Can Automate Now

Running a new business isn’t easy. It doesn’t matter if you’re setting up a food truck or are coding the next Facebook — you will never find the time to do everything you want to do.

Using traditional time management methods can get you pretty close, and they will work fine for most people. But still, no matter what you do, there are still only 24 hours in a day. Moreover, the decisions you make on the little things can often end up using as many mental resources as the big ones.

MORE: Timeless Time Management Tips for Small Businesses

Many laymen, especially newbie entrepreneurs, don’t know that many routine parts of their day are easily automated and have been for years.

Only half of Americans, for instance, are enrolled in any auto-pay setup despite their having been available for decades. It seems many people can’t even adjust a thermostat properly, resulting in millions of dollars in accumulated energy expenses.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take much to take advantage of these systems and save yourself time and precious willpower.

Here, we cover a list of basic functions you can automate, freeing up valuable time to decide on the more important things or even obviate the need to add additional manpower.

Home and office

• Set scheduled clean-up times instead of treating it like a massive project

• Thermostats and humidistats

• Streamline supply acquisition with subscriptions

• Automate your lights to turn on and off on a schedule, remotely, or when certain conditions are triggered.

• Set your air conditioner to keep the house or office comfy at optimal times.

• Open your blinds during the day and shut them at night or when it’s hot.

• Set your coffee maker to have a fresh pot ready as soon as you wake up.

Finances

• Automate your stock portfolio and other investments

• Automatically pay your bills

• Track expenses

Personal

• Exercise and fitness

• Cook large batches of healthy food and just reheat over the week.

• Bookings

Applications

While there are a bunch of programming languages you could use to do this, Python is the most popular for automating things quickly. There’s a learning curve, but it’s well worth looking into if you have time (say six months to a year with regular study and hands-on practice or two years on and off). The manpower and time savings can be immense — especially important for start-ups on a limited budget.

Some things you can automate with Python:

• Debugging
• Web Scraping
• Working with Excel Spreadsheets
• Working with PDF and Word Documents
• Working with CSV Files and JSON Data
• Time, Scheduling Tasks, and Launching Programs
• Sending Email and Text Messages
• Manipulating Images
• Controlling the Keyboard and Mouse with GUI Automation

There’s a reason “there’s an app for that” became a meme. Outside of learning a new programming language, a ton of apps can help you do most of these things right away. These range from automatically recording your phone calls and sending the whole thing to an e-mail address or an app that automatically texts a specified recipient when you arrive at a location — both potentially useful for customer service. Use your computer and phone’s functions to automatically dim the display at night and download specific items you need.

It always takes time to set the parameters of any automation system. But as willpower can be a valuable resource, it’s usually time well spent.

What other time management and automation tips can you share?