Automate the Boring Stuff: What to Automate First

Ever look at your to-do list and think, “Yep… nope”? A little bit of automation magic can help you reclaim your time, no time-turner required.

The short version on what to automate first: the tasks you repeat most and enjoy least, the predictable, rule-based ones like follow-up emails and file sorting. Keep the judgment-heavy work for yourself.

Automation runs in the background. While you’re tackling the meaningful stuff, like brainstorming, building, or finally crossing something big off your list, your workflows handle the repetitive bits without needing reminders, breaks, or hand-holding.

Automation gives you some breathing room.

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Which tasks are eating your time?

Repetitive work you can automate right away

You know the ones, copying info between tools, pulling reports, or sending the same email again and again. These tasks take a few minutes at a time, and those minutes add up every single day. But with tools like n8n and Make.com, it’s easier than ever to hand them off to your digital assistant.

Here’s a taste of what simple automation can handle:

• Sending follow-up emails after a lead comes in

• Sorting files into folders based on name or type

• Posting scheduled content to your social media channels

Three I run on my own day: an Asana workflow that emails me a ranked plan every morning, a way to see what I actually got done without logging it, and a brain dump tool that sorts whatever’s in my head.

Not sure which one to tackle first? I built the Automate This First finder to rank your tasks and show you the best place to start. And if you want to see what a repetitive task is costing you, the Automation ROI Calculator runs the numbers for you.

What should you keep doing yourself?

Now, before you go full-on cyborg, some things are best left to you. Human touch matters for:

• Creative brainstorming

• Emotional nuance in communication

• Decision-making that needs context

Let automation handle the predictable. Save the juicy, interesting work for your beautifully brilliant brain, and if you want to know when that brain is at its best, a daily energy log will show you.

My Go-To Tools for Workflow Automation

Why I use n8n and Make

There are plenty of automation platforms out there, but I focus on n8n and Make. n8n lists more than 2,000 integrations, and neither one makes you write code to get started. They’re also the ones I keep reaching for in my own projects.

• n8n is my personal favorite. It’s visual and super customizable, perfect if you like seeing how everything connects. It gives you full control over your workflows, which makes it ideal for building out more advanced or creative automations once you’re comfortable. I run my n8n on a Hostinger VPS, so my workflows keep going even when my laptop is closed.
• Make.com is great for getting started quickly. It has a more template-driven approach, with tons of pre-built integrations, which can be helpful if you want to get something working fast without starting from scratch.

Both tools have a learning curve (most good ones do), but once you start experimenting, things click pretty quickly, and suddenly you’re spotting automation ideas everywhere.

What Can Entrepreneurs Automate?

Here are a few low-lift automation ideas, each one a task you’d otherwise do by hand every week.

Task You Can Automate	What It Does
Save email attachments to cloud storage	Keeps files organized without manual downloads
Send thank-you emails after a sale	Adds a personal touch automatically
Turn form responses into tasks	Sends leads or inquiries straight to your task manager
Auto-post new content to social media	Shares blog posts or videos across platforms without lifting a finger
Get daily sales or site stats by email	Summarizes key data so you don’t have to go digging
Add calendar events from new bookings	No more double-checking or forgetting scheduled calls
Tag contacts in your CRM based on behavior	Keeps your contact list segmented and tidy without constant updates
Follow up with leads who haven’t replied	Sends a nudge so you don’t have to remember who to chase

Blotato is the one I actually use for this. I write something once and it pushes the post out across my channels, so I can batch a week of content and walk away.

What goes wrong when you automate?

Three things go wrong when you automate: you hand off too much at once, you trust a workflow before you’ve tested it, or you build it so complicated that it breaks in ways you can’t spot. The rules below cover all three. Done right, automation is your BFF. Done wrong, it’s that friend who “helps” by making more mess.

Follow these golden rules:

• Start small: Pick one task and test it well

• Test before trusting it: Always run a few trial rounds

• Keep it simple: The fancier it gets, the more ways it can break

Autopay is automation too, and it breaks the same way a workflow does when something it depends on changes. When a card gets replaced, every bill riding on it fails one at a time. That’s why I made a printable autopay list for tracking what to move.

Let automation handle the small, predictable stuff. You still make the calls.

That holds at scale too. I’m 138 workflows deep now, and the pile itself started eating my mornings.

Don’t Let Automation Kill the Vibe

Yes, we want to save time. But let’s keep things human. Automate with personality:

• Customize greetings in emails

• Add a dash of humor or brand voice in your templates

• Use smart tools, but don’t sound like one

People want to feel like there’s a you behind the screen, even if you had a little help setting it up.

If you want to go deeper on n8n, the AI Automation Society is a friendly community built around n8n and Claude, and it’s a good place to learn this stuff without a tech background.

Automation FAQs

Pick one repetitive, predictable task, automate it, and let the time you save fund the work only you can do.

The point of buying back an hour is having something to spend it on. A short morning routine is where I put mine.

Go forth and automate the boring stuff. Pick one task from the finder above and start there.