How to Automate Repetitive Tasks

I turned the most annoying 20 minute task of my job into 20 seconds. Here's the step-by-step breakdown: For years, I've been drowning in business card requests. Emails at all hours, random texts, people stopping by my office - all asking for the same thing but never giving me complete information. I'd spend 15-20 minutes per request just coordinating between employees, our designer, and placing orders. It was literally the least important but most time-consuming part of my week. Working with Claude (Anthropic's AI), I built my first AI agent that completely automates this workflow. Now when someone needs business cards, they fill out a simple form in Teams. The moment they hit submit: ✅ Data automatically saves to SharePoint ✅ A ClickUp task gets created for our designer with all the details ✅ Task gets assigned with a 3-day deadline ✅ I get notified when it's ready for ordering What used to take me 15-20 minutes of back-and-forth now happens in seconds. Zero manual work on my end. The crazy part? This entire system was built in a few hours using tools we already had - Power Apps, SharePoint, Teams, and Power Automate. No coding required. Here's my biggest takeaway: AI agents aren't just for tech companies. They're for anyone tired of repetitive tasks eating away at time that should be spent on strategic work. I'm a marketing leader at an oil and gas services company, not a programmer. If I can build this, anyone can. What repetitive task is driving you crazy? Maybe it's time to automate it. Next up: I'm eyeing our expense reporting process 👀

👉 What used to take hours of manual copy-pasting at NUCEE… now happens in seconds — with just one click. ⚡ As a Finance Assistant at Northeastern University’s Center for Entrepreneurship Education (NUCEE), I spent the last 3 months automating the way our team generates Award Letters & Invoices for student venture funding (Alpha Fund & Gap Fund). Here’s what I built: 📌 Smart Google Forms to collect student details (with validation checks) 📌 Automated Google Sheets tracking for responses 📌 Streamlined templates in Google Docs 📌 Organized Google Drive folders for easy access 📌 A custom Google Apps Script → connects everything and auto-generates Award Letters & Invoices (PDF + Docs) with just one click ✨ The result: No more manual copy-pasting. No more wasted time. Just instant, accurate, professional documents — every time. This project showed me how small automations can create big impact, saving the NUCEE team hours of repetitive work and making the student experience smoother. 🙌 Huge thanks to Marina Watanabe, PhD (Mosaic Northeastern) and Alyn LeBlanc (IDEA: Northeastern University's Venture Accelerator) who manage these funds — glad this automation is making their process faster and easier. 👉 Curious to see the scripts? Check them out here: https://lnkd.in/d8YmA_D3 💭 What’s one repetitive task in your work you wish you could automate? #Automation #GoogleAppsScript #ProcessImprovement #Efficiency #Entrepreneurship #Northeastern #Finance #IDEA #Mosaic

I was an entrepreneur working around the clock. Then my wife got pregnant. I had to reclaim my time ASAP. I did 2 things to free up 30 hours a week: 1. I ran each of my tasks through the "ADE" framework. First, I wrote down each regular task that came to mind. Then, for each task, I asked whether it could be 🤖Automated 👨💼Delegated 🔪Eliminated "Update data center" - Automated "Prepare weekly newsletter" - Delegated "Answer messages on LinkedIn" - Eliminated The best thing is to AUTOMATE a task. Now that task is done forever, for free, by a computer. I frequently use Zapier to automate tasks. Modern AI tools make setting up sophisticated automations easy. The second-best thing is to DELEGATE tasks. I used to do everything myself because I was unwilling to take the time to train someone else to do it. That was a big mistake that cost me millions of dollars and years of my life. Don't balk at investing time teaching someone how to do your tasks. Because once they've mastered it, you are free of that task forever. The easiest way to delegate a task is to use Loom: Record yourself doing the task once, and your team member can watch the video repeatedly until they get it. Finally, there are some tasks you THINK are essential, but if you stop doing them, nothing bad actually happens. These tasks should be ELIMINATED altogether. After you've run each task through the ADE framework, all that remains is the high-impact, creative, enjoyable work that only you can do. (Hat-tip to Matt Gray for teaching me the ADE framework). 2. I stopped taking meetings. I used to have meetings almost daily. Good luck getting a meeting with me nowadays! Meetings are often about the same 3-5 things, like: Sales Consulting Customer service "Exploring synergies" In other words, the meeting content is often repetitive. And meetings that are repetitive can be DELEGATED. In fact, anything that can be taught can be delegated. You can teach someone to present your product or respond to a common inquiry. And this means you can hand it off to someone whose time is less costly than your own. But what most people don't realize is that many meetings can actually be ELIMINATED: We think of meetings as a natural part of work. But many meetings can be emails. And many emails can be text messages. And many text messages can safely be ignored. Business contact: "Christian, I'd love to hop on a Zoom call with you to discuss how we can cooperate. Does Thursday next week suit you?" Me: "I'd be happy to hear how we can work together. I am not available for meetings, but can you send me some bullet points about your ideas by email?" RESULTS: Applying these two tactics freed up 30 hours a week for me, which I can devote to my family and higher-value tasks. And guess what? My business revenue has more than doubled since I started the process. Productivity growth often comes from subtraction, not addition. Stop being busy. Start being focused.

How to Automate Repetitive IB Tasks Using Excel Macros (No Coding Required) Analysts lose hours each week doing the same things in Excel: 1) Cleaning pasted financials 2) Formatting decks 3) Replacing brackets, merging cells, fixing date formats You can automate most of this using Excel Macros, and you don’t need to know VBA. Here’s how to start in less than 5 minutes What Is a Macro? A macro is a recording of your actions in Excel that you can replay with one click. It’s like telling Excel: “Hey, remember everything I just did? Now do that again anytime I ask.” Simple Macro Use Cases for IB Analysts: 1) Clean Formatting - Auto-fit columns - Standardize font - Remove gridlines - Apply accounting format 2) Convert Text to Numbers - Select column → Text to Columns → Finish - Multiply by 1 (Paste Special → Multiply) 3) Fix Bracketed Negative Numbers - Replace ( with - - Replace ) with blank - Convert to numbers 4) Update Pitchbook Templates - Swap placeholders (e.g., <> → Real name) - Recolor headers - Refresh charts How to Record a Macro (Step-by-Step): - Open Excel → Go to View tab → Click Macros > Record Macro - Name your macro (e.g., “CleanSheet”) - Assign a shortcut (like Ctrl + Shift + C) - Perform your usual steps (e.g., formatting, cleaning, deleting blank rows) - Click Stop Recording - Done Now run that macro anytime with your shortcut. But ensure you don't use shortcuts that you use regularly (like Ctrl C, Ctrl V etc. as it over rides the default excel functionality of copying, pasting etc. and replaces it with the defined macro) Save all your macros in Personal Macro Workbook → this lets you use them across all workbooks, not just the current one. This one trick can save 30–60 mins every week. Follow Pratik for investment banking careers and education

Simple Automation – Small Changes, Big Gains Automation doesn’t have to mean robots, AI, or huge investment. Sometimes, the biggest impact comes from the simplest forms of automation—the kind that removes repetitive tasks, reduces errors, and frees people up for higher-value work. That’s what we call Simple Automation. What Is Simple Automation? It’s about using basic tools, low-cost tech, or clever design to: ✔️ Remove manual steps ✔️ Reduce decision-making fatigue ✔️ Speed up routine processes It’s not high-tech—it’s smart design. Examples of Simple Automation 🔹 Excel Macros – Automating reports or data cleaning 🔹 Barcode Scanning – Instant data entry without typing 🔹 Auto-fill Forms – Reducing repetitive admin work 🔹 Drop-down menus – Preventing entry errors in systems 🔹 Sensors or limit switches – Triggering actions on machines without manual input 🔹 Jigs with built-in stops – Ensuring parts are positioned correctly every time Why Use It? ✅ Saves Time – Routine tasks are completed faster ✅ Reduces Errors – Standardized steps = fewer mistakes ✅ Improves Flow – Less interruption, more consistency ✅ Frees Up People – Employees spend more time on valuable work, less on admin Where to Start 1️⃣ Look for repetitive tasks done daily or weekly 2️⃣ Ask: “Could this be simplified or automated?” 3️⃣ Start small – one macro, one visual cue, one process improvement 4️⃣ Measure the time or errors saved 5️⃣ Share the success and build momentum Final Thought Automation doesn’t need to be complex to be effective. Start with the simple stuff—and scale as you go. Small wins add up fast.

7 Steps To Set Up A No-Code AI Agent In n8n (Have you ever wished you could automate tasks without writing a single line of code?) With n8n and AI tools like OpenAI, you can create an AI agent that automates processes, handles repetitive tasks, and even analyzes data. Here’s how you do it: ↳ Step 1: Install n8n Download and install n8n ↳ Step 2: Create A New Workflow Log into n8n, and click on “New Workflow.” This is where you’ll design your no-code AI agent. ↳ Step 3: Add Your Trigger (Node) Decide how your AI agent will start. For example, use a “Webhook” to trigger the agent when data is sent to a specific URL ↳ Step 4: Connect the OpenAI ChatGPT Step (Node) Add an OpenAI ChatGPT (prebuilt in n8n) step in your workflow to enable AI capabilities. Configure it with your OpenAI API key, which you can get from the OpenAI dashboard. ↳ Step 5: Design The Workflow Connect your trigger to the OpenAI step. Define the task the AI agent will perform, like summarizing data, drafting emails, or generating responses based on prompts. ↳ Step 6: Add Output Steps (Nodes) Decide where the results of your AI agent will go. For example: Use an “Email” step (node) to send outputs via email. Use a “Google Sheets” (node) to save data. Use a “HTTP Request” (node) to send outputs to another app. ↳ Step 7: Test & Run Run the workflow and test it. Once it works as intended, activate it so it runs automatically based on your trigger. (Within minutes, you’ll have an AI-powered agent working behind the scenes for your business.) It's as easy as 1,2,3 ... well almost ... more like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ;) Have you thought about how much time this could save your team? ____________________ AI Consultant, Course Creator & Keynote Speaker Follow Ashley Gross for more AI Agent advice

How I Stopped Doing Everything in My Business When I was bootstrapping Spark Your Resume, I wore every hat—sales, marketing, operations, fulfillment, customer support. You name it, I did it. I didn’t have funding to hire people, so I had to figure out how to scale myself. That’s when I discovered Zapier and it completely changed the game. Automation became my secret weapon. How I Think About Automation I follow one simple rule: 👉 If I do it more than twice, I need to automate it. If a task is repetitive, it can (and should) be automated. Here’s my framework: 1️⃣ Trigger – What external action kicks off the task or project? 2️⃣ Sequence – What series of events need to happen to complete the task? 3️⃣ Goal – What’s the final outcome of the automation? Once I define those three elements, I: ✅ Identify the tools I’m already using to complete the task manually. ✅ Plug them into Zapier to see what triggers & actions are available. ✅ Mind-map the automation based on Trigger → Sequence → Goal. ✅ Build it in Zapier and hit publish. The result? I free up hours of my time every week and focus on growth instead of grunt work. If you’re still manually handling the same tasks over and over, it’s time to think about automation. Want me to break down an automation I use? Drop a “Show me” in the comments. #Automation #Zapier #Scaling #Entrepreneurship #Productivity