Busywork - let's automate it?

You running your business or is it running you this week?

I’m in a “spring cleaning” season and that means cleaning up my offers, workflows and even my website. But it also means updating my shopping lists, Google Home automations and other “stuff” that has clogged up over time.

If your brain or your business also needs a bit of a clear-out — today’s newsletter will help with the “how”.

The Automation Ladder

You’re not bad at operations, I bet you’re just babysitting a thousand little tasks and re-making the same decisions over and over again.

Am I right?

Well this week I’ve been testing a new “System Optimisation Session” with a new mentee who is trying to improve team and new hire engagement in their onboarding process.

After an hour mapping out how multiple tools are manually initiated by a human — I realised that we can rank each workflow as follows:

• Level 1 - Manual: The workflow lives in someone’s head or Slack DMs - it’s copy-paste city!

• Level 2 - Templated: There are standard assets, default decisions and clear standard operating procedures on when and how to use them.

• Level 3 - Triggered: At this point, workflows are triggered by the completion of other tasks, or by dates/events that create nudges and tasks — with clear owners and call to actions.

• Level 4 - Automated: The flow advances itself without any manual intervention from a human — you only approve exceptions that need a human’s oversight.

A workflow doesn’t get fixed by jumping to level 4 all at once — it takes a considered approach and simple improvements that compound over time.

How to Optimise Your Workflow

Now, if you’d like to reduce busywork in one of your workflows, this is the process that I like to take in my sessions with mentees:

1. Map the Workflow

• Write out each step in your workflow on one page (no fancy tools needed, but I do like to use a Canva whiteboard)

• Note stages, the systems/tools the work touches, the owner at each step, and where each data point is born

• Ask: what gets duplicated, where do we hunt for info, where do handoffs fail?

💡 Result: You can immediately see the where the leaks are, so you know what to fix first, and find opportunities for improving your workflow.

2. Templatise Decision-Frameworks and Assets

• Turn recurring outputs into defaults: pages, checklists, briefs, messages

• Capture the thinking once: add short “if X then Y” notes to guide choices

• Include too much in the template, then delete on use rather than rebuild from scratch

💡 Result: Less decision fatigue, faster movement through admin or busywork, plus more consistent outputs!

3. Find Your Triggers

• Pick one reliable trigger that already exists: a start date, a stage change, a form submission

• Decide who must know or do something at that moment

• Create one lightweight nudge that encourages the action you want; a task or message that hyperlinks to the right record by name

💡 Result: This is how you start to build a workflow that moves forward without you chasing people or copy-pasting information.

4. Automate Admin Tasks

• Only after steps 1–3 are stable, connect the obvious, repeatable handoffs

• Keep it reversible and visible (so you can switch it off or fix it fast)

• Example: Notion form → creates the correct tasks linked to the parent record; date → sends a personalised reminder; completion → ticks a “Done” receipt box

💡 Result: Your admin time drops dramatically; so humans get more time to focus on the human parts!

The Pudding

In just three 60 min sessions, I helped my new client up the ladder, one rung at a time. These are just some of the benefits she’s experienced already:

• Onboarding portal build dropped from ~10 minutes to ~3 seconds .

• Slack messages now fire straight from Notion automations at the right moments, managers are informed and supported.

• Automated emails to co‑working spaces and suppliers for equipment and office access, so no more manual chasing or forgotten laptop orders.

• Built by them, not for them, They implemented it themselves with my guidance, so they can evolve and fix without needing to hire!

• We mapped the whole flow and captured it as living docs, ready to hand to a new hire and to align the wider team

And honestly it doesn’t really matter what workflow you have, what team you work with or how much time you have.

When you can see the work, templatise decisions, pick clean triggers, and then automate small handoffs, you’ll be shocked at how the hours just evaporate.

Learn Notion + AI with me next Tuesday!

If you want this outcome for your own workflow, you may just be interested in my event next Tuesday: Introduction to Notion AI & Agents.

What’s new at Candid?

💰️ Updated Membership Options: At the end of October we’ll be officially closing our old packages for the community — so read more here about how to get in on founder pricing before it goes up!

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🥺 Need a Brainstorm Buddy? Join us at 4h30pm (CET) today for Candid Connect, where we crowd-source solutions and meet others also in the arena. It’s free to RSVP!

👋 Share a Candid Welcome with new entrepreneurs who introduced themselves:

• Meet Leigh Mather, a Product Design Strategist and UX Leader building her very own Canvas Commons design community.

• Meet Kristen With An Eye, a visual storyteller who captures authentic, raw moments for brands that want to showcase their impact.

_{Haven’t introduced yourself to us yet, or need to tell us about your new direction? Tell us more so we can share your story next week!}

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