Streamlining workflows using the power of automation.
With the ever-growing shift to more remote jobs in the market; it’s become imperative to automate before you become automated. My goal is for this article to inspire a spark of innovation that will help you automate those menial tasks.
Why automate?
Quick answer: It's already happening; all around you. Automating will give you the mental space and time to pay closer attention to the details involving any creative process. Automation leads to faster processing of tasks and reduced turnaround timelines.
My answer: Saves you money, time, energy.
How do I automate?
Depending on the complexity of your task there are different solutions to address your automation needs. When confronted with a task that can be automated I first break down the task to its simplest form.
Example:
Context -
Working in an early-stage startup in the Fintech sector.
Problem -
The customer service team wants to set up an automation that will post a slack alert every time an email comes in reporting an app error.
Solution -
First, let's break down this automation into all the inputs and outputs.
- Outputs = Post-Slack alert
- Inputs = Email reporting an app error.
This problem has an easy solution using a 3 party application that makes this automation simple and easy to set up + no code required.
Zapier has a very intuitive UI that makes it easy to start automating tasks away.
As mentioned earlier, based on the complexity of your problem you will find yourself using multiple platforms and applications. Below I am listing a few resources that help have helped me address solutions to my automation needs.
Best option if you are just starting | multi step automations are great for complex tasks.
- automate.io
Similar to Zapier, but pricing is cheaper.
Here is the series of videos going over everything that is coverd in Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. Click here.
If you can’t find a way to automate your task, I recommend checking out Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. This is a comprehensive guide that will take you from a newbie in python to someone that can automate the boring stuff using python.
I know it might sound overwhelming at first, but this guide is not trying to teach you how to make some snake game;
or some other not so useful app. This guide will show you how to leverage python to help you save time and energy for those tasks that have not been commercially automated.
Once you have learned a bit of Python you will need a place to start hosting your apps.
- Glitch.com is an amazing platform, but they say it best.
Build fast, full-stack web apps in your browser for free.
Yes, free.
Before you ask yourself what you should automate, you should first observe your workflow and look at the tasks where you don't bring much value. After realizing that there are parts of your workflow that you could automate, you should first research and see if your problem has already been solved.
Github is a great place to start.
If you have unsuccessfully found a solution to your problem, you should start breaking down your task into singular {input > output} fragments.
e.g.
- Outputs = Post-Slack alert, Store in excel, send SMS to the first email found in the slack module.
- Inputs = Input from slack module.
I hope this helped inspire some innovation in your workflow. Thank you for your time!
