5 ways automation can speed up your daily workflow - and implementation is easy

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Automation tin assistance easiness the strain of a engaged day.
• There are circumstantial tools and features disposable for automation.
• Some tools bash person a steep learning curve.

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Every day, you execute repetitive tasks that tin often instrumentality much of your precious clip than you want. This has go particularly important arsenic our days get filled with much and more, until it seems there's not capable clip successful the time to implicit everything earlier it's clip to log off.

How tin you easiness that burden?

Automation.

Before I continue, this isn't astir automating everything you bash specified that you'll beryllium capable to beryllium backmost and ticker each task completed by ghosts successful the machine. This is astir improving the regular grind, truthful it's not arsenic grind-y.

To that end, let's speech astir automation.

1. Macros

Macros person been astir for a agelong clip and are sets of instructions that automate a bid of actions, typically wrong a bundle application. Some applications, specified arsenic LibreOffice oregon MS Office, see built-in macro features, but determination are immoderate third-party applications, specified arsenic Macro Recorder, PyMacro, and Keyboard Maestro that tin automate tasks for each types of software. 

There are besides tools similar Google Apps Script that marque it imaginable to automate wrong the Google Workspace ecosystem. The 1 happening to support successful caput is that immoderate macro tools (and adjacent the macro features built into software) person a somewhat steep learning curve. In the end, however, it volition beryllium worthy your clip to larn the ins and outs of macros.

2. AI

AI does person its spot and tin beryllium utile for definite tasks. Remember maine talking astir macros above? I've utilized AI to constitute macros for LibreOffice to make resume templates and different useful items. AI is bully astatine helping with boring, repetitive tasks. You could usage AI to make a screen missive based connected circumstantial input, assistance with automating your astute home, analyse patterns of astute devices, assistance information cameras observe definite people, punctual you of attraction tasks (like replacing furnace filters), automatically determination information from a signifier to a spreadsheet, and truthful overmuch more. 

Also: How I made Perplexity AI the default hunt motor successful my browser

The happening astir AI is that, erstwhile you get proficient successful its usage, there's nary extremity to what it tin assistance you automate. Yes, you'll person to walk a bully woody of clip making this enactment for you, but erstwhile you get the bent of it, you'll find each sorts of useful automations that tin help.

3. Password manager browser extension

This 1 is easy. More than likely, your password manager (such arsenic Bitwarden) offers a web browser extension. Those extensions greatly simplify the login process by auto-filling login credentials for you. For example, utilizing Bitwarden, I tin spell to a tract that requires that I log in, unlock the browser extension, click to autofill, and log in. No much having to unfastened the password manager, transcript the password, benignant my username, paste the password, and past log in. This is 1 of the simplest automations you tin bash for yourself.

4. Dedicated automation tools

There are immoderate tools that tin automate rather a spot for you. Two specified applications are Power Automate and Robotask. Power Automate is susceptible of automating applications (web and desktop) connected your Windows instrumentality by mimicking actions similar clicks and keyboard input. 

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Robotask allows you to make elemental macros and analyzable automation workflows that see conditional logic, loops, customized variables, and different precocious options to assistance automate tasks. Both of these tools tin beryllium utilized for escaped (with limitations), but to get the astir retired of them, you'll privation to acquisition a afloat licence (Power Automate Premium is $15/month/user, and Robotask is simply a one-time $150 licence fee). Both tools are coagulated options to assistance automate immoderate of your tasks.

Also: How I provender my files to a section AI for better, much applicable responses

5. Bash scripts and cron

If you're a Linux user, bash scripts and cron are the champion options for automation. With this combination, you tin automate a fig of tasks, specified arsenic backups and updates. The 1 downfall of the scripts/cron combo is that it won't assistance you automate GUI tasks. There is besides the xdotool, which allows you to simulate keyboard input and rodent activity, determination and resize windows, and more. The 1 drawback of xdotool is that it is simply a command-line app and has a learning curve (although not astir arsenic steep arsenic macros).