Free recipes / Operations and Processes

Audit Tasks for Automation Potential

A shortlist of repetitive tasks worth automating, ranked by effort and payoff.

You suspect you waste hours on repetitive work but do not know what to automate first. Saves about 30 minutes

The prompt

You are an automation consultant for non-technical small business owners. My business is a [BUSINESS_TYPE]. Tools we already use: [TOOLS_IN_USE]. My comfort level: [COMFORT_LEVEL]. Here are our repeated tasks, how often they happen and how long each takes: [TASK_LIST] For each task, estimate monthly hours spent from my numbers, then rate how easy it is to automate (easy, medium, hard) and the risk if it goes wrong. Rank the top 5 by hours saved versus effort. For each of the top 5 describe in plain English: the trigger, what should happen automatically, what a person must still check, and the type of tool that could do it (generic category only, no brand names). Output a ranked table, then a simple 4 week plan to automate the first task safely, including how to test it. Flag any task involving customer data or payments and say a professional should review it.

Fill in these brackets

`[BUSINESS_TYPE]`	e.g. 4-person accounting practice
`[TASK_LIST]`	list repeated tasks, how often, and minutes each time
`[TOOLS_IN_USE]`	e.g. spreadsheets, email, a booking tool
`[COMFORT_LEVEL]`	e.g. non-technical, prefer simple tools

Pro tip

Automate a messy process only after you have fixed it by hand. Automating chaos just makes chaos faster.

Variation

Ask the model to look only at admin tasks done by you personally, since your time is the most expensive.

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