5 minute mission: Automate something

By Catherine Caine

Pick one tiny fiddly job that “only takes a moment!” and automate it. Suggestions:

  • Set up a filter on your email inbox to sort receipts into the receipts folder automatically.
  • Set up your Google Analytics to email you a report weekly or monthly. (Which you automatically sort into the right folder, of course.)
  • If you publish to a regular rhythm, write and schedule posts in advance.
  • Create a reminder task in your calendar for the right time to complete the task.
  • Set up automatic banking for your bills, regular payments etc.
  • Schedule your computer backups, disk cleanup and defragmentation.
  • Set up automatic backups on your website and database.

What did you automate? Tell us in the comments!

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12 Comments - Join the conversation!
  • Thanks for the inspiration on scheduling the analytics report.

    I like the 5 minute missions, this is good stuff.

    @Dave: 1 minute do it now is a good concept too. Keep adding more. It's all about inspiring someone to take action.
  • Brian, I have a clear vision on execution, my branding is a no go.

    Watch this space.
  • It's my pleasure! I like your blog, I know just enough code to get in trouble and most of the posts I've read are much, much harder and less enjoyable than yours.
  • Catherine, I have (IIRC) 18 "1 Minute Do It Now" snacklets stashed in cold storage over at http://1-minute-do-it-now.com

    Would you like to have them?

    I am just green to the gills over 5MM. So sticky. 1MDIN is just not sticky. Darn.
  • Heya Dave, I would love them! It's joint venture time. :)
  • We should talk.

    There's a back story, and it involves semantic web technology. The space is ownable. Will take some time.
  • That sounds AWESOME. Let's do a Skype chat soon!
  • GMail filters ftw! :) I get a whole bunch of Google Alerts coming in during the day, and each one is a whole new potential distraction... so I just set up a filter to have them bypass the Inbox. Now those Alerts emails can darned well sit in a folder, out of sight, until I've got time to deal with them. Thanks for the nudge!
  • Awesome job, Rebecca. What kind of alerts do you run? I have them come in for my name and the business name and that's about it. I'm wondering if I'm missing something.
  • Oh, great wadges of them: Alerts for my name, my business name, clients' names, keywords for topics of interest to both me and clients... you can see why this 5-minute mission made a big difference! :)
  • Awesome! How do you use that data: decision-making, trending?
  • Partly for trying to stay on top of any questions/issues that might come up that should be addressed, but mostly for just keeping a finger on the pulse of what concerns customers and readers.
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