Automate the task you dread most first

The best place to start automating is not your biggest idea — it's the task that makes you groan every time it lands on your plate. That gut reaction is a signal. It usually means the task is repetitive, rule-based, and boring enough that a workflow can handle it without missing a beat.

I've watched people chase the flashiest automation first and get nowhere, because those projects tend to touch judgment calls that still need a person. The dreaded task, on the other hand, is usually simple underneath the annoyance — copy this, rename that, send this same reply again. Fixing it first also builds your confidence and your habit of noticing what else could go.

Once you've built one small workflow and watched it run without you, the next one gets easier to imagine and easier to trust.

Try this today: name the one task you complain about most, then write down every step you take to do it by hand.