You spend a lot of time every day working on your blog or business. Have you taken the time to set up ways to automate some of your workflows? Chances are you have tons of great tools at your disposal but are at a total loss on how to utilize them. Now is the time to make the most of them and put your creative business on autopilot.

Let’s cover how to set up a custom automation system from scratch. This is not a one size all approach to automation and it will take a bit of time to get a method down from the beginning but it is one that will pay for itself tenfold as you progressively get busier with your business.

Day 1

Today you are not even going to think about setting up an automation system. Don’t worry about. Just work the way you normally do but with a big exception. Make notes of everything you do and the time you spend doing it. Seriously, get out a pad of paper and pen and every time you switch tasks write it down and the time.

There is a tool that you can download to your computer to help you track what you are using there, but this will not cover off screen tasks that you may do. Download and install RescueTime (for free!)

Now get to work. Just make note of everything that you do, every time you take a break. Really clock your time. But don’t think about it beyond that.

If you spend days dedicated to certain tasks you will want to repeat this step on each of those days. But if you like most and like to fly by the seat of your pants. A day or two of tracking should be sufficient.

Day 2

Now we can review where our time was spent.

How much time was spent checking email?

How much time was spent on social media?

How much time was spent writing?

How much time was spent not working and just browsing the internet?

Tally up all of your time and put them into larger categories. I like to use the Stephen Covey 4 grid system to assess the importance and urgency to what I am doing.

These are tasks that you need to complete as soon as possible.

These are tasks that would be ideal to delegate. As they are important but not demanding your time.

These are tasks that you need to make a plan to complete. This will keep them from moving to box one.

These are tasks that you should eliminate. If they are not helping you to grow your business, stop wasting your time on them.

With your grid in place, you can now break down the tasks that you can either set up automation methods for or even outsource to a VA. These could include tasks such as managing social media profiles, checking emails. By cutting these tasks out of your day you are left with only two major sections. Tasks that need to be done immediately and creating an actionable plan for the rest.

You may even notice that some of your top priority tasks can use some streamlining.

Day 3

Setting up workflows for top priority tasks. If you notice that your top tasks often require doing the same activities now would be a great time to map out a plan to streamline the workflow. You may not be able to fully automate the process but if you can create a checklist or plan that by following it and not spending time going back and forth with what needs to be done you will find that you can accomplish more in less time.

A great place to start with this would be a blog post checklist. You know that writing content on a regular basis is uber important but often times you will fluster through the tasks to get the final product out by a deadline. If you create a system for this you will be able to save time and narrow your focus.

For my blog post planning and editorial calendar, I use Trello, and have multiple checklists that I follow on each post as well as moving them across boards as major tasks are completed.

You can grab the blog post checklist and read more about using Trello as an editorial calendar.

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Day 4

Testing new systems. This is not going to be an overnight success. You will need to take the time to test new methods and tweak them to better tailor your needs. But you need to start somewhere. Start by implementing checklists of the basic workflows that you tend to do and place them in an order that follows your natural rhythm. You will find that by working in unison with your natural rhythm, you will feel more at ease and accomplish more.

Having these checklists ready to go means that when you are ready to outsource specific tasks of your business you will be able to tell your VA exactly what it is that you are looking for them to do and how you expect it to be done. This is a win for both of you.

Day 5+

Rinse and repeat. This process can be used over and over again as your business evolves and your tasks change but you will be able to keep up with it and not feel overwhelmed when running your business.

Wrap Up

Now you are ready to set your creative business on autopilot with the tools and systems needed to maximize your time and increase your productivity all while decreasing stress levels.

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