flickr.com/quacktaculous

Introduction to Automation and Workflows to Save Time and Increase Office Productivity

Paul Sufka M.D. paulsufka.com @psufka

flickr.com/quacktaculous

Disclosures:Own Apple shares

(<0.000025% of the company)

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Slides and links to essential material:

paulsufka.com/automation

Overview

Productivity: 7 Principles

Getting Things Done (GTD)

Automation Tools

flickr.com/whoisthatfreakwiththecamera

Why Productivity?

Get the most possible out of your time

Eliminate wasted effort

Not about cutting corners

Don’t work harder. Develop a system.

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–Abraham Lincoln

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four

sharpening the axe.”

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Mise en Place (The importance of preparation)

flickr.com/afireinwinter

How Different Groups Spend Their Day

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html

xkcd.com/1205

Parkinson’s law“Work expands so as to fill the time

available for its completion”

Decision Fatigue

Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)

Input ≠ Output

20% Effort 80% Results

URGENTNot Urgent

IMPO

RTA

NT

Not

Impo

rtan

t

“Interruptions”Delegate

“Distractions”Avoid

“Goals”Schedule

“Critical”Do Now

Batching TasksAvoid the time-consuming

“switching cost”

Batching: Schedule Non-urgent Items

Email

Phone calls

Prescription refills

Forms

Pomodoro TechniqueBreak down work into intervals (25 min),

separated by short breaks (5 min)

Perils of Interruption

GTD

1.Capture2.Clarify3.Organize4.Reflect5.Engage

Capture

ClarifyActionable?

No Yes <2 min?

Do it now

or

OrganizeSpecific date?

Projects Contexts+

Reflect

Review tasks on a regular basis

Engage

守破離(shuhari)

Most Important Tasks (MITs)

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flickr.com/stevecorey

–John F. Kennedy

“Man is still the most extraordinary

computer of all.”

Automation Tools

flickr.com/florianric

Task Management

Omnifocus(Mac & iOS)

Omnifocus: Projects

Omnifocus: Contexts

Clear(Mac & iOS)

Due(Mac & iOS)

Workflowy(All Platforms)

Trello(Mac, iOS, Android, Web)

Other Task Management Apps

Notes Apps

flickr.com/mcgraths

Evernote(All Platforms)

Evernote(All Platforms)

Other Notes AppsSimplenote (iOS, Mac, Android, Web)

Microsoft Onenote (All Platforms)

Notability (iOS, Mac)

Time Tracking

flickr.com/raneko

–Peter Drucker“What gets measured, gets managed.”

RescueTime(Mac & Windows)

Timing(Mac)

Text Expansion

flickr.com/theleetgeeks

iOS Text ReplacementSettings »General »Keyboard »Text Replacement

TextExpander(Mac)

Windows Text Expansion

ActiveWords

Phase Express

Speech to Text

flickr.com/evanforester

WPM

0 40 80 120 160

Typing

Speaking

Apple Siri

Windows Cortana

Dragon

Keyboard Automationflickr.com/mecookie

CheatSheet(Mac)

Keyboard Maestro(Mac)

Windows Keyboard Automation

AutoHotKey

Mac Trackpad Automation

BetterTouchTool

Password managers

Dilbert: November 27, 1995

1Password(Mac, iOS, Windows, Android)

1Password⌘ + /

Email Tricks & Automation

Email filters and rulesGmail Outlook

Archive/delete

Grouping

Forwarding

Automatic responses

Unroll.Me

Boomerang for Gmail

Schedule email:

to send later

to return later

Automating meeting scheduling

Doodle

Automating the InternetGoogle Data Center

IFTTT

Zapier

Workflow app

Questions?Slides and links

paulsufka.com/automation