My favourite tools to automate work

Time is a precious and limited resource. And so is energy.

In my quest for better productivity (i.e. productivity that doesn't deplete me to the ground and yet produces quality outcomes) I realised that lots of my repeated daily actions can be easily automated, with the result of conserving my energy (and time!) for more important stuff that requires my brain power.

Here are my three favourite (free and/or cheap) tools to automate some of my working days:

1. Calendly 

Definitely, the single app that has been saving me hours and hours of back and forth with people with emails like:

"What is your availability like next week?"

"I can do Wednesday am and Friday pm."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry, I'm only available Tuesday between 12 and 1 pm." 

"Oh, let's look at the following week then..."

With Calendly (or other calendar appointment apps of the kind), you set up your available hours, the length of the meetings etc. only once, then send a link for people to book a slot in your calendar. Done. 

2. Google Docs and Sheets

You will be thinking... doh! 

Hear me out. I still have clients and collaborators that send Word and Excel files (that are supposed to be collaborative) via email. 

This causes duplication, version confusion and overlaps, wasted time tracing back the files in my inbox rabbit hole and clogging up the memory of my old, refurbished, trusted laptop.

Using Google Docs and Sheets allows me to share and collaborate on the same documents simultaneously, keeping track of the latest version in a safe place (the cloud), in case my above-mentioned trusted old laptop says goodbye.

3. Notion

At first, I wasn't convinced about the value of Notion, but now I totally love it. I moved my whole business on it, in fact. 

Notion (if you haven't heard of it) it's a connected workspace, with tons of functionalities, the opportunity to integrate tables, projects, pages, files, links and what-have-you. 

I now store all my key processes and templates there, with an easy-to-navigate dashboard and links to Google Drive with all my files for easy access and collaboration. 

These are my top three, what are yours? I'd love to hear what makes your life easier and more streamlined!