Which tasks to automate, and which not to build an agent for

Processes that need more than one tool

Each process below uses several tools, each for the job it does best. Any AI chat assistant works where one is named.

1. List a week of tasks

   Tools, in order: a time tracker → a spreadsheet

   1. Track every task for one week in a time tracker with short, consistent names.
   2. Export the week to a spreadsheet and merge tasks that have the same name.

   The prompt for this process

   Help me clean up one week of tracked tasks before I score them.
   
   Export from my time tracker: [paste: task name, date, minutes]
   What my business does: [one sentence]
   
   Merge entries that are the same task under different names and give each task one clear name. Return a table: task, times per week, total minutes, average minutes each time. Flag entries too vague to score, such as "admin", and ask me what they were. Keep the 20 tasks with the most total minutes.
   
   Start with the merged table.

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2. Score them

   Tools, in order: a spreadsheet → any AI chat assistant

   1. Paste the cleaned task table from the spreadsheet into the chat assistant with what a mistake would cost.
   2. Copy the scores and groups back into the sheet and change any score you disagree with.

   The prompt for this process

   Act as a strict scorer. Score my tasks for automation.
   
   Tasks: [paste table: task, times per week, total minutes]
   What a mistake in each task would cost: [notes]
   
   Score each task 1 to 3 on: repeats, fixed rules, cheap mistake, time used. Add up the scores and sort into automate (high total and low risk), template (needs a person but follows a pattern) and keep human (money, legal, sensitive data or a relationship at stake, whatever the score). Then review your list once and move any task whose risk you underrated.
   
   Start with the scores.

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3. Make a template instead of an agent

   Tools, in order: any AI chat assistant → a document

   1. Give the chat assistant three past examples of one repeated task.
   2. Save the template and its fill-in prompt in a document and use it on the next real case.

   The prompt for this process

   Turn one of my repeated tasks into a reusable template instead of an agent.
   
   Task: [e.g. writing a quote after a call]
   Three past examples: [paste, without client personal data]
   
   Find what stays the same and what changes. Write a template with a [blank] for each changing part and short guidance under each blank. Then write a one-paragraph prompt I can reuse to fill the template from my notes, which always leaves the result for me to check. Format both for a document.
   
   Start with the template.

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4. Show the plan to the team

   Tools, in order: a spreadsheet → Gamma

   1. Copy the three groups from the spreadsheet.
   2. Build a short deck in Gamma and agree on the first task with your team.

   The prompt for this process

   Help me present my automation plan to my team in a few Gamma slides.
   
   Scored list: [paste the three groups from my sheet]
   Team: [who, and what they do]
   First task we will start with: [task]
   
   Write at most 6 slides: why we looked at this, automate, template, keep human and why, who owns each item, and the first step with how we will check it after a month. Use only my list. No promises of time saved that the list does not show.
   
   Start with slide 1.

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