5 Ways I Reclaimed 10+ Hours a Week By Automating Low-Value Tasks

Ever feel like your calendar’s full but nothing actually gets done?

You know what I’m talking about:
You spend half your day scheduling calls, replying to DMs, chasing leads, and typing the same damn email, again.

By 3PM, your brain’s fried and your to-do list hasn’t moved.

And tomorrow? You’ll do it all over again.

Left unchecked, this cycle will suck the momentum, and money, out of your business.

What if you could win back 10+ hours a week without hiring anyone new?
What if the work just ran itself?

Let’s see how automation can buy your time (and sanity) back.

1. Use a Digital Calendar Scheduler for All Bookings

If you’re still emailing people back and forth to book calls, we need to talk.

Every time you write, “What time works for you?” you’re starting a scheduling thread that eats your energy like termites in a log cabin. It’s slow. It’s sloppy. It’s completely avoidable.

I set up a calendar tool (I use Calendly, but Acuity works too), synced my availability, and added buffer times so I’m never stuck in back-to-back Zoom hell. Then I dropped that link into my email footer, website, and DMs. Game over.

Result? Fewer emails, smoother bookings, zero mental load.

Open Calendly, create your availability, set 15–30 min buffer blocks between meetings, and copy your booking link into your email signature.

This move alone gave me back at least 2 hours a week.

2. Automate Your Lead Capture + Follow-Up Emails

Leads don’t die because they’re cold.
They die because you ghosted them after hello.

If you’re still manually sending intro emails or trying to “remember” to follow up, you’re losing money daily.

I use Digital Magic CRM to create a seamless lead capture form connected to an automated 3-email welcome sequence. When someone opts in? Boom, they’re tagged, sorted, and nurtured automatically.

The emails build trust, explain what we do, and invite them to book a call. Zero pressure, all process. And it runs whether I’m in strategy mode or Netflix mode.

Choose one high-value lead magnet or offer. Create a form (or landing page), then write a 3-part email series:

1. Welcome & value drop

2. Problem/pain point insight

3. Call to action (book, reply, download, etc.)

Drop it into your CRM and automate the trigger.

3. Set Up Repeating Tasks Inside a Project Tool

Remembering to do the same thing every week is not a flex.
It’s digital hamster-wheel energy, and it needs to go.

Repetitive tasks like weekly check-ins, report reviews, or client outreach shouldn’t live in your head. They should live in your tools. I use ClickUp to set up repeating tasks with auto-reminders, so they pop up exactly when I need them—and disappear when I don’t.

It’s like cloning your brain without the existential crisis.

ACTION STEP:
Pick one task you do every single week (like sending a weekly update to clients). Go into your project management tool and schedule it as a repeating task. Set reminders. Assign it to yourself (or better, someone else).

Now you never have to think about it again. That’s the goal.

4. Build Auto-Responses for Your Most-Asked Questions

If you’re typing the same reply to “What’s your pricing?” or “How do I book?”, you’re burning hours on rinse-and-repeat nonsense.

There’s a better way: auto-responses. I built canned replies in Gmail for common questions and set up an Instagram DM auto-responder via ManyChat. Now when someone hits me up, they get a curated response with the exact info they need, before I’ve even seen the message.

That means fewer interruptions and more time to do work that actually moves the needle.

Write your 3 most common Q&A responses. Plug them into Gmail canned replies, or create an IG/FB chatbot flow using ManyChat.

Add links to your FAQ page, calendar, or lead magnet. Done.

This tiny setup saves me 30+ messages a week. No exaggeration.

5. Use AI to Draft (Not Finalize) Repetitive Content

Here’s the deal: AI won’t replace your voice.
But it can get you 70% of the way there, and that’s a power move.

When I’m stuck staring at a blank doc, I toss a quick prompt into ChatGPT. “Write 3 newsletter intros about [topic].” Boom. Options. Structure. Something to push against.

Then I go in and make it mine, add voice, slice fluff, tighten the punchlines.
It’s still me. It just gets done faster.

Pick a task you write every week (like your newsletter or a caption series).
Use this prompt in ChatGPT:
“Write 3 first-draft versions of a [newsletter/blog/Instagram post] about [topic] in a casual, confident tone.”

Choose the best one and edit it. Done in half the time.

Automation isn’t about being lazy.
It’s about being strategic with the energy you’ve got.

If you want more time to create, lead, and scale, this is how you buy it back.
Without more hires. Without more stress. Without becoming a robot.

Try one of these today. Watch what changes.

This week on the podcast!

Episode 50 of The Queen of Automation is a milestone conversation. I sat down with Darren Mass and Nat Berman to unpack what happens when your systems stop serving your growth, and what it takes to build something better from scratch.

We go deep on the transition to our own platform inside Digital Magic CRM, how we cut churn, streamlined operations, and created a setup that actually reflects how we work. It’s not a theory. It’s the full behind-the-scenes.

Click here to tune in.