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Automate Your Work with Zapier

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Automating Your Work

2:29 with Guil Hernandez

Zapier's goal is to automate repetitive, tedious tasks in your day by connecting many of the web apps and software you use to get tasks done. If routine tasks are taking you away from what you want to be doing, reclaim that time with automation, so you can focus more on using your unique skills in ways that add more value to you and your team. Let's dive into some basic automation details and how to identify which tasks you can automate.

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    Zapier's goal is to automate repetitive, tedious tasks 0:00
    in your day by connecting the tools and software you use every day. 0:03
    To better understand, 0:07
    let's start by diving into some of the details of automation. 0:09
    Automation is simply setting something up to run automatically. 0:12
    Automation saves you time, eliminates human errors, and 0:16
    most importantly, solves problems for you. 0:20
    Automation is everywhere. 0:23
    Imagine for a moment all of the things in your day that you currently don't have to 0:25
    think about because automation takes care of them for you. 0:29
    For example, email auto responders, automatic bill pay, 0:33
    alarms on your phone or subtle features in 0:37
    software applications like Google Docs, automatically saving file changes. 0:40
    Think about a thermostat. 0:45
    When the indoor temperature starts to feel warm, it turns on the cooling system. 0:46
    Coffeemakers and icemakers are also great examples of automation in daily life. 0:51
    For many of these, you'll provide some initial settings and 0:56
    then you don't have to worry about them again. They just work. 0:59
    Our lives can be pretty busy. 1:03
    Suppose you can't automate tasks like the ones I mentioned. Our to do list could 1:05
    grow and grow to hold more tasks than we might be able to get done in our day. 1:10
    So how might you determine which of your daily work or learning tasks to automate? 1:14
    According to Zapier, these are the telltale signs. 1:19
    First, automate a task if it's something you have to do frequently or on 1:23
    a schedule. For example, creating calendar events or preparing for upcoming events. 1:27
    Second, if the task involves moving lots of information between apps, 1:34
    it should be automated. 1:38
    Sharing posts between social media networks is one example. 1:40
    Finally, if it's an easy task, but repetitive and time consuming, or 1:44
    if it's something that's slowing you down or doesn't require higher-level thinking, 1:48
    there's a good chance that you can automate it. 1:53
    For example, updating your slack status every time you go to and 1:56
    get back from meetings. 2:00
    In short, if routine tasks like these are taking you away from what you really want to 2:02
    be doing, reclaim that time with automation 2:06
    So you can focus more on using your unique skills in 2:09
    ways that add more value to you and your team. 2:13
    Next up, you'll start learning how automation with Zapier works by exploring 2:16
    the building blocks of custom automated workflows called Zaps. 2:20
    Then I'll guide you through building simple automations of your own. 2:24

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