Challenge: identify three tasks you should not automate

Automating everything possible seems like a good idea, until a poorly thought-out automation removes care from something that mattered. This challenge helps you decide, with criteria, what to keep under human control.

Goal

By the end of seven days, have a list of at least three tasks that you have consciously decided not to automate, with the reason for each.

Materials and time

• A notebook or spreadsheet.
• Ten to fifteen minutes a day.

Daily steps

1. Day 1 - List the tasks. Write down the tasks you do throughout the day and week, big and small.
2. Day 2 - Mark the repetitive ones. Circle those that always follow the same pattern.
3. Day 3 - Assess the risk. For each task, ask: if it goes wrong, what is the cost? For whom?
4. Day 4 - Assess the human value. Which tasks involve relationships, empathy, judgment or creativity?
5. Day 5 - Assess the learning. Are there tasks that seem dull but keep you connected to what is happening, like reading customer feedback?
6. Day 6 - Choose three. Select the three tasks that most call for human presence, and write the reason for each.
7. Day 7 - Define the outline. For each one, decide: what can be supported by tools (such as drafts or reminders) and what must stay with you.

Log

Create a table with the columns: task, repetitive (yes or no), risk, human value and decision. At the end, you will have a map of what to automate, what to support and what to keep.

Final reflection

Many people discover that what they most want to preserve are tasks linked to people and decisions, and what they most want to automate are organization and copying tasks. This is not a rule, but a starting point. Review the list in three months: tools and needs change.