better living through automation: defeating time sucks and doing better work
DESCRIPTION
As a small office (or office of one) tasked with managing your institution’s website, social media accounts, and teams of co-workers and work study students, there’s a LOT to keep track of and not enough time in the day to deal with it. What if we could automate the most tedious of our daily tasks using free tools? From task management and delegation, to collecting form submissions, to dealing with email and social media mentions -- and much more -- we can eliminate time sucks and focus on doing better work. This session is equal parts workflows/examples and prompting you to think creatively about how to tie together common apps and tasks into a powerful super-system. Kind of like Voltron for web apps.TRANSCRIPT
Better Living Through
AutomationDefeating Time Sucks and
Doing Better Work
Jesse Lavery ! @jesselavery HighEdWeb 2014 # #mpd12
Better Living Through
AutomationDefeating Time Sucks and
Doing Better Work
Jesse Lavery ! @jesselavery HighEdWeb 2014 # #mpd12
#mpd12@jesselavery
Getting Started
Jesse LaveryDirector of Web Communications Allegheny College
• Design & Development • Manage CMS (WordPress) • User Training & Support • Social Media Team • Content Strategy • etc.
What do you do?
social media manager
!
videographer
"
designer
#
developer
$
writer
%
designer
&
professor
'
designer
(designer
)
talker
*
designer
+
,
designer
-
designer
(
app developer.
scheduling
/
data collection0
designer
1
analytics
|
task management
3
designer
4
project management
5
,designer
)
talker
*
support
+
6
designer
-
designer
(
meetings
&
time sucknoun
an inefficient or unproductive activity, process, etc.; a waste of time.
7
Rethink your daily routine and identify the “time sucks” in your work.
⋆
Goals
Save Time
◎
Goals
Trusted System
◎
Goals
Mind Like Water
◎
Goals
mind like watera mental and emotional state in which your head is clear, able to create and respond freely, unencumbered with distractions and split focus
7
What do you do?
Revisited
social media manager
!
videographer
"
designer
#
developer
$
writer
%
designer
&
professor
'
designer
(designer
)
talker
*
designer
+
,
designer
-
designer
(
app developer.
False
:
Your work has an audience.
::
Your work influences choices and decisions
that will literally change peoples’ lives.
⋆
Jesse LaveryStoryteller Allegheny College
• Tell Stories • Build systems to help others
tell their stories • Build relationships with
students, alumni, and others • Define the “look” of Allegheny
online
When you reframe “what you do,”
it illuminates why your work is important.
⋆
Better Work
!= More Work
Better Work⋆
More time spent on meaningful work
Better Work⋆
Professional Development
Better Work⋆
“20% Time” Projects
Better Work⋆
Doing Nothing
Better Work⋆
Going Home on Time
Better Work⋆
How you define “Better Work” is personal.
⋆
How you define “Better Work” can
change lives.
⋆
Results
In the last year…
Results4
Automation
Roll Your Own: API’s
;
Automation
IFTTT
;
Automation
CloudWork
;
Automation
Zapier
;
Automation
Workflows
Work Requests !
Project Manager
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
Wufoo Asana
○
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
Gmail Label !
Project Manager
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
Gmail Asana
○
<
Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<
Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
○
Twitter Search !
Spreadsheet
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
Twitter Google Spreadsheet
○
<
Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<
Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<
Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<
Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
URL Requests !
Project Manager
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: URL Requests ○ Project Manager
Wufoo Asana
○
<
Workflow: URL Requests ○ Project Manager
404 Reports !
Project Manager
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: 404 Reports ○ Project Manager
Wufoo Asana
○
RSS Feed !
Project Manager
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: RSS Feed ○ Project Manager
RSS Asana
○?
Photos with # !
Flickr
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: Photos with # ○ Flickr
Instagram Flickr
○
Email Subject !
Project Manager
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: Email Subject ○ Project Manager
Gmail Asana
○
(All kinds of stuff) !
Slack
<
Workflow
○
<
Workflow: (All kinds of stuff) ○ Slack
(stuff) Slack
○?
*
There are no magic bullets.
*
Warning
Don’t fiddle.
*
Warning
Don’t over-automate.
*
Warning
Maddie
Homework
Reframe “what you do.”
1Homework
Rethink your daily routine.
2Homework
Do Better Work.
3Homework
[email protected] ! @jesselavery #heweb14 # #mpd12
