“I believe that when you remove malice from your heart, not only do you feel better, you look better. I think you lose your frown lines and your wrinkles lessen and your age spots disappear. I believe it’s better than Botox, extending grace. I do.”
Bevy Smith, TED Talk
“When you see someone having something that you believe you deserve, you take a note. You ask yourself a few questions. Is it something that you really want? Perhaps that person is better suited than you are for that. Does the universe — is the universe conspiring for you to have that? Really kind of try and be honest with who you are and where you’re at in life. Once you do that, you take a deep breath and you say, ‘Their wins have nothing to do with my worthiness.’ And then you’re ready to give a note. You go on social media, and you say congratulations. Or my personal favorite, you pick up the phone, like it’s the 20th century, and you say, ‘Congratulations, kudos, you did that, Al! You go, girl!’ You do all the things. Instantly you feel like a better human being because you have actually extended grace.”
Bevy Smith, TED Talk
“Whenever I get frustrated or feel things are moving too slowly, I think about Barcelona’s ‘unfinished masterpiece,’ the Sagrada Familia church, which was designed by Antoni Gaudí. Construction began in 1882, but only a quarter of the work had been completed when Gaudí died in 1926. Nearly a century later, more than 24 architects and 200 workers are laboring diligently to complete the basilica by 2026. Assuming the Sagrada Familia team meets its deadline, that’s 144 years of persistence.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 133)
“Know how to leave things alone, for if knowing how to refuse is one of life’s great lessons, an even greater one is knowing how to say no to yourself, to important people, and in business. There are non-essential activities, moths of precious time, and it’s worse to take an interest in irrelevant things than to do nothing at all.”
Baltasar Gracian
“Repetition is a neon sign that points to busywork. Manually composing and sending a variation of the same email every quarter is not the best use of your skills. Of course, this doesn’t apply to recurring work that requires creativity or strategy, like writing a monthly newsletter for your top clients.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 42)
“Technology has rapidly exacerbated the loneliness problem, with one study cited in the report finding that people who used social media for two hours or more daily were more than twice as likely to report feeling socially isolated than those who were on such apps for less than 30 minutes a day.”
Amanda Seitz
“No one will eliminate busywork for you. It’s your responsibility to create space in your work(day), and automation can make it happen.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 29)
“It will feel great to check off each item [of your to-do list], they say. When you reach the end, you’ll be free, they say. But the truth is there is no end.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 17)
“Before I could even begin to eliminate my busywork, I had to set boundaries—which was hard. I turned off notifications when I left work and kept them off at home. I had to learn how to consciously switch my mind away from work. But over time it got easier. I didn’t cringe every time I said ‘no’ or ‘tomorrow, not today.’ These might not sound like big steps, but when you’re in reaction mode, doing anything with intention can feel revolutionary. I also realized that boundaries prioritize your attention. Instead of responding to an email the moment it hit my inbox, I chose to continue the critical work I was currently engaged in.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 16)
“Of course, trimming ones’ to-do list reduces stress. But for some the idea of automation adds stress, since many people worry that humans will be replaced by an army of robots. But automation isn’t necessarily about replacing humans—it’s about handing off mindless, time-consuming tasks so that we can focus on the work machines can’t do.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 10)
“Your productivity is not the problem. Many of us have absorbed the message of productivity culture that says success requires a superhuman work ethic. When exhaustion and overwork are normalized, it’s easy to drive yourself into the ground and think it’s your fault you haven’t yet created the optimal morning routine or applied enough time hacks to tame your to-do list. But your productivity is not the problem; the problem is thinking you need to personally do every iota of work that lands on your plate.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 5)
“Turning repetitive tasks into automated digital processes frees your brain for the essential, creative work. And you don’t need to hire a team or spend money on expensive new products. Automation is accessible to anyone who wants to take advantage of it. With a little effort, anyone can automate.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 1)
“Brains sabotage the most beautiful ideas. So, when you ask me: how can I do work I love—while also maybe traveling more and enjoying my life and learning the bagpipes and doing the kinds of creative projects I dream about? I’ll tell you what the first question is: Can you do what is necessary? Can you silence your brain long enough to actually attempt something great?“
Ash Ambirge
“There are three strands, present for most everyone: Power (sometimes seen as status, or the appearance of status); Safety (survival and peace of mind); Meaning (hope and the path forward). The changes in our media structure, public health and economy have pushed some people to overdo one or the other and perhaps ignore a third. When a social network finds your button and presses it over and over, it’s hard to resist. New cultural forces catch on because they hit on one or more of these. And politics is understood through this lens as well. See the braid and it’s a lot easier to figure out why we might be stressed.”
Seth Godin
“Time assets vs. Time debts. Time assets are choices that save you time in the future. Think: saying no to a meeting, automating a task, working on something that persists and compounds. Time debts are choices that must be repaid and cost you time in the future. Think: saying yes to a meeting, doing sloppy work that will need to be revised, etc. Time assets are an investment. Time debts are an expense.”
James Clear, Blog
“We can never watch the same show twice. We can never listen to the same song twice. We can never get the same piece of advice twice. Because our experiences, our tastes, our understanding of the world has changed. But, those second and third and fourth encounters–those re-introspectings–are actually where the real insights and breakthroughs can come from. That’s when we can really get it. That’s when we might really come to get ourselves in the process.”
Ryan Holiday