Why I Automate Everything (And You Probably Should Too)
I have a rule: if I do something manually more than twice, it becomes a script.
This isn't some productivity-guru mindset hack. It's laziness, weaponized. And it works.
The Trigger
It started with web scraping. I needed to collect business data from Google Maps for a client. Doing it manually? That's clicking, copying, pasting — hundreds of times. My brain literally refuses.
So I wrote a scraper. Then I wrote a better scraper. Then I wrote a system that manages multiple scrapers, rotates strategies, and stores everything in a database.
Was that overkill? Absolutely. Did I learn more from that than from any tutorial? Also absolutely.
What I Automate
Here's a non-exhaustive list:
- Lead collection: Scrapers that pull business data and auto-categorize it
- Outreach messages: Templates that generate personalized emails based on lead data
- Deployment: Git push → Cloudflare builds → site is live in 90 seconds
- File organization: A script that sorts my Downloads folder because I'm a monster
- Morning briefing: A script that pulls weather, calendar, and GitHub notifications into one terminal output
The Philosophy
Automation isn't about eliminating work. It's about eliminating the boring work so you can focus on the interesting stuff.
Every hour I spend writing a script saves me ten hours of mindless clicking. And more importantly, scripts don't make mistakes at 2 AM when they're tired. I definitely do.
Start Small
You don't need to build a full automation pipeline on day one. Start with one thing:
- Notice something you do repeatedly
- Ask: "Could a script do this?"
- Write the script (it'll be ugly the first time)
- Refine it when you use it again
- Forget about it because it just works now
That's the cycle. And once you start, you can't stop. Welcome to the automation rabbit hole.