Balancing all the repetitive tasks handed to us each day in the modern world can be challenging and frustrating. Between work, study, and everyday life, it’s not unusual to need help improving daily productivity. Several clever programs exist to help people automate tasks to improve productivity. Utilising these automation programs ensures that you become more efficient in your business and study.
You’ll find three popular automation programs profiled below with tips on how to use them in your work and study. Let’s dive into Slack, Grammarly, and Zapier.
Slack
Slack is a cloud-based software that enables groups to collaborate on projects and conversations. Slack allows messaging, document sending, integrations with complementary tools, and automated programming.
Slack in business
Businesses can benefit from Slack in many ways. Three popular uses for Slack are:
- Utilise the group chat functions to collaborate on projects where everyone can communicate together in real-time. Or if you need to have discussions outside of the group, then private messaging options give you the option to message one-on-one. All conversations are stored, making them easily accessible for anyone who needs to catch up or review. While this is not necessarily an automatic process, it does reduce the back-and-forth and frustrating wait time that can sometimes happen with emailing between groups.
- Use the To Do List function to send out tasks to your team for completion. A handy feature that will save you from constantly emailing groups or individuals with reminders or follow-ups for tasks that need to be completed.
- For added team agility, link Trello, (a list-making and tasking organising application), to your Slack profile. By linking Trello, Slack members will automatically receive real-time notifications whenever there is a new update in Trello. Meaning you no longer have to inform your team when a task has been added or changed.
Slack in study
Slack can be used to automate your study time, for example:
- Use Slack to help you remember deadlines. You can set up a “Slackbot” to automatically remind you when you have a deadline approaching or a task that needs completing.
- Use parameters for Slack to send you automatic notifications and alerts. If you have a test every two weeks, you can set parameters that will remind you to review the day before. Or Slack remind you to check in with your learning coach.
Grammarly
Grammarly is an online grammar and spelling checking product. Grammarly will detect common mistakes like word choice, passive voice misuse, wordy sentences, punctuation, and plenty more. Another great feature of Grammarly is to check a document for evidence of plagiarism and save you from triple checking all your sources. Many people find that it is an incredibly useful tool for both a business and a student.
Grammarly in business and study
Whether you are writing an email, blog, business proposal, essay, or assignment, no one wants to be caught out by bad grammar.
There are two ways to use Grammarly:
- The first is to use the basic features and upload your document to the Grammarly site. The words are scanned, and you’ll be alerted to all areas that may need to be reviewed and altered.
- The second way to use Grammarly is to install the paid full-featured version on your computer for the next level of sophisticated suggestions for polishing your documents. The plug-in will sit inside other programs such as Word, Outlook and your social media too.
Sometimes it is challenging to edit your work after looking at it for long periods. By automating the editing process, your documents will be thoroughly checked to ensure that human error won’t go further than your computer screen. Your documents will always be professional and of high quality.
Zapier
Zapier is a web-based integration application that provides workflows to help businesses and individuals automate the applications they use, effectively making separate tools work together for better synergy. For these reasons, the app has grown quickly in popularity and is used by progressive companies like Spotify, Adobe, and Buzzfeed, among others.
Zapier in business and study
Zapier assists companies or individuals in integrating web apps that they are using for data-sharing purposes. Apps can include Dropbox, Google Docs, Slack, Trello, WordPress, and hundreds of others.
- Once a program is integrated, you can configure information to flow through your apps automatically to substantially increase productivity and save time. When you receive an email, Zapier can be told to automatically send the contents or attachments to a Dropbox or Google Docs folder.
- Use notifications. Go a step further and set up a notification in Slack that will tell you when there is a new email or document that requires your attention.
These workflows take just minutes to set up and allow you to work efficiently, knowing all your information is automated. Plus – you no longer need to waste time searching for attachments or documents as you know they will be found in the pre-designated folder.
Automation for productivity success
With so many daily repetitive tasks that need completing for study and in the workplace, there is constant time pressure to get everything done effectively. You’ll agree that rushing and panic lead to mistakes, which, in turn, leads to frustration, which is not conducive to a healthy environment or a positive mindset. Automating processes will result in increased productivity and a more positive working environment for all.
Combine digital skills with career skills
Current and potential employers will always favour your savvy technical knowledge, but that advantage can be wasted if it isn’t supported by enhanced career skills. By obtaining a diploma in your career of interest, you are demonstrating your commitment and passion for the industry. The combination of your education and digital skills will empower employers to find reasons to promote or hire you above others.
With a bit of initative, you’ll soon be using these automation tools in the workplace and during study to help increase productivity and complete tasks effectively. Let us know how you go.