Automation Audit

Identify the 3 things you should never do manually again. This skill helps you discover hidden time drains, classify tasks by automation potential, and build your personal AI Task Stack to reclaim hours every week.

The Problem

Most entrepreneurs and professionals are still doing tasks every week that don't actually need them.

They're stuck inside a mental loop that says, "It'll be faster if I just do it myself." But it's never faster in the long run.

Repetitive work quietly drains focus, decision-making energy, and creativity. Every time you retype the same email, schedule the same meeting, or copy-paste the same data, you're burning mental fuel that could be spent on real progress.

You can't grow if you're doing what keeps you small.

Automation isn't about replacing effort. It's about reclaiming energy for the work that actually moves your business forward.

The Shift

AI is no longer just a tool for tech experts. It's your personal operations assistant.

It can find the repetitive tasks that are slowing you down, organize them, and recommend what to automate first.

Once you see how much of your week is filled with repeat work, you'll start to notice how much of your potential has been trapped inside it.

What This Skill Does

This 3-step AI-powered Automation Audit reveals where you're wasting time and how to reclaim it:

1. Identify hidden bottlenecks that drain hours weekly
2. Classify tasks by automation potential
3. Build your AI Task Stack - a list of automations that save you time every single week

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STEP 1: CREATE YOUR TASK INVENTORY

First, we need to see everything you do in a typical week. Don't filter or judge - just list it all.

What to Share

Tell me about your typical week:

• What tasks do you do daily?
• What happens weekly?
• What recurring activities eat up your time?
• What feels repetitive or draining?

Include everything: emails, meetings, reports, scheduling, content creation, data entry, follow-ups, admin work, etc.

How I'll Organize It

I'll categorize each task into one of four buckets:

Admin

• Scheduling and calendar management
• Invoicing and billing
• File organization and documentation
• Data entry and spreadsheet work

Communication

• Email responses and follow-ups
• Meeting prep and recaps
• Client updates and check-ins
• Social media responses

Creative

• Content creation and writing
• Brainstorming and ideation
• Design and visual work
• Research and learning

Strategy

• Planning and goal-setting
• Reporting and analytics
• Decision-making
• Process improvement

For each task, I'll estimate how much time it consumes weekly.

The Insight

By seeing your tasks laid out, you'll notice how much of your week is spent maintaining instead of creating.

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STEP 2: FIND WHAT'S RIPE FOR AUTOMATION

Now we identify which tasks could be automated with AI tools, workflows, or delegation.

Automation Potential Assessment

For each task in your inventory, I'll evaluate:

High Automation Potential

• Repetitive with clear patterns
• Rule-based decisions
• Data transformation or formatting
• Scheduling and reminders
• Template-based responses

Medium Automation Potential

• Semi-repetitive with some variation
• Requires light judgment
• Can be templated with customization
• Benefits from AI assistance

Low Automation Potential

• Highly creative or strategic
• Requires deep human judgment
• Relationship-dependent
• Novel problem-solving

Tool Recommendations

For each automatable task, I'll suggest specific tools or approaches:

| Task Type | Automation Solution | |-----------|---------------------| | Scheduling meetings | Calendly, Cal.com, Motion | | Meeting notes & summaries | Fathom, Fireflies, Otter.ai | | Email responses | Templates, AI drafts, canned responses | | Content repurposing | AI writing assistants, Basile skills | | Social media posting | Buffer, Hootsuite, Later | | Data entry | Zapier, Make, n8n | | Report generation | Automated dashboards, AI summaries | | Follow-up reminders | CRM automation, task managers |

Ranking Your Opportunities

I'll rank your automation opportunities by two factors:

1. Ease of Implementation - How quickly can you set this up?
2. Impact - How much time/energy will this save?

This gives you a clear starting point: begin with quick wins that save time immediately.

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STEP 3: BUILD YOUR AI TASK STACK

Now we turn insights into action. Your AI Task Stack is your personal automation roadmap.

Your Automation Dashboard

I'll create a simple table with four columns:

| Task | Current Time/Week | Automation Tool | Time Saved | |------|-------------------|-----------------|------------| | Scheduling calls | 2 hours | Calendly | 1.5 hours | | Writing meeting recaps | 3 hours | Fathom AI | 2.5 hours | | Drafting client updates | 2 hours | Email templates + AI | 1.5 hours | | Social media posts | 1.5 hours | Buffer + AI drafts | 1 hour |

Total Time Reclaimed: 6.5 hours/week

That's 6+ hours back this week - and every week after.

Creating Custom Skills

For tasks unique to your workflow, consider creating custom Basile skills:

Option 1: Fork an Existing Template Browse the Skills Library for templates that match your needs, then customize them for your specific workflow.

Option 2: Create a Custom Skill Build a skill from scratch that handles your unique repetitive tasks. Good candidates:

• Weekly report generation
• Client onboarding sequences
• Content creation workflows
• Research and summarization routines

Implementation Priority

I'll organize your stack into three tiers:

This Week (Quick Wins)

• Tools you can set up in under 30 minutes
• Immediate time savings
• Low learning curve

This Month (High Impact)

• Bigger time savings but more setup
• May require tool trials or integrations
• Worth the investment

This Quarter (System Changes)

• Process redesigns
• Team coordination needed
• Highest long-term impact

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Example: The Buried Business Coach

Before the Audit

Alex, a business coach, spent 10+ hours each week on:

• Scheduling calls (2 hours)
• Writing recap notes (3 hours)
• Drafting client updates (2 hours)
• Following up on no-shows (1.5 hours)
• Creating social content (2 hours)

His calendar looked full, but his creativity was fried. He felt busy but not productive.

After the Audit

He ran the Automation Audit and realized 70% of those tasks could be handled automatically.

His AI Task Stack:

| Task | Tool | Time Saved | |------|------|------------| | Scheduling | Calendly + Zoom integration | 1.5 hours | | Meeting notes | Fathom AI | 2.5 hours | | Client updates | Template + AI drafts | 1.5 hours | | Follow-ups | CRM automation | 1 hour | | Social content | Basile content skill + Buffer | 1.5 hours |

Result: 8 hours reclaimed weekly.

Now his week starts with clarity, follow-ups happen without fail, and his creativity is back where it belongs - serving clients, not chasing admin tasks.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Trying to automate everything at once Start small. Automate one system, test it, then layer the next. You want evolution, not chaos.

Choosing complex tools for simple problems Sometimes a simple template or checklist beats a sophisticated automation. Match the solution to the problem.

Forgetting the human element Some tasks benefit from personal touch. Automate the prep work, but keep the relationship moments human.

Not measuring the results Track your time before and after. Seeing the actual hours saved reinforces the habit and reveals what to automate next.

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Your Action Steps

Right Now (5 minutes)

List your top 10 recurring tasks. Don't overthink it - just brain dump everything that happens every week.

With This Skill (15 minutes)

Share your list and I'll:

1. Categorize and time-estimate each task
2. Identify automation opportunities
3. Build your personalized AI Task Stack
4. Recommend your first three automations

This Week

Implement your first automation. Just one. Get it running smoothly before adding the next.

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Expanding Your Automation

Once you've conquered your first three automations, consider:

Fork Template Skills

Browse the Skills Library for workflows that match your needs:

• Content creation skills for marketing tasks
• Research skills for information gathering
• Analysis skills for reporting

Customize them for your specific use case.

Create Custom Skills

For unique workflows that repeat in your business:

1. Document the process step-by-step
2. Identify what can be templated
3. Build a custom skill that handles 80% automatically
4. Keep the 20% that needs your judgment

Build Skill Chains

Connect multiple skills into automated sequences:

• Research skill feeds into content skill
• Meeting notes skill triggers follow-up skill
• Weekly review skill generates priorities skill

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The Bigger Picture

This isn't just about saving time. It's about:

Reclaiming Mental Energy Every repetitive task you automate frees up decision-making capacity for what matters.

Reducing Errors Automated processes don't forget, skip steps, or make typos when tired.

Scaling Without Burnout As your business grows, automation lets you handle more without working more.

Focusing on High-Value Work The creative, strategic, relationship-building work that only you can do.

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Quick Reference: Automation Candidates

Almost Always Automate

• Calendar scheduling
• Meeting reminders
• Data backups
• Report generation from existing data
• Social media scheduling
• Email sorting and labeling
• Invoice reminders

Often Worth Automating

• First-draft writing
• Meeting summaries
• Research compilation
• Follow-up sequences
• Content repurposing
• Status update reports

Keep Human (with AI Assist)

• Strategic decisions
• Relationship conversations
• Creative direction
• Complex negotiations
• Sensitive communications
• Novel problem-solving

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Remember: Every hour you spend on work a machine could do is an hour stolen from work only you can do. Run this audit, build your stack, and start reclaiming your time today.

The goal isn't to work less - it's to make your work count more.