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.

1. Better Living
Through
Automation
Defeating Time Sucks and
Doing Better Work
Jesse Lavery ! @jesselavery HighEdWeb 2014 # #mpd12

2. Better Living
Through
Automation
Defeating Time Sucks and
Doing Better Work
Jesse Lavery ! @jesselavery HighEdWeb 2014 # #mpd12

3. #mpd12
@jesselavery

4. Getting
Started

5. Jesse Lavery
Director of Web Communications
Allegheny College
• Design & Development
• Manage CMS (WordPress)
• User Training & Support
• Social Media Team
• Content Strategy
• etc.

6. What do
you do?

8. !
social media
manager
"
videographer
#
designer
$
developer
%
writer
&
designer
'
professor
(
designer
+
designer
)
designer
*
talker
(
designer
,
email
-
designer
.
app developer

9. /
scheduling
0
data collection
1
designer
|
analytics
3
task
management
4
designer
5
project
management
,
email
+
support
)
designer
*
talker
(
designer
6
email
-
designer
&
meetings

10. time suck
7
noun
an inefficient or unproductive activity, process, etc.;
a waste of time.

11. Rethink your daily routine
and identify the “time
sucks” in your work.
⋆

12. Goals

13. Goals
◎
Save Time

14. Goals
◎
Trusted System

16. Goals
◎
Mind Like Water

17. mind like water
7
a mental and emotional state in which your head is clear,
able to create and respond freely, unencumbered with
distractions and split focus

18. What do
you do?
Revisited

20. !
social media
manager
"
videographer
#
designer
$
developer
%
writer
&
designer
'
professor
(
designer
+
designer
)
designer
*
talker
(
designer
,
email
-
designer
.
app developer

21. False

22. Your work has an audience.
: :
:

23. Your work influences
choices and decisions
that will literally
change peoples’ lives.
⋆

24. Jesse Lavery
Storyteller
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

25. When you reframe
“what you do,”
it illuminates why your
work is important.
⋆

26. Better
Work

27. Better Work
⋆
!= More Work

28. Better Work
⋆
More time spent on
meaningful work

29. Better Work
⋆
Professional
Development

30. Better Work
⋆
“20% Time” Projects

31. Better Work
⋆
Doing Nothing

32. Better Work
⋆
Going Home on Time

33. How you define
“Better Work” is personal.
⋆

34. How you define
“Better Work” can
change lives.
⋆

35. Results

36. Results
4
In the last year…

37. Automation

38. Automation
;
Roll Your Own:
API’s

39. Automation
;
IFTTT

40. Automation
;
CloudWork

41. Automation
;
Zapier

42. Workflows

43. Workflow
<
Work Requests
○
!
Project Manager

44. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<
○
Wufoo Asana

45. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<

46. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<

47. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<

48. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<

49. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<

50. Workflow: Work Requests ○ Project Manager
<

51. Workflow
<
Gmail Label
○
!
Project Manager

52. Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<
○
Gmail Asana

53. Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<

54. Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<

55. Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<

56. Workflow: Gmail Label ○ Project Manager
<
○

57. Workflow
<
Twitter Search
○
!
Spreadsheet

58. Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<
○
Twitter Google Spreadsheet

59. Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<

60. Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<

61. Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<

62. Workflow: Twitter Search ○ Spreadsheet
<

63. Workflow
<
URL Requests
○
!
Project Manager

64. Workflow: URL Requests ○ Project Manager
<
○
Wufoo Asana

65. Workflow: URL Requests ○ Project Manager
<

66. Workflow
<
404 Reports
○
!
Project Manager

67. Workflow: 404 Reports ○ Project Manager
<
○
Wufoo Asana

68. Workflow
<
RSS Feed
○
!
Project Manager

69. Workflow: RSS Feed ○ Project Manager
<
? ○
RSS Asana

70. Workflow
<
Photos with #
○
!
Flickr

71. Workflow: Photos with # ○ Flickr
<
○
Instagram Flickr

72. Workflow
<
Email Subject
○
!
Project Manager

73. Workflow: Email Subject ○ Project Manager
<
○
Gmail Asana

74. Workflow
<
(All kinds of stuff)
○
!
Slack

75. Workflow: (All kinds of stuff) ○ Slack
<
? ○
(stuff) Slack

76. *

77. Warning
*
There are no
magic bullets.

78. Warning
*
Don’t fiddle.

79. Warning
*
Don’t over-automate.

80. Maddie

84. Homework

85. Homework
1
Reframe
“what you do.”

86. Homework
2
Rethink
your daily routine.

87. Homework
3
Do Better Work.

88. ?
jlavery@allegheny.edu ! @jesselavery #heweb14 # #mpd12

89. Thank You!
slideshare.com/jesselavery
jlavery@allegheny.edu ! @jesselavery #heweb14 # #mpd12