January 2022

At the beginning of the year January 2022, I moved to another company as a Systems Analyst in mid-sized Marketing Firm. My job was quite simple, responsible for data transfer, data backup, maintaining records and checking for all backup works and emergencies, and solving problems if any. It was a pretty good job with good wages like most offices it came with many routine activities. However, these tasks were crucial but most of the time they were not as challenging or imaginative. I felt since day one, that I could easily reduce a lot of the work, though I did not know just how much it would turn out to be.

Exactly one month and a half into my new position, I’ve developed a helpful daily schedule that was a far cry from the usual 8 to 5 type of work. I would be logging in every morning to check on the files: running a few scripts to ensure no data has been altered, and then upload new data to the cloud for further processing to be checked for errors. The real work only lasted about an hour, and the rest of the day consisted of sitting around waiting for something else to happen — there wasn’t much. I was frustrated and bored.

Then it hit me: why not automate the whole thing?

March 2022

I soon found myself trying to figure out how to make my work easier for about two months because I was doing the same routine over and over again.. The company was operating cloud services alongside local storage, and I was tasked with arranging all transfers of data in the appropriate manner without error. I realized that these processes are not always requiring someone to monitor them all the time. I began mentally mapping how I could design a system that would do this for me and save me some time.

When I first took the job, what I didn’t know was whether or not all the work could be automated. But, since we know that indecision is a problem for me, I thought I’d try to go through it one step at a time. Even if I could automate only half of them, that’s fine with me.

The next couple of weeks were devoted to learning more about the automation tools and scripting languages that would enable me to implement the idea in my head. Since the company’s infrastructure included scripts written in python, SQL databases, and cloud storage APIs, I needed to write a python script that would manage the data upload and backups.

By the end of March I had something which was alive in a certain meaning but not quite optimised. It was a very basic script that literally looked for new files on the local drive, found them, and then upload them to the cloud. The script will then calculate hash values on these files to verify that they were not altered when passing through different host. I was seeing some improvements but I was not there yet

April 2022

There was much review of the script for April. Early on, I ran into several issues: it would so happen that the automation would break at places and leave certain files out, hashing failed at random and the script was not well optimized for large files. Whenever there was an error, I tools had to intervene to correct ad which to some extent, negates the gains of auto Piloting the job in the first place.

But as much as many failed to materialize, I gained new lessons from each attempt. I implemented logging so I can have more control as to what goes wrong. I also used retries to improve the script’s performance, so that it would not break after three attempts. The system was able to do approximately 80% of the job by mid April without my interference.

By this time my schedule had changed drastically. I wasn’t copying files over and checking the hash sum, instead I was simply looking at the logs to make sure everything went well. My workload had gone from an hour a day to about 10 minutes.

May 2022

In early May the final touches to the process of automation were made. I got to the point of script optimization where all data transfers, backups and file integrity checks are managed by the script. It would check for any new files in the local network, and automatically upload them to the cloud, performing a checksum to ensure the integrity and then present a report that I could read at the end of the work day.

And the best part? No one noticed. From the perspective of my boss and my coworkers, everyone could be satisfied with how things were functioning. They didn’t need to know that I was only able to devote ten minutes of actually work related time each day. My output was the same, the work was getting done, the company was a happy company.

The Rest of 2022

Well then, what was I doing all my spare time? Well, I tried to make it difficult for skeptics to dismiss me as lazy during the work week, but actually I had nothing but time on my hands. With regards to my zone of proximal development, I exercised freedom and started engaging in personal projects, acquiring new knowledge and setting into context hobbies that earlier on I could not afford time for. I developed better Python programming skills as well as learned basic web development and implement some artificial intelligence projects.

I also started reading — a lot Reading became my new best friend. I’d come to work, look at the logs in the morning, and then while away the rest of working hours with more books on technology, business, and personal development. This year indicated that I have read 30 books by the end of 2022 and I had enhanced my coding skills.

The first emotion was slightly guilty. I realized I wasn’t working the entire duration I was being paid for but then I justified the action. I wasn’t slacking off. I had just discovered how to funnel my work. It meditated that as long as the company was comfortable with the given outcomes, no disadvantage would occur. Actually, I probably was of more worth in this particular context because I had come up with a way of organizing the work to yield better results.

January 2023

From the other end, I relied on my automated system for close to a year. My boss had no idea that with a script resident all the work was being facilitated. As far as he was concerned; I was an excellent employee who comes to work, does a good job and goes home. However, in January 2023, my boss decided to set up a meeting to review how we operate and make it better.

He asked me whether there are tools or approaches available which we could implement so as to optimize the management of data. This was my moment of truth. I could either leave this automation unrevealed and just tell him some generalised recommendations or I could be honest and let him see what I have done.

Coming Clean — BIG REVEAL

Finally after much consideration, I had realised that it was high time to tell the truth. I arranged for a follow up meeting and went to work preparing myself to share with my boss the script I had been running for a year. There I was, typing on my laptop and walking into his office with anticipation and apprehension.

After that settled into chairs, they demanded me to tell them how it works, how the script receives files, and the fact that the script had been running my job for the last few months. I thought he would be either happy that I was so good at something at least, or angry that I have been concealing this for so long.

Amazingly he was even more excited.

The Promotion to Head of Automation

My boss did not look like he was annoyed, to the contrary he was elated. Not only that he remarked my zeal into work further, he also noticed one thing; an opportunity. He realized that if this script could relieve me sometime having to perform this task manually, then many other parts of the company would also make sense to automate.

Rather than scolding me, my boss decided to move me up and make me the Head of Automation. The new position I took in this case was designed to review all departments of the company and determine additional chores that would qualify for robotic analysis to improve the flow of the company across departments. From giving attention to personal assignments, I found myself managing automation projects for the whole firm.

What I Learned from a Year of Doing Nothing

1. Looking back at the decisions I’ve made now that it is 2024, reflecting on the time I automated my job provided me with many things to think about.

2. Laziness is one thing but automation is all about making things easier and faster. At a certain point I decided it was time to automate my job because I knew there was a better, faster way of doing things. You see, not giving time to menial chores does not mean that you are not working, it means that you are working smarter.

3. Free time is valuable. The best thing that I can think of is that I got more time to work on my personal projects, learning new skills and engaging with hobbies. I did not fritter away the extra time I got — I grew into it.

4. Don’t feel guilty. If the work is getting done and the company is fine with it, there is no reason to feel bad about automating yours. Finally, I was paid to produce a certain output and that is what was achieved.

5. Be cautious. This idea that I’m keeping my automation secret now made me aware that having something like that goes both ways. Making yourself indispensable is as easy as automating your job — and the same is true for making yourself easily replaceable. If you have automated yourself out of a job make sure you have other skills to bring to the table or gain other responsibilities.

Conclusion

One of the most profound lessons I got out of automating my job for a period of one year was understanding what efficiency is all about and how flexibility is key. I could have wasted that free time doing nothing, but I chose to make myself better and gain knowledge. Even as I was performing my daily tasks on auto-pilot I was planning for the future of my job.

Therefore, the next time you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have to focus and can relax, don’t just lie idle, be productive instead. Outsource your work but remember to outsource with an aim of growing.