Accelerating Workflows with Templates and Automation

Yesterday, I reused the wrong template and my inbox basically exploded, but even then, templates saved me hours. All the app-switching, copy-pasting, lost files—honestly, I can tell when something actually helps because I don’t want to throw my laptop. Microsoft Power Automate templates? Not just “helpful”—they straight-up save me during crunch time. Babysitting repetitive tasks is a productivity death spiral.

Utilizing Ready-Made Templates

Notifications blowing up, deadline flashing, and instead of writing the same script again, I just grab a Power Automate template. If you think templates are just for basics, you’ve never spent a Friday night debugging onboarding flows. Some of these templates—like “Post a Tweet when a new blog post is published” or auto-imports to Google Sheets—are basically the only reason I sleep. Gartner said automation-as-a-service jumped 28% last year, and every IT person I know has a secret stash of “working” templates.

Templates go stale, though. I grabbed a “send weekly summary” flow once and forgot to patch the timezone—so half my updates hit after midnight. “Prebuilt” is not “perfect.” Still, the sheer amount: onboarding, approvals, document saves—click, tweak, done. Saw an editor skip five approval steps just by using a doc workflow template. Real time-saver.

Integrating Automation for Repetitive Tasks

Tight deadlines, everyone hovering, and I’m dragging 500 HR files into SharePoint by hand—my wrists still hurt. Automating that stuff, especially with conditional triggers, is a lifesaver. Weird how few people use the recurrence and condition actions right. My old coworker, Excel wizard, chained together approval and notification flows and cut her admin time in half. Not glamorous, but Microsoft says basic automation gives a 45% productivity boost. I believe it.

Scripting logic—like pinging me on Teams if a VIP emails while I’m sleeping—gets addictive. Half the time I end up redoing the whole workflow because the client’s onboarding is never like the HR template. It’s like chaos is the default. But it gets done, error rates drop, and I can focus on stuff that isn’t mind-numbing. Still can’t figure out why our file-naming bot hates underscores, though.

Boosting Creativity and Innovation When Time is Tight

Twelve-hour deadline, half my process out the window, and I’m just hoping my brain doesn’t freeze up. Most days, the real enemy isn’t the clock—it’s the dread that I’ll crank out something totally useless. Still, I grab the same dried-out markers and keep poking at ideas, because what’s the alternative? Not shipping?

Sparking Creativity Under Pressure

Timer on, 15 minutes, “just brainstorm”—but it’s really speed-dating with garbage ideas. The clock makes me panic and get weirdly creative at the same time. I end up mashing together stuff I’d never try with a week to think. Some Stanford professor emailed me once (that counts, right?) and said iteration beats perfection. I’m not above stealing from a Pinterest board full of baking hacks and font fails; my “creative inputs” folder is a mess and that’s how I like it.

Here’s what’s taped to my monitor:

Sticky notes aren’t pretty, but they’re faster than any brainstorm app. Does this count as “innovation”? Sometimes. At least, after someone else deciphers my handwriting.

Fostering a Growth Mindset

Screw up, fix it, repeat. That’s basically my process. “Growth mindset” got shoved down my throat at a company retreat, but honestly, missing a deadline and getting roasted in Slack made it stick. Grit isn’t magic; it’s just surviving chaos and not quitting.

I skimmed some MIT research that said teams who don’t fear mistakes produce 30% more new ideas. I like that stat because it means my mess-ups aren’t a waste. Like, have you ever launched a campaign and forgotten to change the meta tags? That’s where the learning happens, not in some neat wrap-up.

When my prototype tanks, I curse, then ask the bluntest PM for feedback. Embracing my ugly first draft, letting myself cringe and move on, somehow flips a switch. Growth is a habit, not a slogan. Once you accept half your work will flop, the pressure eases up. Weird, but true.