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Key Takeaways Artificial intelligence is everywhere now — and entrepreneurs and business leaders can use it to take over some of the tedious tasks they have to do.
Using AI tools to automate emails, simplify meetings and streamline research are some of the best ways to free up your time to do the things only a human mind can do.
Time is an entrepreneur’s most precious commodity. We all have 24 hours in a day, but there have certainly been times in the course of building my business that I would have paid a tidy sum for just one or two more.
I never did figure out how to extend the clock, but I didn’t have to: Now, we have AI, literally giving us back hours by cutting out tedious, time-sucking tasks.
The challenge is that most people still aren’t using AI strategically. Recent studies have found that nearly 50% of users are simply using ChatGPT to ask questions, and 75% of conversations focus on practical guidance, information-seeking and writing.
These are time-savers, no doubt — I also use AI for initial drafts and as a thought partner for brainstorming ideas. But if you’re only using AI for one-off queries or quick assists, you’re not maximizing its potential. To do that, you need to build systems that run on autopilot — workflows that handle the repetitive tasks eating up your calendar week after week. Here are a few of the hacks that have saved me hours, giving me back the precious time to do the work that only I can do.
Automate your emails
I’ve been automatically sorting my inbox long before AI entered the picture. That’s because I realized early on that combating an overflowing inbox is one of the biggest time wasters of my day, interfering with my ability to focus on deep work — in other words, the only type of work I want to spend time on.
In the years before AI, my system involved using Gmail labels to ruthlessly categorize my incoming emails, filtering top-priority correspondence from those I could address later and banishing spam before I ever laid eyes on it. These days, I’ve refined my system even further by building an AI agent to parse emails based on urgency and even draft personalized replies.
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