One of my favorite books is 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. Time management is a passion of mine because it often unlocks hidden problems.
Vanderkam analyzed time diaries to help people see the mosaic that makes up their week. That 30,000-foot view makes it easier to move the tiles around and build the life and work you actually want. A key idea in the book is outsourcing. When you delegate or automate the right tasks, you reclaim time for your core values and highest-impact work.
For leaders and supervisors, that can mean freeing yourself from repetitive tasks so you can focus on people, strategy, and outcomes. Below are two practical ways I have used technology to “outsource” time-consuming work.
1. Power Automate, CoPilot, and ChatGPT: Turning Repetition into a System
When my team grew, I finally gave Microsoft Power Automate a serious look. It comes with some Office 365 plans and allows you to create flows that trigger actions like sending emails, posting reminders, or moving files.
I knew nothing about it, so I asked CoPilot and ChatGPT to teach me. Each played a different role:
- CoPilot was helpful for step-by-step build guidance inside the Microsoft ecosystem.
- ChatGPT was better at explaining the “why” and the naming logic behind fields. For example, it helped me understand that a task’s ID is different from Task ID, which unlocked a flow that had me stuck.
What I automated first:
- Timesheet reminders to staff before deadlines
- Agenda requests to committee members ahead of meetings
- Prompts for one-on-one agenda items with direct reports
Result: fewer context switches, fewer “oops, I forgot to send that,” and more uninterrupted time for coaching, planning, and problem solving.
Leader takeaway: If you send the same message more than twice in a month, it is a candidate for a flow. Draft the template once, then let the system run it.
2. Zoom AI Companion: Outsourcing the Analysis of My Meetings
I also use AI to analyze my meeting frequency. At one point, I realized I was holding a high number of one-on-ones with my staff. Instead of manually reviewing calendars and tallying up patterns, I outsourced the analysis to Zoom AI Companion.
Because it has access to my calendars, it was able to identify how often I met with staff individually versus in groups and suggest a more balanced schedule.
The insights are guiding me toward a shift in how I meet with staff. I am slowly but surely moving in this direction:
- Weekly one-on-ones are becoming less frequent but more intentional, with a focus on professional development rather than just project updates.
- Group meetings are moving toward a biweekly or monthly schedule to handle project planning and progress reporting.
The change is beginning to clear up my calendar, allowing me to be more available for staff when they truly need me, and freeing up space for higher-level projects that require deeper focus.
Leader takeaway: Analysis can be just as time-consuming as execution. If AI can surface patterns for you, that is one more way to reclaim time for what matters most.
How to Choose What to Automate or Analyze with AI
Use this quick filter:
- Repetitive: Do I do this every week or month?
- Rule-based: Could clear triggers and templates handle 80 percent of it?
- Low regret: If AI got the first pass wrong, would it be easy to correct without harm?
- High leverage: If automated or restructured, would it free time for coaching, strategy, or stakeholder work?
If you answer “yes” to most of these, automate it or let AI analyze it first.
Guardrails That Keep This Responsible
- Always review and approve outputs before they reach your team.
- Keep sensitive data out of tools that are not approved by your institution.
- Start small, measure time saved, and improve.
The Point
Outsourcing to technology is not about doing more for the sake of more. It is about protecting time for leadership. When reminders send themselves and calendars are optimized for the right conversations, you can spend your best energy on people, decisions, and outcomes.
Typed by me, nudged by AI, approved by coffee. 🍵
Iteration and Innovation in Higher Education 
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