Workflow

A workflow is something you do over and over that produces a result someone actually needs. Both halves have to be true: one proposal last quarter is a bad afternoon, not a workflow, and a weekly report nobody reads is a chore that sounds productive, not a workflow. The working test: if the output disappeared overnight, would anyone notice?

Why it matters: Frequency alone is a trap — you tie your shoes a thousand times a year and nobody’s pitching you a shoe-tying agent. The thing has to repeat and matter, and most “I should automate this” candidates fail one half or the other the moment you count honestly. Counted against records — the calendar, the sent folder, the invoices — the real number almost always comes in under the felt one.