I was having coffee with a business owner last week when he checked his watch for the third time in five minutes.

“Sorry,” he sighed. “I’ve got to approve expense reports by 5pm or accounting will hunt me down.”

“How many reports?” I asked.

“About thirty. Takes me almost two hours every Friday.”

“And what happens if someone submits an expense that’s against company policy?”

He laughed. “That’s the thing – it almost never happens. I’m basically spending two hours every week to catch maybe one mistake every six months.”

That’s 100+ hours a year of his life – gone. For essentially no reason.

This scenario isn’t unique. Business owners and executives are drowning in busywork – those mind-numbing tasks that require your time but not your expertise. The stuff that makes you think, “Couldn’t a robot do this?”

Well, yes. A robot (or more accurately, automation) absolutely could. And should.

I’ve spent the last decade helping businesses eliminate these time-wasters. The results are always the same: happier teams, better work, and owners who suddenly find themselves with time to focus on growth instead of administrative nonsense.

This isn’t about complex digital transformation or expensive enterprise software. It’s about the simple stuff – the quick wins that give you back hours of your life starting next week.

Let’s get those hours back.