![elmo](/content/images/2020/05/elmo.gif)
On social media I follow and talk a lot more about automation, dev ops,
and systems. All are one in the same honestly, but for now I\'m going to
teach you all a little bit about systems using our fav 5 Ws.
Who
---
Who needs to learn this? Everyone! From small business owners trying to
save time to big companies.
What
----
A system is a workflow for a task that has the same repetitive steps
When
----
There is no time like the present. If your a newish dev go ahead and
look at ways you can save time (hint hint [dev ops](/dev-ops/), if you
are a VA or something then look at how to reduce your amount of clicks.
Where
-----
Common places I would look are any forms, repetitive messages/trigger
words, checklist\...any task you can say \"After this is done we move
the data to there.\" As a dev that looks more like \"After this is
passed we do this and then that and finally this.\" As a security
profession that would be something like \"I usually run this command
right after this one and grep to a file in this format\".
Another thing to look at is if you want to use this for personal
projects or work. I say use it for both but that\'s just me and what I
do. Feel free to do as you please.
Why
---
I feel like you don\'t need this anymore but just in case\...Why learn
this? To save time, to save clicks, or to reduce the amount of moving
data on your plate. If you really think about it life is a series of
systems (sleep, eat, work, eat, workout, eat, repeat) so why not add
more mini systems? The ROI, return on investment, might also be great
for you whether it be time, increased income, or reduction in Carpel
Tunnel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this quick little spill helped convince you to look inst ways you
can create system/use automation to your advantage.
Good resources:
- ~~[ROGUEWEALTH on twitter](https://twitter.com/ROGUEWEALTH)~~
- [Ari on twitter but you might want to screenshot her
things](https://twitter.com/NerdNomadMom)
- [If This Then That](https://ifttt.com/)
- [Zapier](https://zapier.com/)
*EDIT 5/2/2020: Ari\'s link changed. I also don\'t support the content I
saw coming from Roguewealth anymore.*