Most of the time, solo work is a weird mix of freedom and chaos. One minute you’re deep in creative flow: you design, write, code, consult, and whatever your thing is. The next minute, you’re stuck doing the “tiny tasks” that somehow eat your entire day: copying info, sending the same onboarding email for the 27th time, chasing invoices, naming files, or updating a project board no one asked for, but everyone expects.
And if you’re a solopreneur, it’s not like you can “just delegate it.” You are the team. That’s where automation comes in. It’s not as if this is one big, scary tale about robots replacing your work, but as a virtual intern. The kind of intern who doesn’t forget, doesn’t get tired, doesn’t ask questions mid-sprint, and can do repetitive admin work 24/7.
Automation as Your Part-Time Helper
The best thing to do about automation tools is to think about them as free assistants that are here to save time. Automation isn’t about being fancy or following trends. It’s about buying your time back. While delegating, you find more time to be creavite, communicate with your team or clients, and strategize.
The majority of automation tools are based on AI technologies, so you may think of it as a personal AI helper. The number of tasks these tools can perform is unlimited. AI allows them to be integrated into various fields and spheres. More often they’re used to solve tasks of these types:
- Info scraping and gathering (leads, requests, payments, signups);
- Action triggers (emails, tasks, follow-ups, reminders);
- Social network accounts development (warming-ups, posting, messaging);
- Recruitment (searches, negotiation, messaging, follow-ups);
- Influencer outreach (selection, discussions, reports with negotiation results).
You can add any tasks you can think of into this listing. Test different AI tools and find the one that is the most suitable for your business aims. The more “boring” the task is, the more perfect it is for automation.
Where Solopreneurs Lose Time (And How to Fix It)
Here are a few classic time sinks that all freelancers are used to. But a familiar one does not mean that it is what it should be. Sometimes entrepreneurs don’t even realize where they’re wasting time, yet they clearly feel a lack of it. In this case, you need to review your work processes and identify which stages (often the simplest and routine) are wasting significant time. Here are some common areas where a lot of time is usually wasted, and a few ideas on how an AI assistant can streamline your workflow.
Follow-Ups That Don’t Feel Desperate
Follow-ups matter, but they can feel awkward. Entrepreneurs typically have to send over a dozen messages a day. And if you don’t write down every conversation and set regular reminders, it’s very easy to miss a conversation. This entire process requires time, attention, and effort, but often yields very few results. Moreover, each individual dialogue may require a different tone and context. Keeping all the details in mind is incredibly difficult, but writing about the previously discussed topic and in the right context is rocket science.
Here comes your AI helper and automation. Here’s what you can delegate to your assistant:
- a gentle follow-up 2 days after a proposal;
- a reminder 24 hours before a call;
- a “still interested?” check-in a week later;
- a final “closing the loop” message;
- personal outreach and negotiations.
Your virtual intern can handle this consistently, while you keep your energy for the most important conversations.
Content Ops That Don’t Consume Your Week
If you post content (or want to), you’ve probably felt the pain: you write, schedule, repurpose, rewrite, post, track, analyze, and repeat the whole process again and again. It does take time. Moreover, content is essential even if your business or brand is just starting to develop. Without recognizable social media platforms, attracting customers will be incredibly difficult. This is an ongoing process that must be done efficiently and individually. If you don’t have an employee responsible for social media management, it’s a good idea to use automation.
You can automate the following actions:
- idea capture into a content backlog;
- turning one long post into smaller snippets;
- moving drafts into a “ready to schedule” column;
- posting to multiple channels with variations;
- saving performance metrics weekly;
- analyzing your strategy and getting tips and recommendations;
- content creation.
You can still create but this process doesn’t become your obligation or a forced action. Create and publish when you have the desire and time, and on the other days, your assistant will do everything for you.
Invoicing That Doesn’t Require Effort
Chasing payments is tiring and at the same time important. For any business, proper accounting is a must. But this process doesn’t always have to be arduous and time-consuming. If your resources aren’t sufficient to generate reports, feel free to use an AI assistant. It won’t tire, won’t make mistakes due to fatigue or inattention, and will strictly follow your instructions.
Test automation with these tasks:
- invoice creation after milestones;
- payment reminders (friendly but firm);
- receipt emails;
- “payment received” status updates in your project board.
It’s not personal. It’s just the system doing its job.
Automation Tips and Rules
When you start adding automation to your workflow, it’s easy to get carried away or to overcomplicate things so much that you abandon it altogether. The good news is you don’t need a perfect system to see real benefits. Here are a few simple do’s and don’ts to keep things smooth (and actually useful) as you build automation into your day-to-day.
Start Slow
Instead of trying to “automate your whole business” in one heroic weekend, start with something tiny. The goal isn’t to build a perfect system. It’s to get a quick win that instantly makes your day easier. One small automation that actually works will do more for your momentum than a grand master plan you never finish.
Use Trustworthy Instruments
When it comes to automation, the tool you choose means everything. It either limits your capabilities or opens up new automation opportunities. Choose proven AI assistants from reputable developers. Some teams create multiple, powerful tools after the success of their first one. These developers are usually well-known to users and guarantee data security and high productivity.
Nextbrowser is one of such good and reliable products. It’s user-friendly and doesn’t require any coding skills (so it’s suitable for both beginners and professionals).
Automate the Boring, not the Important
Start with tasks that are repetitive, predictable, and easy to describe step-by-step. It’s usually things like moving info between tools, sending standard follow-ups, creating tasks, or filing documents. If a process still changes every time (or needs your judgement and “human touch”), don’t automate the whole thing yet. It’s better to automate just the prep work (collect data, create a draft, set reminders), and keep the final decision on you.
Final Thought: Build the Intern You Always Needed
If you’re a freelancer or solopreneur, you don’t need to “hustle harder”. You need a system that helps you stay consistent without draining you. AI tools can help with this. Test different options and find the one that suits your aims and tasks. Start with simple and repetitive tasks and go to big and complicated processes when you are ready. See how your workflow changes and pay attention to really important things.
