Small Business Productivity
How Much Time Are Repetitive Tasks Really Costing Your Business?
Repetitive admin rarely feels expensive, because it arrives in five-minute pieces. The cost only becomes visible when you multiply.
This article shows a simple calculation you can run on the back of an envelope, and a checklist for spotting the processes worth investigating.
The arithmetic nobody does
Take a five-minute administrative task performed ten times a day.
- 5 minutes × 10 times = 50 minutes per day
- 50 minutes × 5 working days = 250 minutes per week
- That is more than four hours a week on one repeated process
Calculate your own
Time per task × frequency × number of people doing it = approximate administrative effort
Do it for three processes rather than one. The comparison is more useful than any single figure, because it tells you where to look first.
Be honest about the time. Include the interruption, the double-checking and the switching between systems, not just the typing.
You will not get all of that time back
Automation rarely removes 100% of a process. There are exceptions to handle, results to check and occasional problems to sort out. Anyone promising complete elimination is overselling.
The purpose of the calculation is not to predict a saving. It is to work out whether a process deserves an hour of proper investigation.
Signs a process is worth reviewing
- We do this every day
- We copy this information somewhere else
- Someone has to remember to do this
- We send almost the same message every time
- We check one system and update another
- Things fall through the cracks when we get busy
Three or more ticks on the same process is usually a strong signal.
Common questions
Should I measure in hours or dollars?
Start with hours, because they are easier to estimate honestly. Convert to dollars only if you need the figure for a decision, and be conservative when you do.
What if the time is spread across several people?
That is common and it is exactly why the cost stays invisible. Count the total across everyone involved rather than looking for one person with a full day of it.
Read next
Repetitive tasks you can automate · How to start automating your business · Workflow mapping
Run the numbers on one process this week
If the figure surprises you, that process is worth a conversation. If it does not, you have just saved yourself a project.