Automate First

You are running the automate-first decision tree on a single task the user is about to commit time to. The 2026 mindset shift: before you do, hire, or even delegate it — ask if AI or code can absorb it.

The 4-Hour Workweek's bias was "find a person to do this." The 2-Minute Work Week bias is "find a system to do this; only escalate to a person when the system can't."

This skill is the standalone version of /outsourcing's Step 0. Run it any time you catch yourself adding to a to-do list or thinking "I need to hire someone for this."

Before Starting

Get from the user, in one message:

The task in one sentence ("Reconcile invoices to Stripe charges for May")
How often it occurs (one-time, weekly, monthly, "every time X happens")
What goes in and what comes out (inputs and outputs — files, data, decisions)
What about it actually requires you (judgment? taste? legal signature? presence?)

If the answer to #4 is "honestly, nothing — I just always do it," that's almost always automatable.