Some Days Just Suck... but Here's Why That's a Good Thing!

Busy season is here (or creeping up fast), and if your inbox is already a war zone, I feel you. But here's the thing: some of your biggest headaches today might actually be the key to making next year easier.

Why? Because the best time to spot what's broken is while you're in the middle of the chaos. The best part? You don't need to fix anything now. Just capture the issues and let AI and automation help you solve them later.

Step 1: Capture Workflow Frustrations in Real-Time

Some days are rough. You’re putting out fires, chasing clients for docs, and questioning your life choices. Instead of just powering through, start tracking what’s making your life harder.

📌  How?

• Notice tasks that slow you down, frustrate you, or feel like a total waste of time (fixing client errors, endless follow-ups, last-minute emergency requests).

• Drop them into your task manager (we love Asana!) or even a simple Google Doc.

• Feel free to rant. AI won’t judge you. 😆

Step 2: Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting (After Busy Season)

Once the rush dies down, plug your notes into AI and let it find patterns and suggest solutions for you.

💡 Here’s how:

• Summarize: Paste your notes into AI and ask, "Summarize my pain points into key themes." AI will instantly categorize them (e.g., ‘client communication,’ ‘data entry errors,’ ‘deadline confusion’).

• Identify the Biggest Time-Wasters: Ask, "Which issues appear most often?" AI will rank them for you.

• Get Fixes: Ask, "What’s the easiest way to fix my top three workflow issues?" AI will suggest automation tools, template responses, and process improvements.
  
  

Real World Wins

Here’s how some of our students are using AI and automation to cut hours off their workload, and their results speak for themselves:

How Stephanie Stopped Chasing Clients for Documents

Stephanie was tired of spending hours following up with clients, so she set up automated email sequences to handle it:

✔ General deadline reminders, pre-scheduled so clients stay on track.
✔ An extra push for clients who haven’t sent what's needed by a
certain date.
✔ Everything runs automatically; she focuses on actual work.
✔ Next year, she just tweaks key dates, no starting from scratch.

Now, she spends way less time chasing clients manually. Instead, her systems do the heavy lifting, freeing her to focus on higher value work.

How Alex Fixed the Missing Document Nightmare

Alex's firm used to mail paper questionnaires or email PDFs clients had to print, fill out, and scan back. The results? Unreadable handwriting, missing pages, and endless follow ups.

His solution? A smart, interactive JotForm:

✔ Clients answer simple yes/no questions (Did you sell a house? Start a new income stream?).
✔ Based on answers, they get a personalized checklist of exactly what's needed.
✔ No back and forth emails, clients upload everything directly in the form.
✔ No printing, scanning, or messy handwriting.

Now, Alex gets the right documents the first time. No stress, no confusion, no wasted time.

Want to learn exactly how to set up solutions like Stephanie and Alex? We cover all these concepts (and more!) in The Bookkeeper's Tech Advantage Course. They did it, and you can too!