Putting something on my to-do list makes me feel like I’ve achieved something.
An impressive result for a task I haven’t touched.
Then I look at the rest of it.
You might recognise the jobs. The form you keep putting off because the information is scattered across old emails. The thing you’ll sort out once you’ve got a free afternoon. They follow you from one week’s list to the next.
I’m working full-time, building a business and raising young kids. A free afternoon takes some finding.
And when I do get time to myself, the list comes with me. I should start that form. Find that email. Get something crossed off.
Even sitting down starts to feel like I’m neglecting something.
That’s the small, persistent humming in the background. Each job seems minor until you add up how often it reminds you it’s still there.
One of mine had a deadline approaching.
It was some government admin for my company. Previous experience had taught me what to expect: a confusing website, codes buried in old emails, and a process that could eat up hours. I kept trying to work out when I could fit it in.
You know that point where you’ve spent so much time thinking about a job that you’re fed up with it before you’ve even started?
I was there.
So one evening, while watching TV, I gave it to an AI agent. I explained what needed doing, pointed it to the website and told it to bring me in when it needed me. I logged in, then left it to cook.
I still wondered how much of the evening I’d end up spending on it. Would it finish correctly? Or would I be walking it through every step, doing the job with extra conversation?
It searched my emails, found the documents and codes, and worked through the forms. I think it came back to me once or twice with a question.
In under fifteen minutes, the confirmation email arrived.
Done.
I carried on watching TV. A bit relieved that I no longer had to find a slot in my week to be annoyed by a government website.
If you’ve finally tackled a job you’ve been avoiding, you’ll know the feeling. Nothing much happens. You just stop having to think about it.
I’d saved a few hours, yes. I’d also got rid of that little accusation whenever I sat down:
You could be doing that form.
I use AI for big, meaty tasks at work. Yet it’s this stuff that gets me. An agent also appealed a parking ticket for me, finding the evidence in my emails and submitting the appeal. A week later, the ticket was rescinded.
Apparently, the way to my heart is admin.
The rest of my list started to look different. I’d been trying to work out when I could do all this stuff.
How much of it actually needed me?
“Can an agent do this?” is now my first thought. It won’t always finish the job. Sometimes it can get me past the part I’ve been avoiding. I’ll take that.
At first, I needed the confirmation before I could relax. Now the relief sometimes starts earlier. Each completed job gives me a bit more confidence that handing over the next one won’t just create another job for me.
My list hasn’t disappeared. But I’m less convinced that every item on it needs a piece of my evening.
Sometimes I can just watch TV.