Save 1 Hour/Day, Automating Tedious Tasks

As founder and CEO of ServNet LLC, Michael Wylie spends much of his time fixing computer and technology problems.  While the break-fix model is the most common in his line of work, Michael Wylie prefers innovative projects that use technology as a catalyst to help small businesses become more efficient.

After all, technology was designed to help increase productivity and perform tedious tasks.  Michael Wylie highly recommends that you and your employees take a look at daily computer tasks and find ways to automate them.  If you don’t have the skills to automate them, find someone who does.  It will quickly pay for itself. 

Here are some simple examples of computer automation to get your creative juices flowing.

1.       Speed Up Your Computer

Michael Wylie frequently sets up CClenaer and Window’s Defrag tool to run nightly when client’s go home for the night.  This allows programs to run without user’s input, continually speeding up computers.  If the user were to perform these tasks each day, it would waste 30-60 minutes or up to 20 hours per month.  

2.       Daily News

What is the first thing you do when get to the office in the morning?  If you read Emails or visit a certain website, let your computer have that ready for you.  It’s easy.  Have Windows load up your favorite website or Email client at 8:30AM before you get into the office.  

3.       Time tracking

As an employee in a medium sized information technology department early in his career, Michael Wylie often forgot to clock-in and out each day for work.  In the rare event that he did clock-in, he’d forget to do so for lunch.  The solution was simple.  Use Windows automation tools to launch a web browser and the website for time tracking each morning at 8:00AM, Noon, 1:00PM, and 5:00PM.  

4.       Send an Email

Whether you’re in sales, management, or an hourly employee, you may need to send out morning Emails.  Michael Wylie suggests using a scheduled task to either fully automate the process or at the very least, have the Email template launch at a certain time each day and allow you to fill in the blanks.  

There are endless opportunities for automation.  The examples above were simple tasks for the personal computer; however the possibilities for companywide automation or large scale automations are endless.

Tired of a slow computer? Here are4 tips to speed up your PC

A slow computer can be frustrating and eat away at productivity.  Michael Wylie has been working in the information technology industry since 2004 and this article outlines the steps he and his team take to address slow PCs.  

Clean out the dirt and hair

Dirt and hair buildup over time can reduce airflow and your computer’s ability to cool essential components.  If your PC is unable to cool itself down, it can overheat, causing parts to slow down and eventually melt.  

Removing dust from a desktop is easier than a laptop – though a minor laptop cleaning can be accomplished by clearing buildup from your laptop’s vents.  

Before cleaning your computer, power down and unplug it.  For laptops, do the same and remove the battery to avoid electrical shock.   Steer clear of touching any parts inside your computer or using a vacuum.  Compressed air is your best bet.  Use it to break up the debris around parts such as fans, the processor and vents.  

Uninstall software you don’t need

Software: toolbars, games, and adware build up over time and hinder your computer’s ability to multitask.  Don’t get too carried away – keep things like drivers, Windows updates and other essentials.  If you’re unsure, ask a professional.  

Remove temporary files

Two programs that remove continually expanding temporary files and folders areCCleaner and Temp File Cleaner.   These programs can easily remove 10-15GB of old files in a matter of minutes.   Careful when installing them, they are free programs and make their money by attempting to install affiliate browser toolbars.  Do a custom installation and uncheck and add-on programs. 

While Temp File Cleaner generally does a more thorough job, CCleanercan be quickly scheduled to run without your input.  In Window’s scheduler, use the optional command, called an argument: “/AUTO” so that the program will run without waiting for your confirmation.  

Defragment your hard drive

When data is scattered over all over your computer’s hard drive, it takes more resources to complete basic tasks.  By letting your computer re-position data on its disks, it won’t need to search high and low for pieces of the information you request.  

Windows has a built-in disk defragmentation tool that works well.  Similar to CCleaner, you can easily schedule your computer to defrag the hard drive automatically.  At the very least, perform a disk defrag once a month.  

If you have a solid state hard drive you will not need to defragment your hard drive since there are no spinning disks. 

Michael Wylie - Founder of ServNet LLC

While many idolize and praise Microsoft for being one of America’s great iconic companies, Michael Wylie has criticized their business strategy for years.  “They don’t have the consumers’ best interest in mind” said Wylie.  In 2009, shortly after graduating from Cal State Stanislaus with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and Business Strategy, Michael Wylie outwardly proclaimed that Microsoft had already passed the first two stages of decline as outlined by Jim Collins: Hubris Born of Success and Undisciplined Pursuit of More, placing the corporation in stage three: Denial of Risk and Peril. 

Jim Collins, one of Michael Wylie’s favorite authors, wrote “How the Mighty Fall” in 2009 and describes organizational decline in five stages:  Hubris Born of Success, Undisciplined Pursuit of More, Denial of Risk and Peril, Grasping for Salvation, and Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death.

Many industry analysts disagree with Michael Wylie, claiming that the Microsoft giant will be around forever, however Wylie saw the trends and accurately predicted the early stages of decline.  History shows that while few and far between, a business can reach the dark bottom pits of stage four and make a comeback.    Thus, Microsoft’s poor business practices don’t necessarily mean they’ll vanish; they do have the opportunity for redemption.

For the first time in the company’s public history, Microsoft posted its first loss ($492M) in the 4^th quarter of 2012.  Analysts say the loss is because of the failed $6.19B aQuantive acquisition.  Michael Wylie doesn’t doubt the role it played, though says we can’t dismiss the event as a single occurrence.  While revenue has continued to increase over the past decade, since 2008, the year over year percentage has significantly diminished.  Yes, we’ve had a recession, though it has not affected Microsoft’s largest competitor: Apple, Inc.  Rather, Apple’s market capitalization reached $619 Billion, beating the previous record set by Microsoft in 1999. 

Though Microsoft appears to be teetering on the edge of capitulation, Michael Wylie suggests that Apple could be on the same road to decline with recent mishaps.  Reports say that Steve Jobs fired an Apple executive for releasing the iPhone 4 with unresolved cell reception issues.  Jobs was a perfectionist and didn’t tolerate imperfections in the products he sold.  This is a large part of what made Apple so great.  Comparing Jobs’ dedication to greatness to the post Jobs Apple, we can see considerable undesirable change.  The iPhone 5 was released with more than one major issue.  Not only did the companyremove Google Maps from the phone, replacing it with incomplete and error filled Apple Maps, they also didn’t fully test the phone’s camera, resulting in a purple haze when taking pictures in harsh sunlight. 

Two mistakes may not seem like the end of Apple, but it’s the early stages of Hubris Born of Success.  Michael Wylie is an Apple fan and believes the Steve Jobs way was an excellent business strategy, though companies needs to stay close to what’s important to the consumers if they want to succeed; something Steve Jobs did well. 

The Mike Wylie

One-third of high schoolers have credit cards; about 40 percent of college students graduate with $25,000 in credit card debt, and the average graduate school student is nearly $46,000 in debt. Yet a youngster is lucky if he receives didactic training, much less hands-on experience, in financial responsibility during elementary, middle, and high school. Perhaps because they do not know how to teach finances to children, most schools simply skip over this critical aspect of transitioning from child to adult.

Unless their parents teach these children to be financially responsible, too many young adults will simply enter the world unable to take control of their financial situation, instead turning to their parents or, worse yet, the social welfare system. Others will accrue massive debt, become buried in liabilities, and face a lifetime of catch-up.

And though the word responsibility implies much, much more than simply financial responsibility, a parent can begin to mold an overall responsible child through the tenets of financial responsibility. To teach financial responsibility, a parent must focus on goal-setting, frugality, emotional maturity, and respect, all virtues that beget overall strength of character.

This sets the stage for Michael Wylie’s personal story of how his parents taught him to be a responsible person, in part by focusing on financial responsibility.

“We wanted to teach our children that money was merely a currency, and that it needed to be exchanged for happiness,” said Paul Wylie, Michael Wylie’s father. “We wanted to emphasize the importance of being frugal with a purpose—to save for the things that are important in life. To do that, they had to identify their dreams and learn about goal-setting. They had to be emotionally intelligent and disciplined so they could accomplish these goals. And they had to be responsible with their time, their energy, and their money.” [JB1] 

When Michael Wylie was seven, his father—who owned Metrocities Mortgage—refused Michael’s request for an allowance, instead offering an interest-free loan to start a business. Together with his brother, Michael Wylie embarked on a venture called Coin-Operated Kids to install and service vending machines in Metrocities’ offices. For nine years, he and his brother poured over balance sheets, learned about budgets, and allocated money to their favorite charities in the name of social responsibility. Their mother, Dolores, sacrificed hours of her personal time to shuttle the boys between CostCo, where they loaded up on snacks, and the Metrocities Mortgage offices, where they took inventory, stocked the machines, and withdrew their earnings. She taught the children about philanthropy, helped them set academic, athletic, and financial goals, and engaged them in the goal-setting process.

When Michael Wylie was sixteen, he sold his business interest in Coin-Operated Kids to his brother and opened AbwayTechnology™, later filing for a business name, trademark, and California reseller’s certificate. Abway expanded to sell over $300,000 in laptops, servers, toner, software, and accessories in one year alone. Today, twenty-five-year-old Michael Wylie runs Abway Technology and ServNet LLC while publishing books, teaching at Universities and donating his time to charitable activities.

How and why did Michael Wylie and his brothers learn financial and personal responsibility at such young ages while others continue to struggle well into their thirties, forties, and fifties? The book Michael Wylie is currently writing[JB2] explores this, leveraging Michael Wylie’s personal experience, his parents’ wisdom, and stories from other parents and their children.  Drawing from the eight tenets of financial responsibility each chapter provides inspiration for parents of all socioeconomic backgrounds to begin teaching their children valuable lessons about character and overall responsibility through:

Tenet #1: Financial Literacy

Tenet #2: Fiscal Conservativeness

Tenet #3: Goal-setting

Tenet #4: Emotional Intelligence

Tenet #5: Self-regulation, Natural Consequences, and the Invisible Hand

Tenet #6: Love of Learning

Tenet #7: Respect

Tenet #8: Social Responsibility

To keep up-to-date on Michael Wylie’s progress with the book, follow him on Twitter @TheMikeWylie or visit his website: www.TheMikeWylie.com.

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 [JB1]Michael, we need to get approval from your mom and dad on these quotes. They are generally what they sad, but I have paraphrased.

 [JB2]Or whatever the name of the book is