In the world of fiction and fantasy, you can wave a magic wand or utter a spell and all your tasks get taken care of, without you moving a muscle. Many would tell you that such a world only exists in the pages of your favourite fantasy novel
or on the silver screen. However, that’s not entirely true. Technology today is at a point where humdrum routine tasks and chores can indeed be taken care of automatically. From bill payments to shopping, there are a lot of ways
you can use technology to automate nearly every aspect of your life so that you can sit back and relax, or maybe get some quality time to do what you really want to do. Here’s how:
Use virtual assistants
Digital bots, virtual assistants, voice assistants – call them whatever you want, but their significance in today’s world is undeniable. They have greatly grown in capability and can fulfil a lot of tasks today. However, you’d
still need to issue commands for the individual tasks every time, right? Wrong! Most of the leading digital assistants today allow you to combine a series of actions into ‘routines’ or ’shortcuts’. For instance,
saying ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Morning Routine’ could tell the assistant to take your phone off silent, roll the automated curtains, start the connected coffee maker, tell you about the weather, your commute, your calendar
and then play the news for you. This is just an example and you could configure your own actions as you see fit to automate whatever you want.
Use automation tools to automate based on location, actions & services
There are well-known automation tools such as IFTTT, Zapier, and Tasker that work across services and devices to take automation to the next level. These tools are highly capable and can automate beyond the device itself and most of the time
do not require you to manually trigger events. For instance, using the location tracking of your smartphone a service could log your entry and exit time at your workplace into a spreadsheet on the cloud. Another popular example would be
tweeting any new Instagram posts as native photos on Twitter. You can set up device level automation as well. For example, your phone could fire up your music streaming app when you plug in a headphone. There are a large number of pre-made
automation packages available on such apps, which will save you a lot of time from setting them up on your own. Try a few options and discover which one/ones suit you best.
Automate savings
Let’s face it, saving up is not the easiest thing to do on your own. Fortunately, you can automate your savings to the extent where it doesn’t depend on you manually putting aside some income every time. What you need is a Recurring
Fixed Deposit or RD. With Axis Bank, you can start your RD off with as low as ₹500 a month, and eventually grow it to what you’re comfortable with. Similarly, the tenure for your deposit can range from as low as six months up to
10 years! You can apply online via internet banking, mobile banking or even visit your nearest Axis Bank branch to open one. There’s also a thorough listing of interest rates to help you figure out the best RD that you can get for yourself. You could also go for the Encash 24
Flexi Deposit which automatically transfers money in multiples of ₹5000 whenever the balance in a linked savings account crosses ₹25000.
Automate backup and cleanup for your computer and smartphone
If you use a smartphone, a computer or almost anything with onboard storage, you must be all too familiar with the situation of running out of free space. Manually clearing up space every time this happens can be tedious. An easy solution
is to use backup and cleanup apps. You can set them up to perform regular backups of your system, post which a scheduled cleanup can free up space by removing anything that has been backed up. Performing regular backups also has the advantage
of being a fallback in case your device crashes unexpectedly at any point in time. You can check out Google Files to start with, but search your relevant app stores for more options.
Automate shopping
Shopping can sometimes transform into what is known as retail therapy, but most often it’s simply a massive chore that you’d rather do without. Does anyone really enjoy going grocery shopping in their free time? Even if you do,
there are ways to automate most of it so that you can indulge in the bits that you like the most. Most e-commerce and online grocery retailers allow subscription enrolments today. As a part of this, you can set up a particular list of
things to be purchased and delivered to you regularly. Similarly there are tools in the form of browser extensions and apps that can automate deal hunting for you as well. These tools auto-apply coupons at the checkout page to get you
the best possible price, all with one click. All these are a mere search away.
Disclaimer: This article has been authored by Siddharth Parwatay, a Mumbai based independent tech-journalist, editor, and content-creator. Axis Bank doesn't influence any views of the author in any way. Axis Bank and/or the author shall not be responsible for any direct / indirect loss or liability incurred by the reader for taking any financial decisions based on the contents and information. Please consult your financial advisor before making any financial decision.
