We need to talk about bullshit tasks.
Not bullshit in the sense of being unimportant. But bullshit in the sense of repetitive, time-sucking drudgery.
Here’s the deal: “important” and “repetitive, time-sucking drudgery” aren’t mutually exclusive.
Entering donor gifts into a database is important. So is coding invoices or preparing paperwork for new hires.
But the fact is, those repetitive time-suckers—even important ones—are overwhelming our workdays.
According to Asana’s “Anatomy of Work 2023” report, roughly 60% of the workday is eaten up by repetitive, mundane tasks. Or what they call “work about work.”
Sixty percent. That’s almost two-thirds of every day.
Put another way: only 40% of your time goes toward meaningful, higher-level tasks that engage your mind, feed your creativity, and drive your sense of accomplishment.
This, my friends, no es bueno.
And in nonprofits? I’d argue it’s even worse. You’re already dealing with financial uncertainty, chronic understaffing, and rising service demands. Add the drag of repetitive work, and you’ve got a recipe for burnout.
There’s a lot of talk about automation these days. It’s certainly not a cure-all for everything. But it’s a great tool in the fight against those bullshit tasks.
Hey there! I’m Kristen, a nonprofit consultant and founder of Clockwork Scribe Consulting. I help nonprofit leaders and teams work smarter, tackle challenges faster, and free up time for the mission that matters.
Alright, let’s talk automation!
What is automation?
Before we dive into how automation can help you, let’s first explore what it is.
Merriam-Webster will tell you it’s “the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically.” True, but not all that helpful.
Here’s how I think about it: automation is using technology to take repetitive, necessary tasks off your plate so you can focus on the work that actually needs your brain.
You know, the things that only a human can bring: experience, intelligence, empathy, or judgement.
If you do the task a lot, and the steps don’t change much, it’s probably a good candidate for automation.
Let’s explore some ways automation can positively impact your work using the example of accounts payable (AP) automation.
Automation benefits
Efficiency and time savings
One of my clients, for whom I researched AP automation systems, estimated that keying in information to pay the agency’s monthly credit card bill could take up to half a day.
Yes, you read that right. Half a workday, dedicated to one bill.
And that didn’t even include program staff time to gather receipts, fill out vouchers, chase signatures, and deliver them to finance.
Even for payments less hefty than the credit card bill, you can still imagine how that manual process, multiplied across dozens of invoices and checks each week, eats up staff time.
AP automation software could free staff—finance and program—from hours of repetitive data entry each week.
The automation begins the moment invoices arrive in a designated inbox or portal. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI tools extract the critical details—vendor name, amount due, invoice number, due date—to populate the system.
Approvals and communication all take place within the system, with an audit trail of all activity.
Reminders are sent automatically to nudge staff who haven’t approved a payment.
Instead of hours of data entry and follow-ups, the AP staff spends their time validating information and focusing on higher-value work like analyzing cash flow, purchasing patterns, or payment processing times.
Accuracy and reduced errors
Two words: vigilance decrement.
What the heck is that?
It’s a fancy way of saying your performance drops the longer you’re stuck doing the same thing.
And when the task is repetitive? Studies show mistakes spike because your brain just checks out.
In plain English: you zone out. And when you’re zoned out, you screw up.
Even the most experienced staff make accidental errors when so many processes are manual. Hand-keying expenses into an ERP. Entering client data into tracking software. Transferring new hire info from paper into an HR system.
The more times people have to type (or retype) information, the more chances there are for mistakes.
That’s a big deal when funding is tied to strict reporting requirements. A single mistake could snowball into an audit headache—or worse.
Automation helps prevent those mistakes at the source. In accounts payable, for example, platforms can flag duplicate invoices or irregularities before they hit the books.
Most systems still put extracted invoices into a queue for human review—because OCR isn’t flawless—but here’s the difference: staff are validating, not retyping.
Instead of hours of data entry and triple-checks, they spend minutes confirming the system’s work and moving on to higher-value tasks.
Staff morale and burnout prevention
In a 2023 survey conducted by the National Council of Nonprofits, 50.2% of respondents listed stress and burnout as a barrier to recruiting and retaining staff.
Most nonprofit folks I know don’t get burned out by the mission. They burn out on the paperwork, admin, and “other duties as assigned.”
And let’s be clear: those burdens are fueled by a complicated intersection of workforce shortages, tight budgets, and heavy reporting requirements for government grants and contracts.
Using automation to remove repetitive, low-value tasks can give people back the time to focus on what really matters. Namely, tasks they find engaging, meaningful, and critical to the organization’s mission.
And that may be more important than you think.
In Docusign’s “Digital Maturity Report 2024,” which surveyed decision-makers in France, Germany, the UK, and Ireland, 25% said they’d consider leaving their current role due to “frustration with current systems, processes, and ways of working.”
Twenty-three percent said they’d consider leaving to “work for a more digital-forward company.”
That’s not about pay or passion. That’s about people being done with wasting time (and brainpower) on outdated workflows.
Automation isn’t about replacing judgment. It’s about protecting your brain from death by a thousand bullshit tasks.
Will it solve every problem and erase every burden? Nope.
But it does give staff more space to use their skills, experience, and judgment on the skilled work that actually needs them.
Scalability and growth
Here’s the thing about growth: it’s not just about doing more work—it’s about doing more without burning out your people.
For nonprofits, that’s a tricky balance.
New grants come in, service demand spikes, or fundraising ramps up, but staffing levels usually don’t rise to match.
Automation works by scaling the process itself.
Accounts payable platforms, for example, can handle hundreds of invoices flowing through a queue with the same consistency as ten.
The result? Your team doesn’t have to choose between accuracy, timeliness, and sanity.
Automation creates the breathing room to grow programs, take on new funding, or expand outreach without swamping staff under another avalanche of repetitive tasks.
Wrapping up
Automation isn’t a magic bullet, but it is a powerful tool for nonprofits looking to cut down on repetitive work and keep staff focused on what matters most.
The next step? Getting clear on what you actually need before you jump in. Not every process is worth automating, and not every tool is right for every organization.
But if you start by targeting the bullshit tasks—the ones eating up two-thirds of the workday—you’ll be on the right track.
What automations are you using in your organization? Drop ‘em in the comments below—you may inspire someone else!
Ready to think about how your organization can stop losing time to repetitive admin work? That’s exactly the kind of challenge I help leaders tackle. Through strategy sessions, mentoring, and real-time advising, I work with nonprofit teams to streamline how they operate, cut down on burnout, and free up more energy for mission-driven work.
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