The Art of Productive Laziness: Leveraging Automation for Meaningful Work

I’ve disarmed bombs, scaled companies, and lived across ten countries. Oddly, one of the hardest things I still do is make things simple.

It sounds counterintuitive. But whether in uniform, behind a camera, or leading at LN Webworks, I’ve found the real work isn’t in doing more; it’s in reducing friction.

For me, automation isn’t about efficiency alone. It’s a conscious choice to live fully by living differently. Every system I design, every workflow I automate, is less about saving time and more about aligning time with purpose.

Why: Living Fully by Living Differently

Over the years, I’ve reframed my life around a simple purpose: live fully by living differently.

Automation isn’t about cutting corners; it’s about creating space for what matters most: reflection, healthy relationships, and meaningful leadership. The systems I build aren’t just technical hacks; they’re intentional choices to conserve energy for curiosity, people, and purpose.

This perspective was sharpened in uniform. As an EOD journeyman, repetition kept us alive, but innovation kept us ahead. In civilian life, I’ve learned the same applies: if we let boredom or inefficiency fester, outcomes degrade. But if we streamline wisely, people thrive.

What: Making Content Creation Frictionless

When I began showing up online through ImMichaelCannon, my intent was to build trust around Axelerant’s culture; through stories of #Automation, #Empowerment, and #AxelerantLifestyle.

But one weekly post soon grew into the need for daily insights, curated from dozens of articles, across multiple channels. That pace wasn’t sustainable by sheer willpower. As I once wrote in Discipline down, Environment up, discipline is limited; environment shapes behavior.

So, I built an environment where content creation itself became frictionless:

1. Capture: Articles flow into a form.
2. Suggest: Automation generates summaries, shares, and images in my voice.
3. Refine: Slack delivers draft content, Grammarly polishes it.
4. Schedule: Bulk tools turn long pieces into bite-sized posts, tailored per channel.

It took me four versions to get this right. And like most things in life, the hardest part was admitting what bored me and choosing to design around it instead of fighting it.

What used to drain me now energizes me. In two hours, I can produce what once took two weeks. And that’s the difference between struggling and done with time for other things.

How: Values in Action

Three values guide how I approach automation and leadership: smile, respect, and purpose.

• Smile: A system that feels friendly, not forced. Just as a smiling invites conversation, a well-designed workflow invites engagement.
• Respect: Automation respects my time and my team’s effort. It removes drudgery without removing ownership.
• Purpose: Each automation aligns with a conscious choice. Not everything should be automated, only what frees us to be more human where it matters.

That distinction, between eliminating toil and enabling joy, is what keeps “productive laziness” from sliding into carelessness.

Lessons in Leadership and Innovation

At Axelerant, nobody needed to tell me to build this system. I chose to because I value time, for myself and others. The payoff isn’t just efficiency; it’s empowerment. Anyone on the team can now step into version 4 of this system and contribute without the grind.

This mirrors what I’ve written before about open source culture: automation is respect for people’s effort. By designing systems that handle the repetitive, we let people focus on what inspires them. And inspired people stick around, contribute more deeply, and build lasting cultures.

Conclusion

The paradox is this: it takes effort to make things effortless. But when we invest that effort, we transform frustration into flow.

For me, that means I can now read widely, share meaningfully, and still have the energy to hike, parent, and mentor. Sometimes I even surprise myself by creating space for a month of content in advance.

That’s the art of productive laziness: working hard once so life stays lighter every day.

Now, the invitation turns to you: Where in your own life or work could you invest effort once, so you can live more fully every day?

Because leadership and innovation aren’t separate pursuits; they’re close friends walking the same trail, making the way clearer for those who follow.