What does it mean that operational automation?

Automate every operational step that does not require human judgment.

Example: You spend twelve minutes every morning copying yesterday's incomplete tasks into today's task list. This requires zero judgment — it is a mechanical transfer. You set up a recurring automation that rolls incomplete items forward at midnight. Those twelve minutes disappear permanently, freeing 73 hours per year for work that actually requires your brain.

Try this: List every operational step you performed yesterday. Mark each step with H (requires human judgment) or M (mechanical — could be done by a rule, script, or template). Pick the single highest-frequency M step and automate it this week using the simplest tool available: a recurring calendar event, an email filter, a saved template, or a two-line script.