The Power of Patterns
“Everything is a formula,” wrote Mel Robbins in Let Them Theory. The most successful people aren’t reinventing the wheel—they’re uncovering and adapting proven frameworks.
I’ve been turning this idea over in my mind lately, seeing these building-block patterns everywhere: cells combining into living tissue, code snippets evolving into dynamic systems, simple routines growing into rich habits. It’s fascinating how the right combinations don’t just add up—they come alive.
These patterns are hiding in plain sight:
- Justin Welsh’s LinkedIn OS breaks viral posts into reusable templates
- Layla’s ProcessDriven workshop transforms SOP creation from dreaded task to simple process
- Every entrepreneurship podcast promises their “repeatable framework” and “step-by-step process”
What if they’re all missing something deeper?
When Patterns Meet Reality
These patterns are everywhere because they work—and they’re valuable starting points. But through experimentation, I’ve discovered they can evolve into something even more personal: tiny workflows.
The journey from framework to flow looks like this:
- Formulas give us reliable starting points
- Templates help us gain initial momentum
- Frameworks show us the bigger picture
- But tiny workflows? They grow with us
What makes tiny workflows different is their ability to adapt. While frameworks give us the map, tiny workflows are more like a compass—helping us navigate our unique path.
Think of tiny workflows as personal, digital mini-systems that solve your daily frustrations. Unlike rigid formulas, they’re built from small, interchangeable parts – like LEGO bricks for your digital life that snap together in ways that just make sense.
This approach combines two powerful ideas: BJ Fogg’s insight that small, stackable changes create lasting routines, and James Clear’s principle that we must design our environment for success. Applied to our digital lives, tiny workflows either remove friction from important tasks or add strategic friction to distractions.
But here’s where it gets interesting: these workflows start connecting in unexpected ways. Your reading highlights flow into an AI tool, which amplifies your learning routine. Each piece is simple alone, but together? They create a digital environment that evolves with you.
Tiny Workflows at Work
Here are three of my personal examples:
Learn Faster
NotebookLM is the perfect tiny workflow – almost no setup, immediate value. I drop in reports I want to learn from, and within minutes, I have an AI-generated podcast for my next walk. What started as an untamed, unvisited “read it later” folder has become a pleasant reading alternative that sparks ideas and next actions (read, delete, or save for later). It’s a LEGO brick that keeps finding new ways to connect.
- Initial setup: Minutes
- Daily use: Upload and go
- Friction removed: Reading queue overwhelm
- Unexpected benefit: Learning while moving
Stay Focused
Two browsers – Vivaldi (personal) and Brave (work) – create natural boundaries. That tiny moment of friction when switching between them makes me pause and ask, “Is this really work-related?” Spoiler: It’s not.
- Initial setup: One hour per browser
- Daily use: Automatic focus mode
- Friction added: Intentional context-switching
- Unexpected benefit: Clearer work/life boundaries
Amplify Individual Productivity
My Weekly Accountability custom GPT connects reading insights with weekly planning. When I mention a challenge, it surfaces relevant wisdom from books I’ve highlighted years ago—turning static notes into timely advice.
- Initial setup: Several hours of curation and testing
- Weekly use: 15-minute focused sessions
- Friction removed: Calendar coordination
- Unexpected benefit: Better insight into my planning and progress
What Makes Them Work
These examples reveal a deeper pattern: successful tiny workflows share key traits that make them uniquely powerful. As James Clear writes, “You don’t have to be the victim of your environment. You can also be the architect of it.” For knowledge workers, that environment is digital. Tiny workflows succeed because they’re:
- Problem-specific: They target one friction point (like NotebookLM solving my overwhelming reading list)
- Investment-aligned: Setup time matches value (from minutes for simple tools to hours for life-changing systems)
- Evolution-ready: They grow with you (like my GPT learning from years of Kindle highlights)
- Connection-friendly: Each workflow is a LEGO brick waiting to snap into others
These patterns aren’t just traits – they’re sources of energy. When workflows connect, they create new patterns with unexpected power. Like compounds in chemistry, the right combinations can release surprising amounts of energy.
The truth about tiny workflows? They compound in unexpected, delightful, and powerful ways.
– Kimberly York
Beyond the Task List
Each automated task and streamlined process gives you back time. Time for that side business. Time with your kids. Time to think and return to your center.
These moments can’t be optimized. But they vanish when we’re not looking.
This is why tiny workflows matter: they handle the small stuff so you can focus on what counts.
Start Your Journey
Want to explore tiny workflows together? I’m creating a mini-course (itself a tiny workflow) that will help you jumpstart building your own digital systems. You’ll discover how to create 4 “learn faster” workflows that grow with you.
Tiny systems. Massive results.