How AI Can Quietly Give You Back Half an Hour a Day

In a column, Noam Cohen, founder of Critique IL, argues that everyday AI use can save workers about 30 minutes a day, not through flashy tasks but by shaving time off routine ones. He says the biggest gains come from boring jobs like drafting emails, summarizing documents, preparing for meetings, translating messages, and organizing to-do lists.

Cohen cites Microsoft research on Copilot users, including a large government trial with about 20,000 employees, where participants reported saving more than 25 minutes a day and over 70% said they spent less time on routine work. He also points to another study showing that even a modest saving of about 11 minutes a day, sustained for roughly 11 weeks, adds up to about 10 hours, or one workweek a year.

His practical advice is to give AI more context. He says the difference between “write me an email” and “write a short email to a client who is late paying, in a polite but firm tone” is huge, and that 10 seconds of explanation can save five minutes of editing. He recommends stopping whenever a task takes more than a few minutes and repeats, then asking whether AI can produce the same result faster.

Cohen also warns that AI should not be relied on for facts that cannot be verified or for decisions requiring judgment. In those cases, he says, it should be a starting point, not the final answer. He closes by saying the real benefit for managers is organizational, because if each employee gains half an hour a day, the company’s competitive position changes by the end of the quarter.