After starting residency about a year ago, I realized that the free time I once took for granted no longer existed.

Exercising, cooking, seeing friends, and watching a movie are now impossible. Even with new duty hour rules, there is little time for luxury in residency – unless you use automation to help free up hidden time.

By automation, I mean a system that follows the rules of “set it and forget it.”

Automating aspects of life during residency can unload worry and tasks from your brain. You take “chores” that require weekly or monthly completion and set them up to happen without direct effort. Automating three basic categories of tasks – finances, shopping, and education – will save precious hours.

First, finance. Many major banks and credit cards have systems for automatic bill pay. Set up your rent or mortgage checks to mail every month. Also schedule automated payments for fixed utility charges such as cable/Internet. Variably priced utilities such as gas and water can usually be set to automatically charge a credit card.

You can take the system one step further and have the monthly balance on your credit card automatically paid from your checking account. If done right, you should be left with no bills to actively pay.

Next, sign up for Amazon Prime and automate free home delivery of common staple items such as toilet paper, coffee, and personal care supplies using Amazon’s “subscribe and save” option. On a fixed interval (1-6 months), Amazon automatically bills and notifies you when items ship. This way, you will never have to spend your time off driving to Target to buy paper towels and deodorant, while also saving a little money since Amazon does not charge sales tax and prices its subscription items to be competitive with Costco bulk items.

Finally, education. I always hear fellow residents say they never have enough time or energy to read. Who can find 2 hours to sit and read Tintinalli?

The solution is podcasts. If you own an iPod or iPhone, you can set iTunes to automatically download ERCast, EmCrit, EMRAP, ICU Rounds, and PEMED. You can learn while commuting, exercising, or sipping espresso prepared from the newly arrived shipment from Amazon.

Then, when you get that rare day off, you can do whatever you want.

Dr. Ostermayer is an EM resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.