To have pretty much automated 90% of my job and pretend I'm very busy?

Thanks! I’ve saved a lot of hours with implementing new softwares and processes however there’s just some stuff I know can be way more efficient and automated. I can see that a lot of jobs in my role are now asking for PowerBI so I really need to grasp it to get ahead

I shall start with SQL and go from there - thanks

Please can you share which resources you self taught with. I read your other post about your use of Power automate, Reporting Services, Power BI and API.

I know the processes I currently do could be vastly improved however I just don’t have knowledge of these newer softwares. I’m willing to learn but it’s cutting through the vast amount of info to pick the right training and software for what I need.

My friend who is 60 took six months planned leave to have an extended holiday in Australia as her only child was giving birth there last year.
She works with a multinational in a client management position for a decade.

She gave 8 months notice and the company made arrangements for her job to be covered and trained up.

Within a week the cover person said it would need a second person, which she was given. Then it still wasn't enough, a third person was required for the workload.

She returned and her two clients had been complaining non stop that they were not going to renew their multi million contract unless she returned.

My friend had a meeting with her employers and told them that she is not interested in working full-time so will be looking elsewhere for work less taxiing, some contracting work for their competition that have approached her several times to move.

They have agreed to a 3 day week, on the same pay, and she is now mostly WFH.

This has been going on since September successfully.
She finds the job easily completed in 3 days.
Some people are just really good at what they do.
She has just booked Australia again and this time will work remotely as the alternative for her client was less palatable.

I can well believe the OP.
Years of experience and being excellent at what you do can mean that you simplify processes so that nothing is a problem.

Unbelievable

@IroningBoardAgainstTheWall I expect autonomy at work, like you, I've seen the shortcoming of my many predecessors who couldn't see the wood for the trees.
Having spent some months, wasting my time on 'pointless' work, yesterday I unveiled how I had woven an array of disparate data into a coherent tapestry, vindicating the efforts of my team and enabling a request for a 25% increase in funding.
The response was a demand to know when the spend to the end of March will be known (spoiler alert, not in February) and to have it pointed out that my figures do actually add up - because someone got out their calculator and checked.

Write a novel, enjoy the coming of Spring, revisit the music of your teenage years and enjoy the money.

As there should be if people are underemployed

Spend the time self-training for the next step in your career. This job is convenient for now, but you could probably earn tens of thousands more when you are ready to go for it.
How is your DAX code? Power Query M code? MS SSMS? Python? Tableau?
R Code? SQL? etc. etc. Do some research - do you want to go more into data engineering, data science, or into data analysis and business analysis?

Have you got a personal website with a portfolio of projects you have completed? If not, do that next.

Confess what? That you found a better way to do your job? But you found that way, not them. You're not doing anything wrong, nothing to confess!

Of course not! Well done you! With ai I've managed to automate my academic job too!

Do you wfh op?

You may have said, mn making it harder to view just your posts

@XWKD ok he only managed to complete special relativity while he was supposed to be doing his full time job? What a slacker!

Special Relativity. He was famous when he finished the General Theory.

Didn’t Einstein perfect his general theory of relativity while working for the Swiss patent office? Do that!

OP, sounds like you are massively more skilled than the previous incumbent and, if you are on the same salary either you are being underpaid for your skill set or previous person was being massively overpaid. Either way, you are fulfilling your job role very comfortably so don't feel guilty about what you do and with the rest of the time.

If OP could survive on part time pay I'm sure she would already be working part time!

This is (put with more more knowledge and business language) the sort of thing I thought you could pitch to your Headteacher. On the basis that they would have the network that would help you sell the product. But if you can do it on your own, you’d make more money.

Same problem with potentially making other people look bad or even be made redundant, though.

@IroningBoardAgainstTheWall I'm also in independent sector & cry that there aren't more people like you. Can I ask which MIS you use? If I were you I'd definitely see about consulting as a side line (with School's knowledge), i know i & others would happily pay for your expertise 🤑

I honestly wouldn’t worry, OP. You sound like you’re doing an amazing job for them and they are getting much more bang for their buck with you than they ever have. You’re probably worth more per hour than they are paying you.
Technolology is meant to improve productivity and free up time. I’d be inclined to say occasionally to your boss “I have some extra capacity just now if you’d like me to look and anything else”. Leave it up to them. I’d use the spare time for learning new stuff. Or read In Search Of Idleness by Bertrand Russell.

Totally agree with the suggestions that you offer consultancy or develop a package. So many school business managers are not data specialists and your predecessor is far from being alone. You could make money and save the public sector a ton of cash too.

For me and my company, my colleagues and I are paid for our outputs. If that means that sometimes we do not need to work our contracted hours to deliver, fine. Contracted hours in some industries are an incredibly outdated concept. In other workplaces they are essential and always will be because of the nature of the work. Forcing people to sit around bored is the worst case for everyone.

People performance manage badly too often, using attendance as a proxy for delivery, because it’s easier to quantify. People who are sitting at their desks an hour longer than they need to every day but delivering badly often get away with it.

In my case, it’s swings and roundabouts, because my job still needs doing and so for the short days I’ll also end up working some long ones, and that’s fine. But I have been bored at work in previous roles and it’s hellish. You’ve basically rendered your full time role obsolete so I would definitely be applying your problem solving brain to what comes next that meets your needs. In the meantime your boss is getting what you’re paid for and you’ve attempted to give yourself more to do and add as much value as you can, so no need to ‘confess’.

Absolutely this OP.

Worth researching at least?

I feel like the carry on people are vastly outnumbering the YABU people tbh.