When you look at a backlog of 50 tasks, the natural instinct is to work through them one by one. But some tasks are really the same task wearing different hats. A template recognizes the pattern and solves them all at once.
The Pattern
We audited our open task list and found clusters of tasks that share the same underlying operation:
Link Enrichment — 4 tasks, 1 template
- Grab page titles during link checks
- Summarize link content with AI
- Generate thumbnails with Playwright screenshots
- Find archive.org versions of broken links
All four are "take a URL, process it, store the result." One Celery task with options replaces four separate implementations.
Embeddable Widgets — 6 tasks, 1 framework
- Chat widget
- Booking/scheduling widget
- Contact form widget
- Event calendar widget
- File portal widget
- Project status widget
Same JS embed pattern, same "Powered by AskRobots" branding, different data source. One reusable widget framework covers all six.
Contact Cleanup — 3 tasks, 1 template
- Review enrichment suggestions
- Review duplicate contacts
- Contact data janitor loop
All three are "scan contacts, find problems, propose fixes." One scheduled template with configurable rules.
Content Generation — unlimited tasks, 1 template
- Write seller education articles
- SEO content for any project
- Blog posts, documentation, marketing copy
The text execution template already does this. Every content task is just a different prompt.
The Math
Our backlog had ~50 open tasks. At least 15 of them collapse into 4 templates. That's not 15 separate implementations — it's 4, each reusable for future work too.
Every template you build doesn't just solve today's task. It solves every future task that matches the pattern. That's leverage.
The Insight
Tasks are specific. Templates are general. When you catch yourself writing a task that sounds like another task you already wrote, that's a template waiting to be built.
Build the template once. Use it forever.