This will obviously not apply to every job/role, but there is a plethora of low cost and free automation services that can be leveraged to free up your time while on the company dime. If this then that, zapier, even app builder websites. But here is the catch; You can’t tell ANYONE. Not your work wife, your favorite supervisor who used to be in your job and is ‘fighting for you and your team’, and especially not your team.
I automated tasks, and with the free time learned to code in VBA for a stupid spreadsheet they wanted each month that took 8-12 hours to compile and color code. I could do it in 15 minutes, and take the next two days to do nothing. I left the company and I still bill them $300/mo for 20 minutes of time.
They pay for your time, not the innovation. Leverage your desire to screw your employer and give yourself more free time, or get a 2nd job.
They don’t own you.