What is photoshop actions?

An action is a series of tasks that you play back on a single file or a batch of files - menu commands, palette options, tool actions, and so on. You can create an action that changes the size of an image, applies a filter to the image for a particular effect, and then saves the file in the desired format.

Actions can include stops that let you perform tasks that cannot be recorded (for example, using a painting tool).

Here - [1] 60 Photoshop Actions for Photo Touch-Ups and Enhancements  you can download 60 free actions for photoshop which can save you lot of time. I did. And look what I got so far!

So go ahead and play with it!