Start with the boring list
- Write down every task you repeat weekly
- Mark the ones with a clear trigger (an email arrives, a form is sent)
- Mark the ones with a clear output (a row, a file, a message)
- Automate only tasks that have both
Common building blocks
- Triggers: new email, new form entry, a schedule
- Actions: create a row, send a message, move a file
- Filters: run only when a field matches
- Logs: keep a record of every run so failures are visible
Keep it maintainable
Name each automation after the job it does, keep one owner per automation, and review the list every quarter. An automation nobody remembers is a future outage.