Welcome to Article #3 in our AI Tips for Everyday People series! This time, we’re focusing on set-and-forget automations—AI workflows that quietly save you hours each week by handling repetitive tasks in the background.
Each automation includes:
✅ Exact tools to use (all free or freemium)
🔧 Step-by-step setup instructions
💬 Ready-to-use prompts
Let’s reclaim your time!
1. Automatically Organize Your Inbox with AI
“Never miss an important email again”
Tools: Gmail + Sanebox (free tier available)
How it works:
AI learns which emails are important, then:
- Snoozes newsletters
- Highlights urgent messages
- Unsubscribes from spam automatically
💡 Set it up:
- Connect SaneBox to your email
- Train it for 1 week by moving emails to “SaneLater”
- Use this filter prompt:
“Prioritize emails from [your boss’ name] and flag any with ‘urgent’ or ‘ASAP’ in subject.”
📌 Pro Tip: Combine with Shortwave for AI-powered email summaries.
2. AI-Powered Study Assistant
“Turn textbooks into smart flashcards automatically”
The automation:
- Upload your study materials
- AI generates flashcards and practice tests
- Creates personalized study reminders
💡 Try this now:
Prompt for ChatGPT:
“Create 20 flashcards from this biology chapter on cell structure. Include 5 multiple-choice practice questions.”
📌 Pro Tip: Use Otter.ai to record lectures and automatically convert them to study notes.
3. AI Expense Tracking (Zero Receipt Sorting)
“Your personal finance department”
Tools: Expensify (free for basic use) + Google Drive
How it works:
- Forward receipts to receipts@expensify.com
- AI extracts amounts, dates, and categories
- Auto-generates monthly reports
💡 Starter prompt:
“Create a Q3 expense report showing spending by category, with pie charts.”
📌 Pro Tip: Connect to Google Sheets for custom budgeting.
4. Automated Meeting Notes & Action Items
“Attend meetings without taking notes”
Tools: Fireflies.ai (free) + Notion
The magic:
- Fireflies joins your Zoom/Teams calls
- Records, transcribes, and highlights decisions
- Sends summary to Notion
💡 Prompt for post-meeting:
“Identify 3 action items from this meeting. Format as: [Task] | [Owner] | [Deadline].”
📌 Pro Tip: Set up a Notion template to auto-organize these.
5. AI-Powered Grocery Shopping
“Your fridge restocks itself”
The flow:
- Say: “Alexa, add milk to my AnyList” when you run low
- AI predicts when you’ll need more based on usage
- Auto-generates shopping lists by store section
💡 Advanced prompt:
“Create a Walmart shopping list organized by aisle, prioritizing items I buy weekly.”
📌 Pro Tip: Connect to Instacart for 1-click reordering.
Your Turn
Start with one automation that addresses your biggest time drain. Many of these take <15 minutes to set up but pay off indefinitely.
Which automation will you try first? Tell me in the comments!
🔜 Coming next: Article #4 – “AI for Health: 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Wellbeing.”
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That Helpful Dad 