5 No-Brainer Automations to Implement in Your Business Today

Written By Mimi Sam

Running a business means juggling countless small tasks, but many of them don’t actually need your hands on them. With just a few simple automations, you can save hours every week and reduce the chance of things slipping through the cracks.

Here are 5 easy automations you can set up today to take back your time.

1. Automatically Save Email Attachments to Google Drive

The Problem: Downloading, renaming, and filing attachments manually is a huge time waster.

The Automation: Every time you receive an email with an attachment, it’s automatically saved to a designated Google Drive folder.

How to Set It Up (with Zapier or Make):

  1. Create a new Zap (Zapier) or Scenario (Make).

  2. Trigger: Choose Gmail → New Email with Attachment.

  3. Action: Choose Google Drive → Upload File.

  4. Select the destination folder (e.g., “Client Files” or “Invoices”).

  5. Test it → From now on, files go straight into Drive.

2. Turn Starred Emails into Tasks

The Problem: Important emails often get lost in your inbox.

The Automation: Whenever you star an email in Gmail, it creates a task in your project manager (Trello, Asana, or Notion).

How to Set It Up:

  1. In Zapier/Make, create a new workflow.

  2. Trigger: Gmail → New Starred Email.

  3. Action: Trello/Asana/Notion → Create Task.

  4. Map fields (email subject = task name, email body = task description).

  5. Test it → Star an email, see it appear in your task list instantly.

3. Auto-Add New Contacts to a Google Sheet CRM

The Problem: Leads and contacts get scattered across your inbox, calendar, and forms.

The Automation: Every time you receive a new email, form submission, or calendar invite, the contact info is logged in a Google Sheet.

How to Set It Up:

  1. Create a Google Sheet with columns: Name, Email, Source, Date.

  2. In Zapier/Make:

    • Trigger: Google Form submission OR New Gmail sender OR New Calendar Event Attendee.

    • Action: Google Sheets → Add Row.

  3. Test it → Watch your CRM fill itself.

4. Calendar Reminders by Email + SMS

The Problem: Missed appointments waste time and money.

The Automation: Send an email and/or text reminder before every meeting.

How to Set It Up:

  1. Use a scheduling tool like Calendly or Acuity (built-in reminders).

  2. Or, in Zapier/Make:

    • Trigger: Google Calendar → Event Start.

    • Action 1: Gmail → Send Reminder Email.

    • Action 2: SMS App (like Twilio) → Send Text Reminder.

  3. Set reminders for 24 hours + 1 hour before the event.

5. Back Up Social Media Posts to a Content Library

The Problem: Once you post on Instagram or LinkedIn, your content disappears down the feed. Repurposing is harder without an archive.

The Automation: Every time you post, the caption and image are stored in Google Sheets or Notion.

How to Set It Up:

  1. In Zapier/Make:

    • Trigger: Instagram Post Published or LinkedIn Post Created.

    • Action: Google Sheets → Add Row (store post link + caption).

    • Optional: Save images to Google Drive.

  2. Over time, you’ll build a full content library to reuse later.

🌟 Final Thoughts

These automations are easy to set up, low-cost (or free), and immediately save you hours each week. The best part? Once they’re in place, they run silently in the background, freeing you to focus on growth.

👉 Want help setting up these workflows in your own business? That’s exactly what I do at PetalOps. Book a free discovery call and let’s make your business bloom without the chaos. 🌿

Mimi Sam