Find the tasks you repeat every week, ranked by time saved

How this helps you

You find automations from what you actually did, not from a list of ideas, and you start with the one that saves the most time.

Look through my work from the last two weeks: emails I sent, meetings, Slack messages, docs I edited, and anything else you can see.

List the tasks I did more than once, grouped by type. For each one, tell me:
- what the task is, in one line
- how often I did it
- roughly how long it takes me each time
- whether you could do it for me, partly or fully, and what you'd need access to

Then pick the top 3 to automate first, ranked by time saved, and suggest a routine or a dedicated bot for each.

What they did

Eric Zakariasson shared a prompt to try with your Bot. It asks the Bot to look through your work from the last two weeks (emails you sent, meetings, Slack messages, docs you edited and anything else it can see) and list the tasks you did more than once, grouped by type. For each task it says what the task is in one line, how often you did it, roughly how long it takes each time, and whether the Bot could do it partly or fully, plus what access it would need. Then it picks the top three to automate first, ranked by time saved, and suggests a routine or a dedicated Bot for each.

Who it's for: Anyone who knows they should automate more but can't say what first.

Before you start

• Gmail or Outlook, your calendar, and Slack connected, plus Google Drive or Notion if your docs live there.
• Your main Bot (the one with the most context about you).

How to try it

1. Connect the apps where your work happens. The answer is only as good as what the Bot can see.
2. Paste the prompt below into your main Bot.
3. Read the list and correct the time estimates; the Bot is guessing how long things take you.
4. Pick one of the top three and ask the Bot to build it, as a routine or as its own Bot.
5. Run it by hand once before you let it run on a schedule.

What to expect

A grouped list such as Weekly client update (4 times, about 30 minutes each, could draft fully, needs Drive), followed by a top three with a suggested routine or Bot for each.

Common mistakes

• Running it before connecting your apps. With nothing to read it can only guess.
• Automating all three at once. Build one, check it for a week, then the next.
• Trusting the time estimates. Fix them; they decide the ranking.

Related tips

• Ask which of your past prompts should be routines: One prompt makes a Bot look back over what you keep asking and say what should be a routine, a trigger, or its own Bot.
• Create a routine by asking, then ask what else to schedule: Describe a schedule in one sentence to make a routine, then ask the Bot which routines it thinks you need.
• Make your first task boring: Start with something checkable, then add one thing at a time.
• Borrow skills from public Bots before building your own: Point your Bot at a directory of public Bots, give it your goals, and have it list which skills you need and where they come from before adding anything.

Worth knowingThe prompt is quoted from Eric Zakariasson's post on X; the steps around it are ours.

Learn more: Grok Bot Routines Not Working? Do It by Hand, Save a Skill, Then Schedule · All Grok Bot routines tips