This Week’s Focus
Read Time: 4 minutes
Your Team Meeting Prep, Done in 5 Minutes
This week, I tried automating my weekly team meeting prep using Make.com. A no-code automation tool that promises to connect your apps to work just…happens.
Instead of you copying and pasting emails or reminders between apps, Make.com connects them and does it automatically.
Think of it like setting up little digital dominoes, once the first one falls (“New email comes in”), the rest happen on their own (“Add it to my doc,” “Send it to the team,” etc.).
Image credit: Make.com
The goal: automatically collect team updates, drop them into a word document, and walk into Thursday’s weekly meeting ready to go.
Easy, right? (Spoiler: not quite).
What I Tried
The Setup Struggle
Make.com looks friendly, but for a non-tech person it’s not beginner-friendly.
I spent over an hour chatting with ChatGPT just to understand the basics and setup.
My biggest roadblock: MY office doesn’t use Microsoft 265, so connecting my work email in Outlook became a full on tech project that I was not prepared for.
After a few ‘this scenario failed’ errors and a lot of tweaking - I eventually gave up…for now.
Image credit: Make.com
Lessons
What I Learned
Even when automations flop, they teach you where your real time drains are.
Here’s what stood out:
Start small. Automate one step, not the whole process.
Expect trial and error. “No-code” doesn’t mean “no patience required.”
Know your setup. Tools work best when your apps already play nice together.
Failing isn’t wasted time. You learn what not to try next time.
Feasibility Rating
A Realistic Guide to Get Started
Category | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Effort | ⭐⭐⭐ | You’ll need time (and patience) to test and tweak |
Learning Curve | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Not intuitive — expect a few false starts |
Time to Setup | ⭐⭐ | Takes ~2 hours the first time |
Payoff | ⭐⭐⭐ | Once running, could save ~1 hour/week |
Tool Cost | 💰 Free plan available; paid starts at ~$10/month | Good value if you’ll automate multiple things - but if your doing this on your own to save time, aim for the free version. |
Next Time
Takeaways
Next time, I’ll try a smaller automation, maybe using Zapier or Bardeen for a quick win fist.
Because honestly? Even the failed tests taught me where I could save time and brainpower.
After all, I’m lazy and I’m just trying to hack my workday.
That’s it for this week.
Keep hacking your workday - I’ll be back next week!
The Hack The Workday Team
Here’s to saving time - and your sanity at work.