The Tasks I Automated With Make.com (And the Ones I Decided Not To)

Not everything should be automated. Here's my framework for deciding what's worth automating, with real examples of tasks I've automated and tasks I deliberately chose not to automate, and why.

The Framework: Frequency × Time × Error Cost

I use a simple mental model to decide if something's worth automating:

Frequency: How often does this task happen? Once a week? Daily? Hourly?

Time: How long does it actually take? (Not should take—actually takes)

Error Cost: What happens if I mess it up? Nothing? A disappointed customer? Revenue loss?

Then I calculate: (Frequency × Time) - (Build Time / Months to Breakeven) = Worth Automating?

A task that happens 5 times per month and takes 10 minutes each time = 50 minutes per month = 600 minutes per year. If it takes me 2 hours to automate, I break even in 4 months. That's a yes.

A task that happens once per month and takes 5 minutes = 60 minutes per year. If it takes 2 hours to automate, I never break even. That's a no.

Months is my typical breakeven window. Beyond that, I skip it.

Tasks I Automated (The Winners)

Content Tasks

Publishing blog posts to social media: I write in Google Docs, move to "Published" folder, workflow posts to X, LinkedIn, and Mastodon. Saves 20 minutes per post. Frequency: 3-4x/month. Win: Yes. ROI: Broke even in month 2.
Scheduling newsletter sends: I used to manually log into my email service and schedule emails. Now I write a JSON payload, send it via webhook, and Make handles the scheduling. Saves 10 minutes per send. Frequency: 2x/month. Win: Yes, but marginal.
Updating my KPI dashboard with new metrics: Used to be a manual Google Sheets update every Friday. Now it's automated. Saves 30 minutes per week. Win: Absolutely yes.

Data Tasks

Saving form submissions to my database: Contact forms, tool requests, user submissions—all automatically saved to Airtable with proper tagging. Saves 2-3 hours per month in manual data entry. Win: Yes, but more importantly reduces human error.
Lead scoring and segmentation: Incoming leads automatically get scored based on their behavior and routed to the right email sequence. Used to do this manually every Monday. Saves 90 minutes per week. Win: Absolutely.
Backup critical data: My Airtable bases automatically backup to Google Drive daily. Saves zero time, but prevents potential catastrophe. Win: Yes for peace of mind.

Communication Tasks

Sending notifications for critical events: When a tool submission fails or a workflow errors, I get a Slack notification instantly. Saves debugging time. Win: Yes.
Welcome emails for new subscribers: Triggered automatically when someone joins my mailing list. Saves 5 minutes per subscriber. With 50+ new subscribers per month, that's 250 minutes saved. Win: Major yes.
Monthly activity summaries: GPT writes a summary of my metrics and sends it to me every Monday morning. Used to write this manually. Saves 45 minutes per week. Win: Yes.

Tasks I Chose Not To Automate (And Why)

Creative Work

Writing blog post titles and intros: I could have GPT generate these, but they'd be generic. Titles and intros are where personality lives. I want readers to recognize my voice. Automating this would make everything sound the same. Decision: Keep manual.

Designing my social media graphics: This requires creative decisions about color, layout, and brand consistency. I could use templates, but templates limit expression. Decision: Keep manual, but I use tools to speed it up (like Canva's batch feature).

Relationship-Based Work

Responding to customer inquiries: I get 10-15 direct messages per week from people asking questions or needing help. I could have an automated response send them to a help page, but that feels cold. These people took time to reach out. I should respond personally. Decision: Always manual.

Following up with leads who haven't responded: I used to have a workflow that would auto-send follow-up emails after 3 days. But follow-ups feel more personal if I write them. Plus, timing matters—some people just need more time. Decision: Manual, but I use Slack reminders to prompt me.

Things That Change Too Often

Updating my project portfolio: I'm constantly tweaking descriptions, updating metrics, and adding new details. If I automate the publishing, I'll be fighting the automation every time I want to change something. Decision: Manual update. (Though I'm testing a semi-automated approach for metrics only.)

Writing product announcements: Every new feature or update I release needs tailored messaging. I can't automate that variability. Decision: Manual, every time.

High-Accountability Work

Reviewing resume feedback before sending to users: My Shadow Hound tool uses AI to optimize resumes. I could auto-send the results, but I want to spot-check a sample of outputs each week to ensure quality. An auto-send without oversight would be irresponsible. Decision: Manual review, then send.

Approving new features before they go live: I have automation that stages new versions of my tools, but I always manually test and approve before launch. Too much can go wrong. Decision: Manual approval required.

The Decision Framework (Checklist)

Here's what I actually ask before automating something:

Frequency: Does it happen at least 2x per month? (If not, probably skip it)
Time: Does it take at least 5 minutes per occurrence? (If not, not worth it)
Repeatability: Is the process the same every time? (If it varies wildly, automation is fragile)
Breakeven math: Will it pay for itself within 6 months? (If not, deprioritize)
Error tolerance: If it fails silently, would I notice? (If not, need monitoring)
Quality impact: Does automating this reduce quality? (If yes, don't automate)
Skill requirement: Do I enjoy doing this? (If yes, maybe keep it manual—it's part of what makes the work meaningful)

If I answer yes to questions 1-5, and no to 6-7, I automate it.

The Real Truth

Automation feels productive because you're building systems. But the goal isn't to automate everything. The goal is to reclaim time for the work only you can do—the creative, relationship-driven, high-stakes work that actually matters.

Some of my best work gets done manually, slowly, thoughtfully. Some work is genuinely better when automated because it removes variability and human error. Most work is somewhere in between.

The trap is automating your way out of the good work. Don't do that. Use automation to eliminate the friction, not to eliminate yourself.