Automate the Boring Stuff with N8N

There’s an old saying among programmers: if you need to do something three times, automate it.

In the AI era, this wisdom runs deeper. Automating used to require scripting—a real barrier. Now with visual tools like n8n, plus AI judgment capability, you can automate not just simple repetitive actions, but work requiring “decisions.”

Systems Thinking: Reassessing Your Workflow

Before discussing tools, let’s discuss a way of thinking.

Most daily work can be split into three types:

1. Pure repetition - Same every time, no judgment needed
2. Pattern-based judgment - Has learnable patterns, AI can handle
3. Creative decisions - Requires uniquely human insight

The value of automation: hand off types 1 and 2 to machines, save time for type 3.

This isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about who you want to become. Do you want to be someone processing repetitive tasks daily, or someone focusing energy on genuinely creative work?

Why n8n

Workflow automation tools on the market:

• Zapier - Easy to use, but expensive
• Make - Powerful, steep learning curve
• n8n - Open source, free, powerful, excellent AI integration

n8n’s core advantage: self-host for free. And its AI nodes are particularly well-developed, with very flexible OpenAI integration.

Quick Start

Beginners should try the cloud version first: register free at n8n.io, start immediately.

Technical folks wanting to self-host, one Docker command:

docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n n8nio/n8n

Access localhost:5678 to begin.

In Practice: AI Email Classifier

Let’s build a real workflow: auto-classify emails, send Slack alerts for urgent ones.

Flow Logic

Every 5 min check inbox 
  → AI analyzes each new email (urgent/important/normal/spam) 
  → Urgent emails → Slack notification

Step 1: Add Trigger

Gmail node → “On new email” trigger → Connect account → Check every 5 minutes

Step 2: AI Processing

OpenAI node config:

Model: gpt-4o-mini
Prompt: 
You are an email classifier. Analyze this email:
Subject: {{$json.subject}}
Content: {{$json.text}}

Return JSON: {"category": "urgent/important/normal/spam", "summary": "one-sentence summary"}

Step 3: Conditional Branch

If node: Check if category equals “urgent” → Yes → Slack notification (include subject, sender, summary)

Click Activate, workflow starts running.

More Automation Scenarios

Social Media Content Calendar

Every Monday read Google Sheet pending content → ChatGPT generates image prompt → Midjourney generates image → Post to Twitter → Log back to Sheet

Entire flow hands-free.

Customer Support Automation

New ticket arrives → AI analyzes issue type → Match FAQ knowledge base → Draft reply for support to review

Support just confirms and sends. Efficiency doubled.

Content Monitoring

Daily pull RSS → AI filters irrelevant content → Generate summaries → Send to Telegram

Powerful for competitor monitoring and industry tracking.

Practical Principles

Start simple. Don’t build complex flows immediately. Start with “receive email, send Slack notification.” Expand once familiar.

Add human confirmation for critical actions. AI judgment can err. Sending emails, modifying data—irreversible actions need a confirmation step.

Handle errors well. APIs time out, formats break. Add If nodes after critical steps to check success, send alerts on failure.

Backup regularly. Workflows export as JSON. Save periodically—recover if accidentally deleted.

Costs

Option	Price
n8n Cloud free	2500 executions/month
n8n Starter	$20/month
n8n Pro	$50/month
Self-host	Server costs, software free
OpenAI gpt-4o-mini	~$0.15/1000 requests

Assuming 100 email classifications per day, monthly API cost under $5.

Deeper Thinking

Automation isn’t just an efficiency tool—it’s a life philosophy.

When you start automating, you’re forced to ask: does this really need me to do it personally? That question itself is valuable.

Many people’s workdays fill with “must-do” small tasks. But examined closely, most are repetitive labor machines could handle.

Reclaim your time. Spend it where human intelligence truly matters.

That’s the ultimate meaning of automation.