Not sure how to start your automation journey? Todoist comes with a library of ready-made ideas, which are pre-built workflows you can preview, customize, and install in minutes. Browse them on the Ideas page, or use one of the popular staff picks to simplify your daily routines.
Browse popular ideas
Ideas give you the jump start you need to quickly automate repetitive work. Browse them all on the Ideas page, or start with one of these popular picks:
Staff picks
These are the Automations people reach for to streamline their day:
| Automation | What it does | Apps needed |
|---|---|---|
| Creates Morning Digest from Emails, Slack and Calendar | Each morning, pulls overnight emails, today’s calendar events, and unread Slack messages into a single digest. | Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack |
| Time Block Todoist Tasks by Calendar Availability | Each morning, checks your Todoist tasks and Google Calendar, then slots tasks into your free blocks. | Google Calendar, Todoist |
| Reschedule Overdue Todoist Tasks to Today | At midnight, moves all overdue tasks to today so you start each day with a clean slate. | Todoist |
| Starred Gmail Email to Task | Creates a Todoist task whenever you star an email in Gmail. | Gmail, Todoist |
Todoist ideas
These ideas are designed to work with your Todoist tasks, sections, and projects:
| Automation | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatically Categorize Media Bookmarks in Todoist | Detects new books or movies added to your Media project and fetches details automatically. |
| Create Preparation Task in Todoist from New Calendar Event | Creates a prep task in Todoist whenever a new Google Calendar event is added. |
| Send Daily Global Tech News Summary to Todoist | Sends a daily news summary directly as a Todoist task. |
| Determine Today’s Top 3 Tasks in Todoist | Picks your top three priority tasks each day. |
| Increase Overdue Task Priority in Todoist | Bumps up the priority on tasks that keep getting missed. |
| Search the Web and Summarize from Todoist | Runs a web search and summarizes the results directly into a task. |
| Weekly Todoist Task Summary | Sends you a clean summary of completed and pending tasks each week. |
Gmail ideas
These ideas connect to your Gmail account:
| Automation | What it does |
|---|---|
| Creates Morning Digest from Emails, Slack and Calendar | Pulls overnight emails, calendar events, and Slack messages into a morning digest. |
| Log Gmail Receipts in Google Sheets | Automatically logs email receipts to a Google Sheet row. |
| Scan Email to Create Newsletter Digest in Todoist | Scans your inbox and creates a newsletter digest as a Todoist task. |
Other popular workflows
These ideas connect to other apps you might already use:
| Automation | What it does |
|---|---|
| GitHub PR Review to Todoist Task | Creates a Todoist task when a pull request is assigned to you for review. |
| Turn your Granola Action Items to Todoist Tasks | Syncs action items from your Granola meeting notes directly to Todoist. |
| Weekly Dropbox Changelog | Sends a weekly summary of file changes in your Dropbox. |
Create an automation from an idea
When you’re ready, here’s how to use an idea to create an automation:
- Click Ideas on the sidebar.
- Click any idea to preview its name, description, trigger type, and the list of apps it works with.
You’ll see one of two buttons in the preview depending on the idea:
- Install now: Creates the automation and turns it on immediately. If a required app isn’t connected, it installs, but stays off until you connect it.
- Set up in chat: opens the Automation chat and creates a draft from the idea. This allows you to make additional adjustments or customizations, review the workflow, or connect additional apps before it goes live.
Get in touch
Ready to put a few of your routines on autopilot? Open Automations and browse the Ideas page. You’ll likely find a workflow that matches something you already do by hand every day.
If you’re having trouble installing or customizing an automation, get in touch with us. We’re happy to help!