Why does my n8n schedule run at the wrong time?

The schedule uses the workflow's timezone, which often defaults to America/New_York. Set your own timezone in the workflow Settings before choosing the hour.

Is this course really free?

Yes. Stepthrough is completely free, and the practice copy needs no accounts. To build it for real you need your own n8n and Google accounts, and some of those cost money once you use them for real work.

Does this workflow use AI?

No. It is a plain schedule, Sheets and Gmail workflow. That makes it a good first automation before moving on to AI agents.

How does n8n send one email per row?

Each row from Google Sheets becomes an item, and n8n runs the Gmail step once per item. Three rows means three emails, with no loop to build.

How do I remove "sent with n8n" from the email?

In the Gmail node, add the Append n8n Attribution option and switch it off.

Daily Job Alerts: Email Your Techs from Google Sheets with n8n

Coming soonBusiness Automationsn8nGoogle SheetsGmail~8 min46 stepsBeginner

Every morning someone copies the day's jobs from a spreadsheet into emails for the tech. In this free n8n tutorial you automate it: at 7am the workflow reads the sheet and sends one email per job, with no AI needed. It is a clean first automation that teaches the ideas behind almost every other one.

What you will build

You play the office at Rapid Flow Plumbing. Today's jobs live in a Google Sheet called Today's Jobs, with four columns: Customer, Address, Job and Time. There are three jobs, including a leaking water heater at 14 Birch Lane at 8:00 AM.

You build a three-step n8n workflow: a Schedule Trigger set to 7am, a Google Sheets step that reads the rows, and a Gmail step that sends the tech an email for each one. The subject reads like "8:00 AM job: Hannah Ortiz" and the body lists the job, address, time and customer, all pulled from the sheet.

Who this is for

This module is for trade businesses and anyone who keeps a schedule in a spreadsheet: plumbers, electricians, cleaners, landscapers and field service teams. It is also a great first n8n workflow if AI agents feel like too much at once. There is no AI in it, just a trigger, data and an action.

You will need an n8n account and a Google account with Sheets and Gmail. If you did the n8n AI agent module, n8n already has your Google Sheets login, so you can reuse it here.

Common mistakes this avoids

Emails at the wrong hour. The workflow timezone is set before the schedule, so 7am means 7am where your business is.
A schedule that fires at midnight. The default hour is changed to 7am so the tech reads the jobs before heading out.
Adding rows instead of reading them. The lesson picks Get row(s) in sheet, not Append, because this workflow reads the schedule rather than writing to it.
Waiting until morning to find out it is broken. Test step reads the sheet right away, and Test workflow sends the emails on demand.
Messy emails on a phone. Email Type is switched to Text and the n8n footer is turned off, so each job note is short and clean.

Step by step: what you do

The lesson has 47 steps across seven chapters.

The sheet: look at the Today's Jobs tab and note the four column names.
Timezone: create a workflow, open the menu next to its name, go to Settings, and set the timezone to America/Chicago. Schedules default to New York time, which is the setting that trips up almost everyone.
Schedule: add On a schedule, keep it at every 1 day, and change Trigger at Hour from midnight to 7am.
Read the sheet: add Google Sheets: Get row(s) in sheet, reuse your Google Sheets account, pick Today's Jobs and Sheet1, and click Test step. You get three items, one per row.
Connect Gmail: add Gmail: Send a message, create a new credential and sign in with the office account.
Write the email: paste the tech's address in To, build a subject and message with expressions like {{ $json.Customer }}, switch Email Type to Text, and turn off Append n8n Attribution.
Test and publish: run the workflow, see three emails in Gmail, open Hannah Ortiz's, then Publish.

The two ideas that make n8n click

The first is expressions. Anything inside double curly brackets pulls in data from an earlier step. {{ $json.Time }} becomes 8:00 AM for the first job and 10:30 AM for the second. You write the email once and the data fills it in.

The second is that n8n runs a step once for every item it receives. The Sheets step returns three items, so the single Gmail step runs three times, one email per job. You never write a loop. Once this makes sense, most n8n workflows become much easier to read.

Test step helps you see both ideas before anything is sent. When you test the Sheets step, n8n shows three items with the column names as labels. Those labels are exactly what you type inside the curly brackets, which is why the lesson has you look at the sheet first and remember the column names.

How to use this in your business

Keep a sheet of today's jobs and your team gets their list before they leave the house, even if the office opens late. The same three-step pattern, trigger then get data then send it somewhere, covers invoice reminders, daily reports, appointment reminders and more. One thing to know: this version sends every row, every day, so keep the sheet limited to today's jobs. A later lesson adds a filter so it only sends what is new.

How the practice works

Each step is shown on the left under Watch, then you do it on the right under Your turn, in practice copies of n8n, Google Sheets and Gmail. Every click is checked, and Do it for me finishes a step if you get stuck. No Google account is connected and no email is sent.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my n8n schedule run at the wrong time?: The schedule uses the workflow's timezone, which often defaults to America/New_York. Set your own timezone in the workflow Settings before choosing the hour.
Is this course really free?: Yes. Stepthrough is completely free, and the practice copy needs no accounts. To build it for real you need your own n8n and Google accounts, and some of those cost money once you use them for real work.
Does this workflow use AI?: No. It is a plain schedule, Sheets and Gmail workflow. That makes it a good first automation before moving on to AI agents.
How does n8n send one email per row?: Each row from Google Sheets becomes an item, and n8n runs the Gmail step once per item. Three rows means three emails, with no loop to build.
How do I remove "sent with n8n" from the email?: In the Gmail node, add the Append n8n Attribution option and switch it off.

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