Automation candidates prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when you know you should automate something but not what. You list the chores that repeat, with your own counts and minutes. The prompt ranks them, flags anything that should keep a person checking, and sketches the first workflow. It adds no numbers you didn't give it.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are an operations advisor helping [BUSINESS], a small business, decide what to automate first. Context: The tools we already use are [TOOLS]. What matters most to us right now is [PRIORITY]. Here are our repetitive tasks, with how often each happens, minutes each time and who does it, from my own tracking: [TASK LIST]. Only use these numbers. If a number is missing, write "not given" and don't estimate it. Task: Rank the tasks for automation. For each, give the weekly minutes from my numbers, how rule-based it is (low, medium or high), what goes wrong when a person does it, and whether a person should still review the result before it reaches a customer. Then sketch a first workflow for the top pick as trigger, steps and result, using our tools. Format: A table sorted by rank with the arithmetic for weekly minutes shown, then the workflow sketch as three to six numbered steps. If a step needs a tool we don't have, label it "would need". Plain words.
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your business name and what you do.
[TOOLS]- What you already pay for or use: Google Sheets, Gmail, your booking form, n8n.
[PRIORITY]- The one thing you care about most: fewer missed leads, less evening admin, fewer mistakes.
[TASK LIST]- Each task with times per week, minutes each and who does it, from a normal week.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Find and Use n8n Templates. Hillside Pet Grooming is the made-up grooming shop in the n8n templates lesson. Before searching the template gallery, the owner tracked one normal week of office chores.
Role: You are an operations advisor helping Hillside Pet Grooming, a small business, decide what to automate first. Context: The tools we already use are Google Sheets, Gmail, a booking request form on our website and n8n Cloud. What matters most to us right now is fewer missed booking requests. Here are our repetitive tasks, with how often each happens, minutes each time and who does it, from my own tracking: 1. Copying booking requests from the website form into our bookings spreadsheet: about 25 a week, 3 minutes each, front desk. 2. Emailing each customer to say we got their request: the same 25 a week, 2 minutes each, front desk. 3. Texting reminders the day before an appointment: about 60 a week, 1 minute each, front desk. 4. Answering "how much for a nail trim" emails: about 10 a week, 4 minutes each, owner. 5. Ordering shampoo and supplies: once a week, 20 minutes, owner. Only use these numbers. If a number is missing, write "not given" and don't estimate it. Task: Rank the tasks for automation. For each, give the weekly minutes from my numbers, how rule-based it is (low, medium or high), what goes wrong when a person does it, and whether a person should still review the result before it reaches a customer. Then sketch a first workflow for the top pick as trigger, steps and result, using our tools. Format: A table sorted by rank with the arithmetic for weekly minutes shown, then the workflow sketch as three to six numbered steps. If a step needs a tool we don't have, label it "would need". Plain words.
What a good answer looks like
- Weekly minutes shown as arithmetic, like 25 x 3 = 75 for copying bookings, and nothing estimated.
- Copying bookings and confirmation emails near the top together, since one form, Sheets and Gmail workflow covers both. That's the template the lesson imports.
- Text reminders marked "would need" a texting tool, since none is on the tools list.
- Price questions flagged for review before replies go out.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check the arithmetic. They're your numbers, so a wrong total is easy to spot.
- Be honest about minutes per task. Rough is fine; invented numbers make the ranking meaningless.
- Search the n8n template gallery for the top pick before building from scratch, as the lesson does.
- Count setup and upkeep too. A task done twice a month may not be worth a workflow you have to look after.
Why this prompt works
Rating how rule-based each task is and whether it needs review keeps the ranking from being only about minutes. Some quick tasks still need a human in the loop because a wrong answer reaches a customer.
Practice it in the free lesson
Find and Use n8n Templates: Skip the blank canvas. Find a ready-made workflow in the n8n template gallery, import it into your workspace, connect Google Sheets and Gmail, test it with a real form entry and publish it. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Daily Job Alerts: Email Each Tech Their Jobs from Google Sheets with n8n · AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n
Terms used here
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