Why this matters
The easiest hours to win back are the jobs that happen on a timetable: the Monday timesheet chase, the Friday report, the first-of-the-month invoice run. They are not hard, they are just easy to forget, and someone has to remember every single week.
In this module you help Summit Street Consulting, a 12-person firm whose invoices go out late whenever timesheets do. You set n8n to start a workflow by itself every Monday at 8am, test it without waiting for Monday, write the reminder message, and check the time zone it runs in.
What you’ll build
A Schedule Trigger set to Weeks, Monday, 8am, and an Edit Fields node that writes the reminder. Add a Gmail, Outlook or Slack node after it to send the message for real.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practiceThe editor is a practice copy. Summit Street Consulting is made up.
- An n8n account, to do it for realSign up with this link (affiliate link: I may earn a commission, at no cost to you).
- Somewhere to send the reminder (optional)A Gmail, Outlook or Slack account connected in n8n, if you want the message to go out.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Schedule Trigger
A Schedule Trigger starts a workflow at set times. Trigger Interval goes from Seconds to Months, plus Custom (Cron) for anything else, such as "weekdays at 8:30" with a cron expression.
A schedule only runs by itself after you Publish the workflow. Until then, Execute step fires it once, now, for testing.
What a test run sends
The trigger outputs one item with the moment it fired: a timestamp, the readable date, Day of week, Hour, Minute and the Timezone. A test says the day you click it; the real Monday run says Monday.
Time zones
Each workflow has a Timezone in its Settings (··· > Settings). Default uses your n8n instance's zone. Set it to your office's zone so 8am means 8am where your team is. See workflow time zone.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- n8n Beginner cheat sheet (PDF)Trigger types and when each one runs.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. You set a Schedule Trigger for Monday 8am but never publish. What happens on Monday?
- It runs
- Nothing: a schedule only runs by itself once the workflow is published
- It runs once, then stops
Show the answer
Nothing: a schedule only runs by itself once the workflow is published. Unpublished workflows only run when you test them.
2. You test the trigger on a Saturday. What does Day of week say?
- Monday
- Saturday: a test run uses the moment you click
- Nothing
Show the answer
Saturday: a test run uses the moment you click. The real Monday runs carry the time they actually fired.
3. Your team is in Chicago but the reminder arrives at 7am. Where do you fix it?
- Trigger at Hour
- The workflow's Timezone in Settings
- The Edit Fields node
Show the answer
The workflow's Timezone in Settings. The schedule fires at the set hour in the workflow's time zone.
n8n: Send Form Answers Straight to Google Sheets
Your workflow can start on a clock. Next, start one from a form and send every answer straight into a Google Sheet.
Start module 6 →