A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your First No-Code Zapier Automation (Part 2/3)

In Part 1, we introduced the importance of outlining your workflows and identifying tasks for automation. Now that you’ve done that groundwork, it's time to roll up our sleeves and actually build your first automation using Zapier.

In this post, we’ll take a real-world example of Christine’s swipe file workflow and automate it with Zapier.

By the end of this post, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to build a Zapier automation that saves you time and mental energy.

Let’s dive in!

Let’s Recap: Why We Automate

Before jumping in, let's quickly recap why automation is glorious.

• Time savings: Automating repetitive tasks frees up hours each week.

• Mental clarity: You’ll stop juggling minor tasks in your head, letting you focus on high-value work.

• Consistency: Automations reduce the risk of human error, keeping your workflows smooth and reliable.

Step 1: Case Study—Christine’s Swipe File Automation

Christine’s current (manual) process looks like this:

1. When she receives an email she wants to save for reference, she labels it "Swipe File" in Gmail.

2. Every Sunday, she manually moves those labeled emails into her Airtable database, adding subject lines, content, and attachments.

3. This process takes her about 30–45 minutes each week.

That’s nearly 40 hours a year spent just moving emails around!

Let’s automate this task to give Christine her time back.

Step 2: The Automation Recipe

In Part 1, we talked about the simple framework for automation:

When X happens, do Y.

In Christine’s case, the recipe looks like this:

• Trigger: When an email is labeled "Swipe File" in Gmail.

• Action: Automatically add it to Airtable.

Let’s build this out in Zapier step by step.

Step 3: Review Your Apps & Set Up Your Zap

1. Check App Integrations in Zapier

Before you start, check if your apps (in this case, Gmail and Airtable) are supported by Zapier. Luckily, Zapier has 6,000+ apps in its ecosystem, so you’re likely covered. If your app isn’t supported, you can explore using APIs or webhooks, but we’ll keep it simple for this tutorial.

Tip: You can find out what triggers and actions are available for your favorite apps using Zapier’s app directory.

Check out this Scribe and use it with this handy spreadsheet.

2. Set Up Your Zap

Let’s build Christine’s swipe file automation. Follow these steps:

• Trigger: Log into Zapier and choose Gmail as your trigger app.

• Select the trigger event: "New Email Labeled".

• Choose the specific label to monitor (in this case, "Swipe File").

  

• Action: Now, add Airtable as the action app.

• Select "Create Record" as the action event.

• Map the fields from the email to the corresponding fields in Airtable:

  • Subject → Swipe File Title

  • Body → Content

  • Link → Email URL

  • Attachments → Any files in the email

Note: For more complex workflows with multiple steps, you might need to map additional data points. But for now, we’ll keep it simple!

Once you’ve set up the trigger and action, click “Test action” to make sure everything is working properly.

Step 4: Test and Fine-Tune

After running the test, Zapier will show you if everything is running smoothly. You’ll be able to see if the email content is properly saved to Airtable.

If something doesn’t look right:

• Double-check the field mappings: Make sure the data from Gmail is flowing correctly into the Airtable fields.

• Tweak the setup: Adjust the trigger or action as needed.

Once you’re happy with the test results, publish your Zap!

Step 5: Celebrate and Recap

And there you have it! In just a few minutes, we’ve turned a manual, time-consuming task into an automated workflow. Christine was wasting 30-45 minutes a week moving emails to her swipe file. Now, with just a Zap, she’s getting that time back.

Let’s recap how we did it:

• Trigger: When an email gets labeled "Swipe File" in Gmail.

• Action: Automatically add the email to Airtable.

• Outcome: A smoother, more efficient workflow with time saved each week.

Bonus: More Automation Ideas

Now that you’ve got the basics down, here are a few other automation ideas you can try:

1. Save Zoom Meetings and Upload to YouTube

2. Generate DALL-E 3 Images for Content

3. Automate Your Weekly and Monthly Personal Reviews

What’s Next?

With this first automation under your belt, you’re on your way to simplifying your work and life.

Automation is about more than just saving time—it’s about reducing the mental load of juggling busy low-leverage tasks and freeing up space for creativity and high-value work.

Next up in Part 3: We’ll show you how to calculate the return on investment (ROI) of your automation efforts, so you can see exactly how much time and money you’re saving.