Real-World Guide: How to Automate 10 Everyday Tasks with n8n

Automation. This word, once reserved for large factories and coding experts, is now within everyone's reach. Yet, there's often a gap between the promise of tenfold productivity and the reality of complex tools. In our experience, after testing numerous platforms, one solution stands out from the crowd for its power, flexibility, and open-source model: n8n.

As an engineer and tech enthusiast, I've spent hundreds of hours optimizing processes, whether for content management, financial monitoring, or simple personal organization. n8n has become our digital Swiss Army knife. This isn't just a theoretical overview, but a genuine account of our first-hand experience. We're going to show you 10 concrete automations that we have implemented, tested, and that save us precious time every day.

n8n (pronounced "n-eight-n") is a workflow automation tool. Think of it like a LEGO set for your applications. You connect bricks (called "nodes") that represent actions (read an email, post to Twitter, write to a database) to create logical chains ("workflows").

Unlike competitors such as Zapier or Make, n8n stands out for several fundamental reasons that guided our choice:

• Open-source and self-hostable: This is the crucial point. The ability to install n8n on our own servers gives us complete control over our data. No company secrets passing through third-party services. It's a guarantee of sovereignty and security.
• Fair business model: The self-hosted version is free for significant usage. Their cloud offering is also very competitive, as it doesn't charge for every small task executed, but for the number of active workflows. This is more predictable and cost-effective for complex automations.
• Limitless flexibility: If an application isn't natively integrated, you can always interact with it via HTTP requests or even create your own "node". The only limit is your imagination (and the existence of an API).

Enough theory, let's get practical. Here are 10 workflows that are currently running for us.

Each example below was born from a real need: to eliminate a manual, repetitive, and time-consuming task.

1. Intelligent and Summarized News Gathering

The problem: Following dozens of blogs, news sites, and scientific journals is essential but leads to information overload. Reading every article is impossible.

The n8n solution: A workflow that scans the RSS feeds of our favorite sources. For each new article, it sends the content to an AI (via the OpenAI API) with instructions to summarize it into three key points. The result is then posted to a dedicated channel in our Slack.

The simplified workflow: Trigger: RSS Feed Read -> Node: OpenAI (Summarize) -> Node: Slack (Post Message)

Our practical tip: Filter articles by keywords before sending them to the AI to process only relevant topics and thus control API costs.

2. From Audio Transcription to Article Draft

The problem: Turning an audio interview or video soundtrack into a blog post requires hours of transcription and rewriting.

The n8n solution: When an audio file is dropped into a specific Google Drive folder, n8n retrieves it and sends it to OpenAI's Whisper API for transcription. The resulting text is then sent to GPT-4 to be structured into a blog post draft (with headings, paragraphs, etc.). The draft is finally created in our WordPress, ready for review. This is a perfect example of AI-assisted content creation.

json
// Conceptual representation of the n8n workflow
{
  "nodes": [
    { "type": "Google Drive Trigger", "trigger_on": "new_file" },
    { "type": "HTTP Request", "url": "api.openai.com/v1/audio/transcriptions", "body": "file_data" },
    { "type": "OpenAI Chat", "prompt": "Structure this text into a blog post: {{transcription}}" },
    { "type": "WordPress", "action": "create_post", "status": "draft" }
  ]
}

3. Automated Daily Financial Reporting

The problem: Manually compiling the performance of multiple investment portfolios (stocks, crypto) every morning.

The n8n solution: Every morning at 8 a.m., a workflow triggers. It connects to various financial APIs (like CoinGecko for crypto and another provider for stocks) to fetch current prices. It then calculates the daily performance and sends a clear, concise report via a Telegram bot. This is an essential building block for effortless and effective financial analysis.

4. Generating and Publishing Social Media Visuals

The problem: Creating unique visuals for each new blog post to share on Twitter or LinkedIn is repetitive.

The n8n solution: As soon as a new article is published on our site (detected via RSS feed), n8n retrieves the title and featured image. It sends this information to an image generation API service like Bannerbear. Once the image is generated (using a predefined template), the workflow posts it to our social media channels with a link to the article.

The simplified workflow: Trigger: RSS Feed Read -> Node: Bannerbear (Create Image) -> Node: Twitter (Post Tweet with Media) -> Node: LinkedIn (Share Post)

5. Smart CRM Sync with Contact Forms

The problem: Manually entering information from each new website contact into our management tool (Notion, which we use as a simple CRM).

The n8n solution: A webhook listens for submissions from our contact form (built with Tally). As soon as a form is filled out, n8n retrieves the data, formats it cleanly, and creates a new entry in our Notion database with a "New contact" status. A notification is also sent to us.

6. Automatic Subtitle Creation for Short Videos

The problem: Manual subtitling is a long and tedious process, but it's essential for accessibility and engagement on social media.

The n8n solution: Similar to the transcription workflow, this one is optimized for video. We drop a video (e.g., a Reel) into a cloud folder. n8n extracts the audio track, sends it to one of the best AI subtitling tools via its API, and retrieves the .srt file, placing it in the same folder as the video, ready for editing.

7. Price Alerts on Specific Assets

The problem: Constantly monitoring markets to avoid missing a buying or selling opportunity on a stock or cryptocurrency.

The n8n solution: A workflow that runs every 5 minutes. It queries our chosen API for a specific asset (e.g., Bitcoin). It then compares the current price to thresholds we've defined in an "IF" node. If a condition is met (e.g., price < $30,000), it sends an urgent push notification to our phone via the Pushover service. It's a simple approach to automated crypto trading.

json
// Conceptual representation of the n8n workflow
{
  "nodes": [
    { "type": "Cron", "schedule": "every_5_minutes" },
    { "type": "HTTP Request", "url": "api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin&vs_currencies=usd" },
    { "type": "IF", "condition": "{{price_usd}} < 30000" },
    { "type": "Pushover", "message": "BTC Alert! Price is below $30k" }
  ]
}

8. Redundant Backup of Critical Documents

The problem: The fear of losing important files (invoices, contracts) stored on a single cloud service.

The n8n solution: A very simple workflow that provides great peace of mind. A trigger monitors a "Critical" folder in our Google Drive. As soon as a new file is added or modified, n8n automatically creates a copy on another cloud provider (in this case, an S3 bucket on AWS) for geographic and technical redundancy.

9. Automatic Newsletter Archiving

The problem: Our inbox is flooded with newsletters. Some are useful, but finding them weeks later is a nightmare.

The n8n solution: We use a dedicated email address for our subscriptions. n8n connects to this inbox (via IMAP). For each new email, it extracts the main content (removing promotional headers/footers) and archives it in a Notion database, tagged with the sender's name. Our inbox stays clean, and we have a searchable and organized newsletter library.

10. Centralizing Comments and Mentions

The problem: Keeping track of YouTube comments, Twitter mentions, and LinkedIn messages is time-consuming and scattered.

The n8n solution: We've created a workflow that aggregates notifications from multiple platforms. It uses n8n's native triggers for Twitter and webhooks for other services. Each new relevant mention or comment is formatted and sent to a single Slack channel called "Feedbacks." This allows us to have a complete overview and not miss anything, without having to juggle ten different tabs.

From our experience, getting started with n8n is easier if you follow a few principles:

• Start small: Don't try to build an overly complex system from the get-go. Automate a simple task with 2 or 3 nodes. For example: "When I receive an email with '[INVOICE]' in the subject, save the attachment to Google Drive."
• Master the "Code Node": Even though n8n is "low-code," knowing how to write a few lines of JavaScript in the "Code Node" (formerly the Function Node) increases its power tenfold for manipulating data between steps.
• Think about error handling: n8n allows you to define "Error Workflows." These are workflows that trigger only if your main workflow fails. Use them to send yourself a notification if something goes wrong. This is essential for reliability.
• Secure your credentials: Never write an API key in plain text within a node. Always use n8n's built-in "Credentials" manager, which encrypts and securely stores your sensitive information.

Automation is not an end in itself, but a means to free up your most valuable resource: time. Time to think, create, and focus on high-value tasks. n8n is one of the most powerful tools we've found to achieve this.

To ensure the reliability and accuracy of the information, we rely on the official resources and the active community of the project.

• Official n8n Website: The main source for downloading the tool, discovering their cloud offers, and checking for new features. https://n8n.io/
• Official n8n Documentation: A comprehensive technical resource for understanding how each node works and advanced concepts. https://docs.n8n.io/
• n8n Community Forum: A very active forum for asking questions, sharing workflows, and finding help from other users and the n8n team. https://community.n8n.io/
• n8n Integrations Directory: The complete list of applications and services with native integration, useful for checking compatibility before designing a workflow. https://n8n.io/integrations/