7+ Ways To Learn Task Automation

Something I say a lot is automation helps you cut away the things you don’t need to do, so you can focus more time on the actual tasks that require your attention. I also talk about tools I like using for automation.

But where do you learn how to automate? Do you just try things and see what happens? Are there tutorials? Courses? Here are 7 fantastic resources for learning how to automate.

This week is automation week for me! If you want to learn about my process and get some tips, the latest episode of my podcast, How I Built It, is for you.

A Note on Marketing Automation

While there are lots of great tools below to help with marketing automation, this post doesn’t focus on that. This is all about task automation. Let me know if you’d like some resources on marketing automation too!

Free Resources

Note: I’ll mention right off the bat that this blog and my YouTube channel have some tutorials.

There are a few free resources out there to help you get started! Here are some of my favorite blogs and podcasts.

One fantastic resource is Zapier’s Learning Center, which has a bunch of free PDFs to get ideas and use specific apps, like Google Sheets, and those related to email marketing.

TextExpander offers regular webinars over on their website. As I right this, they have webinars scheduled for beginners, advanced tips, and even teams.

One of my favorite podcasts is Automators over on Relay.fm. They do a great job of helping you come up with ideas and introducing new tools to help you automate. It’s pretty Apple ecosystem heavy, but they talk about a lot of cross-platform tools too. They also have a fantastic forum.

And if you want more from Siri Shortcuts, two fantastic free resources are MacStories and Matt Cassinelli.

Courses and eBooks

If you’re looking for some guided help, there are great courses and eBooks.

For Siri Shortcuts, Take Control of Shortcuts by Rosemary Orchard is a great eBook. There’s also David Spark’s course, Shortcuts Field Giude. This is a steal for $29 as it’s super comprehensive.

As for other resources, David also has guides for Hazel and Keyboard Maestro, so you should check out his entire course catalog. For Zapier, Jimmy Rose has a great course called Zapier Mastery that’s currently discounted.

How are you Learning Automation?

Is there a tool, course, or resource I missed? Let me know in the comments.

And if you want to get an exclusive look at how I figure out what to automate, and links to my automations, grab the cheat sheet below!