After months of building AI automation systems for clients, I finally carved out time to develop productivity tools for my own business. The past week offered a rare break, allowing me to implement systems I’ve been planning for ages—turning my company infrastructure from “good enough” into a streamlined AI-powered productivity machine. The result? Hours reclaimed, repetitive tasks automated, and newfound focus on strategic growth.
Why It Matters
It’s a classic case of the cobbler’s children having no shoes. While I’ve been designing sophisticated AI solutions for clients, my own business was limping along with manual processes and disconnected systems. This sprint wasn’t just about building cool automation toys—it was about creating a sustainable foundation for my company’s efficiency and growth.
The timing couldn’t have been better. With client work ramping up again next week, I needed to maximize this window of opportunity to lay down infrastructure that would support me long-term. I carefully chose systems that would deliver actual value rather than shiny distractions, focusing on what had consistently proven most useful in client implementations.
Key Details: Overview of Current Implementation
Company Infrastructure Foundation
Before diving into AI productivity tools, I needed to establish proper company infrastructure:
First, I purchased my company domain through GoDaddy, then connected it to Cloudflare for security. I quickly discovered a limitation—you can’t transfer domains away from GoDaddy for 60 days after purchase. Mental note for next time: buy directly through Cloudflare since I use it for proxying anyway.
For the website, I set up WordPress as a Lightsail instance in AWS and connected my domain. This wasn’t my first rodeo with websites, but it was the first time I took full ownership of the process. Previously, I’d worked on a free WordPress site to experiment with design and functionality, but the limitations (particularly around plugins) became frustrating. Rather than starting from scratch, I leveraged the design concepts I’d already developed over the past couple months.
With the domain secured, I faced a crucial decision: Google or Microsoft for workspace solutions? I ultimately chose Google Workspace because:
- I had already built numerous solutions using Google Drive, Sheets, and other Google products
- All my company documents were already stored in Google Drive
- It offered better integration with my existing workflows
This choice allowed me to quickly set up company emails and proper document management without reinventing the wheel.
Productivity System #1: AI Knowledge Base
My first priority was building an AI-powered knowledge base. After witnessing how transformative this was for clients, I knew it would be a guaranteed productivity boost for my own operations.
The implementation:
- Used n8n to call the Google Drive Changes API
- Set up tracking for all files and metadata in a Google Sheet
- Created workflows to load and update a vector store whenever documents change
- Integrated with Claude to enable natural language interaction with all my business documents
Now instead of digging through folders trying to remember where I saved something, I can simply ask: “What was the pricing model we used for the XYZ client last quarter?” or “What were the key takeaways from my strategy session last month?” The system pulls relevant information instantly from across my document library.
Productivity System #2: Streamlined Content Creation
Content creation had been a bottleneck for my business growth. I had ideas but struggled to efficiently transform them into publishable material. I also wanted to find a use for my existing Zapier subscription, even though I generally prefer n8n for automation.
The solution was an end-to-end content pipeline:
– Set up Airtable for content ideation and management
– Created status workflows to move ideas through development stages
– Built n8n workflows that trigger when content is ready for creation, automatically:
– Generating titles and categories
– Writing excerpts
– Developing outlines
– Producing full content
– Pushing completed posts directly to WordPress
The only manual step I’ve retained is image creation—but even this is streamlined. The system generates image prompts, notifies me when a post is ready, and I copy that prompt to GPT’s new image model. I include examples of previous blog images featuring the same robot character to maintain consistent branding. The results from GPT’s image model have been incredibly impressive, and frankly, it’s too fun to fully automate away!
Productivity System #3: Personalized AI News Curation
Being in the AI space means staying current, but I was drowning in newsletters—18+ publications filled with ads and irrelevant content. I also wanted to provide valuable, tailored AI news to clients who hire me to help them understand and leverage AI technologies.
- My solution:
- Created workflows to search through emails for relevant AI news
- Built an Airtable repository to centralize content
- Developed an n8n process that:
- Collects content from the past three days
- Formats it with reference links
- Uses an LLM to identify the most relevant items
- Employs another LLM to create a newsletter in markdown
- Converts this to HTML via a third LLM pass
- Stores everything for review before sending
I also created four distinct newsletter categories for different audiences:
- Basic (for friends and family awareness)
- Business-focused
- Advanced users
- Developer/technical audience
The subscription management is fully automated too—a form on my website feeds into n8n workflows that update Airtable, handle verification emails, and process subscription changes. No more manual subscriber management!
Productivity System #4: Project and Task Management (Planned)
My next target is integrating all these systems with ClickUp, which I use for project and task management. I want seamless connections between my content systems and project tracking, streamlining the transition from ideas to tasks to completed content.
Results / Insights
The impact of these systems has been immediate and significant:
- My AI knowledge base has cut information retrieval time from minutes to seconds—no more digging through folders or trying to remember where I saved something
- Content creation that used to take days now happens in hours, with most of the process running without my involvement
- The newsletter automation has transformed a 3-hour weekly chore into a 20-minute review process
- My business now presents consistent branding and messaging across all channels
- The infrastructure I’ve established is scalable, meaning I won’t need major overhauls as my business grows
Perhaps most importantly, I’ve reclaimed valuable time to focus on high-level strategy rather than getting bogged down in repetitive tasks.
Lessons Learned
This intensive building sprint reinforced several key principles:
- Build what you’ll actually use—not what seems cool. By observing my own patterns during client work, I identified genuinely useful systems rather than flashy distractions.
- Start with foundation, then specialize. Getting my domain, email, and document infrastructure right first made subsequent automation vastly easier.
- Leverage existing skills and systems. Adapting solutions I’d previously built for clients saved enormous time compared to building from scratch.
- Choose platforms that integrate well. Going with Google Workspace over Microsoft accelerated my implementation timeline because it connected seamlessly with my existing workflows.
- Automate extensively but maintain quality control. I automated nearly everything but retained strategic checkpoints where human judgment adds value (like final newsletter review and image creation).
Current Milestone: What’s Done This Sprint
In this productivity sprint, I successfully established:
– Company website and domain infrastructure
– Email system and document management via Google Workspace
– AI-powered knowledge base for company documents
– End-to-end content creation pipeline from ideation to publishing
– Automated AI news curation and distribution system
– Subscription management for newsletter recipients
All core company infrastructure is now in place, along with the foundational automations that will power my business operations going forward.
Roadblocks & Workarounds
No implementation is without challenges. Here are a few I encountered:
Domain Transfer Limitations: Discovering the 60-day lockout period for transferring domains from GoDaddy to Cloudflare was frustrating. Next time, I’ll purchase directly through Cloudflare to avoid this limitation entirely.
WordPress Constraints: My free WordPress site experimentation hit walls when it came to migration plugins and customization. Moving to AWS Lightsail with a self-hosted WordPress installation solved these problems and gave me complete control.
Image Generation Tradeoffs: I considered fully automating image creation but found that spending a few minutes with GPT’s image model yields substantially better results than fully automated alternatives. Sometimes the perfect automation is a well-designed semi-automated process with human touchpoints at critical junctures.
Upcoming Goals
With my foundation in place, I’m focusing on these next targets:
- ClickUp Integration: Creating seamless bridges between my content systems and project management to unify workflows and improve visibility.
- System Refinements: Now that these systems are live, I’ll be monitoring usage patterns and fine-tuning based on real-world feedback and performance.
- Packaging for Clients: Several of these systems—especially the AI knowledge base and newsletter automation—could potentially be packaged as client-ready solutions. I’ll be exploring how to make these offerings easily adaptable to different business contexts.
Community Ask
I’d love to hear about your productivity automation experiences! What AI tools or workflows have been game-changers for your small business? Are there specific integrations between content management, newsletters, and task systems that have worked particularly well for you?
If you have questions about my implementation details or suggestions for even tighter integration between these systems, please share them. I’m particularly interested in feedback on which of these internal systems would be most valuable as packaged client services.
The journey to optimal productivity is ongoing, and I’m excited to continue refining these systems while sharing what I learn along the way. What automation are you most eager to implement in your business?
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