Ever feel like your inbox is a giant game of Tetris where the blocks are falling way too fast? It’s exhausting trying to spot the one important email buried under a mountain of newsletters and "Checking in!" pings.
I wanted to tell you about a somewhat new feature from Google called "Flows." If you use Google Workspace, think of a Flow like a smart assistant who sits at your desk and handles the boring "busy work" before you even see it.
The part that actually feels like magic is how Gemini (Google’s AI) handles your messages. Instead of you manually dragging emails into folders or setting reminders, the AI actually reads the intent of the note. If a client asks for a meeting, it recognizes that as an "action item" and can automatically label it or put it on your To-Do list. It’s a total shift—instead of you searching for work, the work starts finding you.
You can explore these tools and set them up yourself at workspace.google.com/studio.
Try This
Set up an Automatic Task Creator so you never forget a promise made over email again.
The Action: Inside the Flows dashboard, look for the template: "Auto-create tasks when I'm sent action items." This tells Gemini to watch for sentences like "Can you send me that report?" and instantly add them to your Google Tasks list for you.
Did You Know?
You can actually use these flows to protect your reputation. You can set up a flow to automatically scan the web for mentions of your brand or company name. Instead of you manually Googling yourself every week, Gemini can track those mentions and send a summary directly to your inbox. It’s the easiest way to stay on top of what people are saying about your business in real-time.
The Reality Check
Before you set everything to "autopilot," keep these three things in mind:
Context blindness: Gemini might mistake a sarcastic "Great job!" for a positive task or a simple "thanks" for a formal request.
The "Same Name" trap: If your business is named "Summit," your brand-tracking flow might pull in news about mountain climbing or international politics.
The Human Touch: AI can draft a reply, but it doesn't know your personal relationships. A bot shouldn't be the only one "talking" to your VIP clients.
I’d still recommend a quick scan of your main inbox once a day just to make sure the assistant is staying on track. It’s a great helper, but you’re still the one in charge.
Best,
Scott