Gemini Course Part 3: Automate

Part 3 of 3 · Days 20–28 · Automate the Boring and Prove It

You can now write, triage, clean, build, research and connect. Part 3 turns your best prompts into repeatable systems, then asks you to do the hardest and most valuable thing: prove it to yourself by finishing a real project and telling me honestly how it went.

Part 3 outcomes: three personal Gems, one scheduled routine, a time-saved audit, and a real capstone project with your own results.

Module 7 · Automate the Boring (Days 20–24)

Day 20Set up the repeat tasks: your first Gem

Learn: A Gem is a saved, custom version of Gemini with standing instructions. Anything you do more than twice should become one.

Do: Create a Gem from the Gems manager and paste:

Name: Incident Update Writer
Instructions: You turn raw incident notes into stakeholder updates.
Always output: (1) Status in one line, (2) Impact, (3) What we know, (4) What we are doing, (5) Next update time.
Rules: plain English, no blame, under 150 words, never invent facts; if information is missing, write "Not yet known". Follow this Voice Guide: [paste yours].

Day 21Do it once: build the second and third Gems

Pick two tasks from your Playbook. Good candidates:

Gem	What it does
Inbox Triage	Sorts pasted emails into Reply today / This week / Ignore, drafts replies
Terraform Reviewer	Reviews pasted (sanitized) Terraform for cost, security and naming issues
Meeting Notes Cleaner	Transcript in, decisions and action table out
Study Buddy	Quizzes you on a topic, one question at a time

Example Terraform Reviewer instruction:

You are a senior cloud security engineer. For any Terraform I paste, return a table: Severity | Resource | Issue | Fix. Check: public exposure, missing encryption, overly broad IAM, missing tags, hardcoded secrets. If you find a secret, tell me to rotate it. End with a pass or fail verdict. Never claim a config is safe; say "no issues found in what was pasted."

Day 22Get the hours back: schedule it

Do: If your plan includes Scheduled actions, set a recurring one: "Every weekday at 8:00, summarize my calendar and the emails I haven't answered." If not, create a calendar reminder for your Monday Brief prompt. Both count.

Day 23Optional: automation for builders

Do: Ask Gemini to write a small Google Apps Script for your Sheet, for example highlighting duplicate rows or emailing a weekly summary.

Write a Google Apps Script for a sheet named "Tasks" with columns A:Task, B:Owner, C:Due. Every Monday at 8am, email me all rows due within 7 days. Add comments explaining each step and tell me exactly where to paste it and how to authorize it.

Review before running. Read every line of generated code. Check what permissions it asks for. Test on a copy of your data. Never run code you don't understand against production systems.

Day 24Time audit

Here is my list of tasks this month that I did with Gemini and how long each took before and after: [list]. Calculate hours saved per week and per year, rank by biggest win, and suggest the 3 tasks I should automate next.

Write the numbers down. You'll report them on Day 28.

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Module 8 · Prove It (Days 25–28)

There is no certificate at the end of this course. The proof is the work you actually did. Build a real capstone, show how you did it, and tell me honestly what happened. Your feedback also helps me make the course better for the next reader.

Day 25Choose your capstone

Pick one real problem from your job or life. Examples: a weekly report system, an onboarding guide, a research brief for a decision, a Gem-powered support helper. Write one sentence: "By Day 28 I will have ___, which saves ___ hours per week."

Day 26Build it

Use at least five skills from the course: R-C-T-F prompt, Voice Guide, a document, research with sources, a connected file or Gem. Keep a log of your prompts and note how long each step takes. You'll need both on Day 28.

Day 27Review like a pro

Act as a skeptical reviewer. Check my capstone for: factual claims without sources, private data that shouldn't be shared, unclear instructions, and anything a reader might misunderstand. Give a pass, revise or fail rating with reasons.

Run the security checklist: no secrets, no personal data, sources opened and verified, code reviewed.

Day 28Show your work

1. Take the 10-question self-check below (aim for 8 out of 10).
2. Fill in the proof template with your real results.
3. Post it in the comments using the button below.

Proof template (copy and fill in)

CAPSTONE (one sentence):
PROBLEM IT SOLVES:
HOW I DID IT (tools, Gems, and my 3 best prompts, with private details removed):
RESULT (time before vs after, hours saved per week):
WHAT FAILED OR SURPRISED ME:
HARDEST DAY OF THE COURSE:
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE IN THIS COURSE:

Before you post: remove names, emails, company details, API keys and anything confidential. Share the method, not the secrets.

Did you do the work? Show me.

Post your capstone and the prompts that worked in the comments below. Tell me what saved you time, what broke, and what I should fix in this course. I read every response and use your feedback to improve the next version.

Share My Results →

Self-check quiz

1. What does R-C-T-F stand for?
2. Name the instruction that reduces invented facts.
3. List 4 things never to paste into consumer AI tools.
4. What is the 3-Source Rule?
5. What is a Gem and when should you create one?
6. Why ask for a list of the files used?
7. What is the difference between Gemini chat and NotebookLM?
8. Name three checks to run on AI-generated code before using it.
9. How do you calculate hours saved?
10. Which of your prompts will you reuse next week, and why?

Answer key

1. Role, Context, Task, Format.
2. "Flag anything vague or missing instead of inventing details" (or "write Not yet known").
3. Passwords, API keys or tokens, customer personal data, confidential client documents.
4. Three independent sources per key claim, including official docs; open the links yourself.
5. A saved custom Gemini with standing instructions; for any task repeated more than twice.
6. It makes answers auditable.
7. NotebookLM answers from a closed set of sources you provide.
8. Read every line, check requested permissions, test on a copy.
9. (Minutes before minus minutes after) times frequency.
10. Open answer.

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