I know that might sound backwards coming from someone who talks about automation all the time. But here’s the thing…
The fewer links in the chain, the better.
Every added tool increases the chance that something will break. And when ONE thing breaks, the whole thing breaks.
So before reaching for Zapier, look at the native automations between your tools.
A great example: Notion’s integration with Gmail.
If you try to rig up a Zap to send emails when something changes in Notion, you’re making things harder than they need to be.
Notion can send that Gmail email itself.
The same goes for one of my favorite automations:
Automatically uploading Zoom recordings to Vimeo.
No Dropbox. No Google Drive. No Zapier.
Just Zoom → Vimeo. Done.
Yes, Zapier is powerful. But my core philosophy is:
Keep your automations as small as possible, using the fewest tools possible.
That’s how you make things reliable, not fragile.
Start with built-in defaults. Use Zapier only when you absolutely need to.
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Hey, I'm Joe Casabona.
⏳ I talk a lot about automations and systems.
I help solopreneurs use tech to build better human interactions (not replace them).
⚙️ I also have a newsletter where I teach and build automations. Join using the blue link under my name.
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Join my newsletter: https://casabona.org/join
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