I know you’ve probably seen “TURN YOUR AI INTO A PERSONAL ASSISTANT!!!" a million times on youtube and whatever.
But those people spend half their time telling you why it’s a good idea…
And then give you extremely vague advice.
So I’m just going to give you exactly how to do it right now (with a special touch I haven’t seen anyone else do before)
Step 1: Connect via API
I recommend codex for this but you can use whatever you’d like.
Recently a codex update dropped where it can control your computer so technically you don’t need an API but it’s much smoother, faster, and easier with API.
Just give this prompt to codex and it’ll do everything for you:
“Set up Google Gmail API and Google Calendar API access for this project in the simplest safe way.
Build a minimal Python OAuth setup that lets the user connect their own Google account locally.
Requirements:
Use the official Google Python client libraries.
Support both Gmail and Calendar in one auth flow.
Use these scopes:
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar
Expect a local file named credentials.json from Google Cloud OAuth Desktop App credentials.
On first run, open the browser for Google login and create token.json.
Add credentials.json and token.json to .gitignore.
Create a simple test script that:
- Prints the next 10 calendar events.
- Prints the 10 most recent Gmail message subjects/snippets.
- Add clear terminal instructions in README.md:
- Enable Gmail API and Calendar API in Google Cloud.
- Create OAuth consent screen.
- Create OAuth Client ID as Desktop App.
- Download and rename the file to credentials.json.
- Run the script.
Do not hardcode secrets.
Do not ask for my Google password.
Keep it minimal. No web app, no database, no overengineering.
Implement the files now.”
Step 2: Todo list & schedule
We’re going for maximum speed, so what you should do now is tell your codex to read all of your emails.
While it’s reading those, go to chatgpt and use the transcribe mode.
Then just say everything you need to do. If you’ve decided what’s most important, say them in order of priority… if you can’t decide, ask chatgpt to help.
Also, include when you’d like to do those things (if you have decided) and what you need to do during the week (including sleep, eating, events, etc.)
At the end you should have something like this:
To do list:
1 write reddit post (9:35 am)
2 gooneral (10:00 am)
3 watch TBPN (idk)
Thing I must do:
Eat (11:00 am)
Poop (1 pm)
Go to work (3 am)
Step 3: give it all to codex
By the time you’ve finished this, codex should be done reading emails.
Then give it this prompt:
“You are my personal assistant.
Use the Gmail and Google Calendar API setup in this project to help me plan my next week.
First:
Read my recent emails.
Identify anything that looks like:
- meetings
- deadlines
- appointments
- calls
- reminders
- bills
- school/work tasks
- anything I probably need to respond to
- Check my existing calendar so you do not double-book anything.
Then:
Arrange my calendar for next week using:
- my existing calendar events
- important things found in my email
- the todo list I give you below
Rules:
Do not delete or move existing calendar events unless I clearly ask you to.
If a task has a specific time, schedule it at that time.
If a task has no time, choose a sensible open slot.
Add buffer time between work blocks when possible.
Put harder/deeper work earlier in the day if there is room.
Group similar tasks together.
Leave realistic space for eating, breaks, travel, and normal life.
If something is unclear, make a reasonable decision and mention it in the summary.
Before making changes, show me the proposed schedule.
After I approve it, create the calendar events.
Here is my todo list and events:
[PASTE TODO LIST HERE]”
Step 4: Self-improvement
Now, this is where my system differs from everyone else.
What you can do is track certain things. For example if you’re having trouble staying productive, start a timer when you start working and stop it whenever you stop working.
Or if you’re sending outreach, you can track the number of sales calls you booked during the week.
But wait, what does this have to do a person assistant?
Well, what you can do is have codex track all of your data in whatever problem you’re having and then codex can arrange your calander/todo list in a way that helps you improve
Just give it this prompt if you’d like to do that:
“You are my personal improvement assistant.
I want you to track my behavior and use the data to improve how you plan my calendar and todo list.
Create a simple tracking system for this project.
I want to track:
[INSERT WHAT YOU WANT TO TRACK]
Examples:
- focused work time
- number of outreach messages sent
- number of sales calls booked
- workouts completed
- sleep time
- wake-up time
- distractions
- tasks completed
- tasks missed
- energy level
- mood
- money made
- content posted
Requirements:
Keep it simple.
Create a local tracking file, preferably CSV or JSON.
Make it easy for me to add a daily entry from the terminal.
Create a weekly summary script.
The weekly summary should show:
- what improved
- what got worse
- what I avoided
- what times/days I worked best
- what tasks I keep failing to do
- what changes should be made to next week’s calendar
Use this data when planning my next week.
If I am consistently missing something, schedule it differently.
If I am most productive at certain times, protect those hours for important work.
If I am overloading my calendar, reduce the plan and prioritize the highest-value tasks.
Do not overengineer this. No database, no dashboard, no complicated app unless I ask.
Build the tracking system now and add clear instructions in the README.”
Step 5: Subscribe to MSA 🤪 (completely free)
Ok… maybe you dont HAVE to do this one.
But if you liked this guide and you’re going to try it out, have a look at my landing page.
If you don’t like the look of it, you don’t have to subscribe to my newsletter. But if you do, just try it out… worst case you unsub on monday.
Here it is:
https://msa-mail.com/sign-up1/
Hope this helped