🚫 The Problem Most People Don’t See Coming
Most people start with good intentions:
“Let’s automate this annoying thing and save time.”
But then it snowballs.
Suddenly you’ve got 17 Zaps, 12 Make scenarios, half a dozen spreadsheets, and no idea what connects to what. A small change breaks everything.
This is reactive automation. And it works—until it doesn’t.
🧠 Shift from Reactive to Intentional
If you want workflows that scale, you can’t build automations like you’re plugging leaks. You need a plan—a system that grows with you, not against you.
Here’s how I think about it:
🏗️ The 3-Layer Automation Stack
To keep things stable, I organize my automations into three layers:
1. Trigger Layer (Inputs)
These are the events that start everything.
Think:
New subscriber in Beehiiv
New post on X
Form filled via Tally or Google Forms
File added to a specific Dropbox folder
Your stack should always start here. These are the moments you want to respond to.
2. Automation Engine Layer (The Brains)
This is where logic happens, your “if this, then that” layer.
Examples:
Zapier: Simple, fast, beginner-friendly
Make.com: Visual, complex, scalable
This layer connects the dots. It transforms inputs into actions.
3. Core Stack Layer (Storage & Ops)
This is where your data lives or actions happen.
Airtable or Notion: For storing leads, tasks, posts, content ideas
Google Sheets: Great for logs, tracking, budgeting
Scheduling Tools: Like Buffer or Typefully
This layer is the foundation. Don’t skip it, good automations still need a home.
🛠️ Example Workflow
Let’s say you want to save your best-performing tweets each week and reuse them in your newsletter.
Trigger:
Every Friday @ 5pm
Engine:
Make.com checks your X posts, filters by engagement (likes > 15)
Core:
Adds the best ones to a Notion database titled “Newsletter Fuel”
That’s it. One automation → three layers → endless reuse.
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
Over-automating: If you wouldn’t do it manually, don’t automate it.
No documentation: When stuff breaks, you’ll want a map.
Chaining tools unnecessarily: More tools = more points of failure.
✅ Start Clean, Scale Confident
The sooner you think of your automations as a stack, the fewer headaches you’ll have when things grow.
It’s not about duct-taping tools together.
It’s about building a system that works with you—not against you.
Try Make here: https://www.make.com/en/register?pc=tactistack
The free tier is great for beginners and can endlessly scale up from there.