Your tasks live in five different places. Your calendar only shows meetings, not the actual work between them. Someone asks "are you free Thursday?" and you say yes because your calendar looks empty, even though you have six hours of work hiding in your head.
Every week, the same thing happens. Something slips. You scramble. You get it done, but it didn't need to be stressful.
A good executive assistant would fix all of this. They'd capture your tasks, organize your week, triage your inbox, and warn you before deadlines sneak up. That's a $4,000+/month hire.
You can build one for $20/month.
The stack
| Tool | Role |
|---|---|
| Claude (desktop app) | The brain. Connects to everything and takes action. |
| Google Calendar | Your schedule. Claude reads and writes to it. |
| Gmail | Your inbox. Claude scans, sorts, and drafts replies. |
| Todoist | Your task list. Claude creates tasks and syncs them to your calendar. |
| CLAUDE.md | A config file. Your assistant's memory and rules. |
What it does
"Add a task" → Creates it in Todoist with the right project, label, and due date. Time-specific? Also adds a calendar event.
"When am I free?" → Reads your calendar, applies your buffer times and energy preferences, suggests the best slot.
"Check my email" → Sorts Gmail into Action Needed / FYI / Noise. Drafts replies for you.
"Invoice the client" → Generates an HTML invoice, creates a Gmail draft, updates your billing log.
"Brain dump: [wall of text]" → Parses it into tasks, calendar events, logged decisions, and saved contacts. Confirms what it did.
"What's on my plate?" → One view. Open tasks, upcoming events, recent activity.
Automated check-ins → Morning briefing, midday pulse, evening scoreboard, weekly retro. Push notifications to your phone. You don't touch anything.
It nags you (the good kind) → Deadline tomorrow? It leads with it. Task sitting for two days? It brings it up. Doesn't interrupt focus time. Waits for natural breaks.
It learns → Correct it once, it saves the correction. Reads it every future session. Gets better the more you use it.
Setup (10 steps, ~1 hour)
1. Download Claude
Go to claude.com/download. Mac or Windows. Open the app.
2. Subscribe to Claude Pro
$20/month. You need this to access the features that connect to your real tools. Go to claude.ai/settings.
3. Connect Google Calendar
In the Claude app, go to Settings > Integrations. Connect your Google account. One-click sign-in. Claude can now read your events, create new ones, and check your availability.
4. Connect Gmail
Same Settings page. Connect Gmail. Claude can scan your inbox and create drafts. It can't send without your approval.
5. Set up Todoist
Create a free account at todoist.com. Get the phone app too.
Grab your API token: Profile > Settings > Integrations > Developer. Copy the token string. You'll paste it into Claude later.
Enable the Google Calendar sync in Todoist settings. Tasks now show up as real time blocks on your calendar.
6. Build your config file
Open Claude and say:
I want to build an executive assistant system. Interview me so you can create a config file. Ask about my work, my weekly schedule, my energy levels throughout the day, buffer time preferences, personal commitments, and any scheduling rules.
Answer 10-15 questions. Be specific. "I crash at 5 PM and recover around 8:30" beats "I'm a morning person."
Claude generates a CLAUDE.md file from your answers. This is your assistant's long-term memory. It reads this file every session.
7. Build the task system
Build my task system in Todoist. Here's my API token: [paste it]. Create projects for each area of my work, add recurring tasks, set due dates and durations, and label everything.
Claude hits the API and builds your whole system in real time.
8. Set up email triage
When I say "check my email," scan my inbox and sort into three buckets: Action Needed, FYI, and Noise. Draft replies for anything that needs a response.
9. Set up automated check-ins
Set up scheduled check-ins: morning briefing at 8 AM, midday pulse at 12:30 PM, evening scoreboard at 8:30 PM, weekly retro on Sunday at 6 PM. Send each one as a push notification through Google Calendar.
10. Use it for a week and correct it
"Don't schedule calls before 10 AM." Saved.
"Stop summarizing at the end of every response." Saved.
"Friday evenings are off-limits." Saved.
After a week, it fits your workflow. After a month, it knows your patterns better than you do.
The cost
| Tool | Cost |
|---|---|
| Claude Pro | $20/month |
| Todoist | Free |
| Google Calendar | Free |
| Gmail | Free |
Need help building yours? DM me "meeting" on Instagram and I'll set up a 1:1 call. (Not free, sorry!)
Join my mailing list for new AI skills and hacks weekly.