Can this cover multiple courses at once?

Yes — just include a 'Course' column and every course's deadlines will appear in the same digest.

Can I widen the lookahead window?

Yes — change the day-range check in the Code node.

EducationStructurally Validated

Assignment Deadline Digest

Every morning, this automation scans your assignments sheet and sends the instructor a single ranked digest of everything due within 3 days, by email and Slack. One glance replaces scrolling a spreadsheet or getting buried in per-assignment alerts.

Automation flow

Step 1

Daily Trigger

Runs every morning at 7am.

Step 2

Read Assignments Sheet

Pulls the full assignment list.

Step 3

Build Digest

Filters to the next 3 days and formats a ranked summary.

Step 4

Email Digest

Sends the instructor one digest email.

Step 5

Slack Digest

Posts the same digest to Slack.

How it works

1Every morning at 7am, the full assignments sheet is read.
2Anything due within the next 3 days is collected and sorted by urgency.
3A single digest — not one email per assignment — is built and sent by email and Slack.

Services used

Google SheetsGmailSlack

What you'll need

An n8n Cloud or self-hosted account
A Google account (Sheets)
A Slack workspace (optional)

What's included

Single digest instead of per-item noise
No-code setup in 15 minutes
3-day lookahead window, easy to adjust
Email and Slack delivery included

Estimate what this could save you

Times per week

Minutes each time

Your hourly value ($)

3.6 hours/month

≈ $108/month in your time

A rough estimate based on what you enter above — not a guarantee. Actual time saved depends on your process.

Make it yours

Widen or narrow the 3-day lookahead window in the Code node.
Add a Grading Status column and include a second section listing ungraded work that's overdue for feedback.
Split the digest per course if one instructor teaches multiple sections.