Your first project: Send a daily email to yourself

Most people feel like the AI era is happening to them. Algorithms, chatbots, job shifts - everything beyond their control. When you write a 10 line Python script that does something useful, even something tiny like emailing yourself, you change this story. Suddenly you’re not just a user of tech. You will be a maker.

This is how teenagers learn coding. This is how I learned it, decades ago. With tiny projects that make you realize your power.

Even if you don’t want to be a coder, if you follow along, you’ll be able to look at AI tools, automations, etc and think, I get how this works. That understanding dissolves the fog of FOMO and replaces it with your own knowledge.

So the purpose of this daily email project is not to make your inbox exciting. It’s to reclaim a bit of technological confidence in a world where AI can feel like something you never signed up for.

Let’s get started!

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Our goal is create a python script that emails you daily. In 15 minutes.

This is what you’ll need: A windows computer & a gmail account.

Steps:

1. Save the script in your computer

2. Add your email address & app password

3. Run the script

4. Schedule it to run daily

Once you’ve done it, check out the “How did we use ChatGPT to do this” section.

Step 1. Save the script in your computer

1. Create a folder in your computer called “15-minute-projects”.

2. Download the script file and save it inside that folder.

3. The filename is “daily_email_simple.py”.

Step 2. Add your email address & app password

Open the file in an editor. Find these lines and change both email addresses to your own gmail address. Change the app password to your own app password.

• FROM_EMAIL = “your_email@gmail.com”

• APP_PASSWORD = “your-16-character-app-password”

• TO_EMAIL = “your_email@gmail.com”

Here’s how you can get your app password:

1. Log in to your google account and go to “App Passwords”. Or click this link.

2. Add any app name (ex: “daily gratitude email”) and click create.

3. Copy the app password & paste into the script where it says your-16-character-app-password.

Worried about editing the code? Totally normal. Check this out.

Step 3. Run the script

1. Install Python (if you haven’t already):

   1. Go to python.org/downloads, download the latest version for Windows, and install it.

   2. During setup, check the box that says “Add Python to PATH.” That part is crucial.

2. Open your script’s folder in File Explorer.

3. Run the script:

   1. Hold Shift, then right-click inside the folder (but not on the file).

   2. Choose “Open PowerShell window here” or “Open Command Window here.”

   3. Type:

      python daily_email_simple.py

   4. Hit Enter.

   5. Wait a minute, and then check your gmail inbox - you will have your email. Take a second to celebrate this!! You just made your computer talk to you. That’s real coding. :)

Step 4: Schedule it to run daily

• Follow the video for complete setup of Windows Task Scheduler.

• Run the task once to test the scheduler.

Next Steps

You’ve just built your first automation. Here is the ChatGPT chat that was used to create this script. Change the subject line, add a message, or make it send to a friend. It’s all yours now.