It's not so much what I would want automated as what I have already automated. As an example, consider how I handle notes that I leave for myself as I'm working

It's not so much what I would want automated as what I have already automated. As an example, consider how I handle notes that I leave for myself as I'm working. These are things like paragraphs to be added to a paper, ideas for a research topic, a list of things I have to do around the yard, or anything not directly related to the task at hand. I have written a script in D (my programming language of choice). I have a web interface to all of the notes I've jotted down in the past. I can click a topic and see all notes related to that topic. I click the new note button, and it opens Emacs with the file that will hold the note. I type in a note in markdown, and as soon as I close Emacs, the note is converted to html. If I want to change it, I hit the edit button, Emacs opens up, and I make my edits. Upon closing Emacs, the html is rebuilt. Anytime I create a new note or edit an existing note, there is a commit to the Git repo. That's what I mean by automated. I write scripts that handle everything except the content of the notes. I have written or am writing scripts for just about everything I do.