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Getting stuff done

Answering people without doing it yourself

A routine is one job Cook does without you — on a schedule, or every time something happens.

A routine is one job that Cook does on its own, over and over.

Two kinds:

  • On a schedule. Every Monday at 8am, send me last week’s numbers.
  • When something happens. Whenever someone fills in my form, text them within two minutes, then email them the next day if they have not replied.
What starts it Then these happen on their own, in this order Someone fills in your form Tuesday, 9:04pm 2 minutes later Text them "Thanks — I'll call…" next day Email them prices and photos 3 days later Remind them only if they went quiet A routine you have just made is OFF. It cannot text anybody until you switch it on. Switching it off stops new runs.

A routine keeps running when your laptop is shut and Cook is closed, unless you set it to run on your computer (Where it runs → Desktop app): then it only runs while the Cook desktop app is open there. In the routines list, a switch shows whether each one is on. A routine that is on but has not run yet shows Waiting; one in the middle of a run shows Running, and one whose last run went wrong shows Failed.

Ask for one

Describe the job in a chat, the way you would explain it to someone you just hired:

When someone fills in my quote form, text them straight away saying I’ll call within the hour, and let me know on my phone.

Say three things and you have said enough:

  1. When it should start — a time, or a thing that happens.
  2. What should happen, and in what order — including how long to wait between steps.
  3. Where it should tell you — which conversation or channel gets the alert.

Cook turns that into a list of steps you can read and change.

Every routine starts switched off. A routine you have just made does nothing at all. It cannot text anybody. It waits until you turn it on yourself.

The routines list: the ones switched on, the ones switched off, and Replays, the screen recordings of routines that use a browser.
The routines list. Replays holds screen recordings of routines that open a browser, kept for seven days.

Test it before you turn it on

Open the routine and press Test. Cook runs the whole thing with a made-up person so you can read exactly what would be sent. Nothing reaches a real customer.

While you read it, check:

  • The words. Do they sound like you? Read them out loud.
  • The waits. Is one day right, or is one hour right?
  • The links. Open every one.
  • The order. Do the steps happen in the sequence you meant?

Build the page first. A routine that waits for new enquiries can only work if enquiries are arriving from somewhere. Build the page that collects them first, or point the routine at a form you already have. Otherwise the routine is switched on, correct, and doing nothing — and it looks broken when it is not.

Switched on is different from receiving enquiries Two open pipes have their valves in the same open position. The upper pipe is empty. Enquiries flow through the lower pipe. Both routines are switched on, but only the one receiving new enquiries has work to do. No new enquiries Enquiries arriving Both switched on
For a routine started by an enquiry, switching it on opens the valve. A new enquiry still has to arrive. A scheduled routine starts when its scheduled time arrives instead.

Then turn it on

Switch it on and it starts working the next time its starting event happens. It does not go back and handle things that happened before you turned it on.

One more thing: editing a message does not change a sequence that is already part-way through for someone. New runs use the new wording.

Check the first few real runs

The run history shows every occasion the routine ran: what it did, when, and what came back. Read the first few real ones. Expect to change some wording once you see how people actually reply.

To stop it

Turn it off. No new runs start, and it is not deleted. Runs already in progress are not stopped: the routine shows Run still active while they carry on. To stop one, open the routine, choose Who’s in it, and press Stop on that person. Then fix it, test it, turn it back on.

Where to find it

Open your profile menu at the top of the sidebar and choose Routines. You can also open the Growth tab and choose Routines under Marketing. The list shows when each routine last ran.

Your plan can limit how many routines are switched on at once. At the limit, Cook says This workspace is at its routine limit — pause or delete one first.

One job, or a whole setup?

A routine is one job. If you find yourself building the same group of routines again for another business, that group can be saved and reused — that is a playbook. Most people with one business never need one.

How to approve work — the rules about what Cook may send while you are not watching.