Adding time buffer into automation

Hmm this would be a nice feature to have within the trigger, but that’s not available. The following workaround should work:

You can have a “Last Modified Time” field, for this datetime field. You can create a Recently Modified formula field using DATETIME_DIFF() and NOW() that checks if the field was modified in the last Grace Period time (eg. 1 hour).

And now you can run your action on the Update of Recently Modified - which means that it will be triggered 1 hour after the last change was made, assuming no further changes.

— Best, Milan - Automable.AI Free Airtable consultation

Probably the best way to trigger an automation would be to have a checkbox or a single-select field trigger your automation. The single-select field can even give you updates as to the progress of your automation, as I describe in this thread.

- ScottWorld, Expert Airtable Consultant

Create a Last Modified Time field and select just the field or fields you want to start the change when they are modified.  Then create a formula that looks at the LMT field and after a certain time period display START or whatever you want to the automation, with the trigger on condition of that formula field displaying START.

This is a formula I use for a similar purpose:
 

IF(
    DATETIME_DIFF(NOW(), {scriptStarted}, 'minutes') < 15,
    "Pending Start",
    IF(
        DATETIME_DIFF(NOW(), {scriptStarted}, 'minutes') <= 20,
        "START",
        "Processed"
    )
)