I’ve been super curious about automation for a while now, especially when it comes to organizing my to-dos or notes. But honestly… I’m stuck. I have no idea where to start or what’s even possible.
So I’m turning to you smart folks for inspiration
What kinds of cool, clever, or just plain useful automations have you set up using tools like Zapier, Siri Shortcuts, Make, IFTTT, Alfred, Obsidian plugins, or anything else?
I’m open to anything from tiny time-savers to full-blown automated workflows. Maybe something that adds tasks from certain emails? Or a shortcut that kicks off a weekly review? Or even something weirdly niche that you can’t live without?
I wrote an Alfred workflow called Save 'ur Note (that’s a link to it on the Alfred Gallery). This is how it’s described in the workflow configuration:
Sometimes when working you want to make a short, temporary quick note for future reference without bothering to open a dedicated Notes app. That is what this workflow does. It uses a simple plain text file (which will be created for you when you first create a note by running the workflow) to which saved notes will be appended (rather like a scratch pad). You select the location folder for that file in the workflow configuration opposite.
However, the workflow does a little more than that. You can also save text clippings by selecting text and using your Universal Action hot key on the selected text
I apologise for publicising my own workflow and if anyone thinks it wrong I’ll delete the post. However, it’s very useful to me and very easy to use—with easy to remember keywords. I always use it when I want to make a quick note which I may not want to keep for very long.
I’ve gone deep on this and my use cases are probably “niche”. But here are some of the highlights.
To begin with, I use Omnifocus for my task repository. But I also have a daily activity journal in markdown, where I like to track things I’ve done, partially done or aspired to do each day. Ideally every task is also in Omnifocus but not always the case.
That’s the scene, here’s how I play it.
Tasks in the markdown file are prefixed ▢ (to do) (done) ~ (worked on). I have Keyboard Maestro macros to cycle those prefixes.
If the markdown task belongs to Omnifocus it’s actually a markdown link to Omnifocus. If I complete the task in markdown, it will complete the related task in Omnifocus if it finds such a link. If I set a markdown task as “worked on” it will open a small capture window where I can record what I did and that notation is appended to the Omnifocus task’s note with a datestamp.
When I create a completely new task I use a bespoke capture form that writes the new task into the appropriate location in Omnifocus. It also leaves a markdown formatted link in the clipboard with that new item’s Omnifocus URI. That way I can paste a related task immediately into my markdown file.
So that’s how I sync Omnifocus with my daily action log. But wait, that’s not all.
My markdown action log is actually a monthly thing, with daily entries. I’ve got a macro to create a formatted new entry each day. ('cause of course I do)
When I do that I have to manage my list of tasks from the day before. Those that I completed are left where they are. Those that I didn’t get around to are deleted from yesterday and brought to today. Those that I got only some work done yesterday are left there to show the work, but a copy is brought to today and marked “undone” until I get some more done with it.
Inspired by Robert of A Fading Thought, I set up Just Press Record on my Apple Watch to automatically put a note in my NotePlan inbox. I speak into my watch, the audio file syncs to my always-on Mac, the app Superwhisper automatically transcribes it using an AI model and also gives it an appropriate title, making it a note, and then a Shortcut moves the note into NotePlan.
So by taping an icon and speaking a few words, I get an appropriately titled note.
I don’t know how many Workflowy peeps are on here since it’s not the Mac-iest of apps, but this trick could be extended to other systems.
Basically, I make one ingestion Shortcut per todo/note area in Workflowy, able to be triggered either by a “Hey Siri” for on-the-go use, or a keyboard shortcut when on the computer. And then I include an If Device Details: Device Type == iPhone action to read back what’s been dictated in mobile-mode case of errors. Though if anyone knows of a way to specifically check whether the Shortcut is being run in “hey Siri mode”, that’d be a nice improvement.
Specifically for Workflowy, I set that up by starting with the stock Workflowy shortcut and making variations for each Workflowy bullet area that I may want to quickly pop items into.
For example, when using it for the held-together-with-duct-tape approach I use for daily task management, I have a shortcut called Today that adds whatever input I said/typed into my Today bullet. So if I’m on the computer on a call, I can hit a quick keyboard shortcut to fire off an action item, or if I’m driving and think of one, I can say, “Hey Siri: Today [pause] remember that email to JoeBob.”
And then I have similar Shortcuts for the Inbox and specific categories of notes.
I need ideas!
(done) ~ (worked on). I have Keyboard Maestro macros to cycle those prefixes.