012 - How I Streamline My Daily Routine with Automation Tools

I am a big fan of efficiency, and that goes beyond choosing what tasks to do first and what to do next, their importance, urgency, and such.

I am also an observer by nature; I have an inclination to watch my environment, notice the details — even if subconsciously — the comings and goings of people, how they behave.

Anything that is slow and inefficient actually makes me mad — a slow computer, a slow app, a slow thinking process — but I'm still patient with what I can't control, which has built a crazy resilience in me.

Mix this love for efficiency with a need to control what I can, and voi-là, you have an obsession with automation tools.

Now, I'm not the best at it, but within my needs and my own workflows, I've got a thing or two to show you how I do it that you could perhaps start incorporating in your life or, at the very least, draw inspiration from.

1. Make

Make.com is the most complicated platform on this list, and I will put it first because I feel like it doesn't get enough credit outside the business and marketing world.

I use Make to perform so many different tasks: when a template is purchased from Adventurempire, it updates a database in my Notion. When I receive a certain email, it triggers a few actions in my Notion databases, deploying a bunch of different pages, changing properties, and the like.

But, when it comes to your personal use, how could you deploy it?

Granted, it's quite a steep learning curve, but if you could automatically have your emails categorized and added as tasks inside your Notion (or another Make-compatible app) and thus view the content, file the email, and always have your email account clean, with only the important emails needing care for, would you do it?

Besides email watching — and that alone you can do a hell of a lot with — you can use Make.com to assist with your finances, track purchases, and automatically insert them in your Notion — receipt included.

You can connect Make with ChatGPT and Notion and have it create automatic weekly reviews based on certain databases that it watches, to have a no-BS accountability partner.

You can have Make do something similar by monitoring your fitness; if you track your workouts with Notion, it can update a block inside Notion (any content) or send reminders to your phone about habits that you haven't completed.

All in all, if you're serious about making forced changes in bad habits, learning Make will help you beyond what you imagined possible.

2. Notion Built-In Databases and Block Automations

Even on Notion's Free Plan, you will have a certain measure of freedom to play with automations, such as using the Button block or property to perform tasks for you.

All the templates and systems I build come paired with smart automations and formulas that help you perform tasks with a literal click of a button, as well as have a handy overview of everything that happens inside your systems.

On the Pro, Team, Business, and Enterprise plans of Notion, you can take this even further, having databases react to each other as properties and pages are added, edited, or deleted.

If you are a heavy Notion user, these are invaluable tools within it.

3. Shortcuts App

All Mac and iOS devices come with a handy little app called Shortcuts, which is free.

There are a ton of things you can do with it, beyond triggering a Focus mode on your phone or, if you have a smart home, having the lights on before you are even near your house and the like.

Watch what you do daily. For example, I do a lot of marketing, video, and photo editing since I have multiple businesses and I'm hands-on with it.

I have Shortcuts to create a grid of images, remove the background of an image and save it to my camera roll, resize a 4K video into 1080p, remove the audio of a video and save it (especially useful for custom voiceovers), get the text from a PDF and add it to a page in my Notion, get the text from an image and upload it to my Notion (I take a lot of screenshots), and organize my albums according to where things were saved from (for example, TikTok videos go into a TikTok folder).

If you have a hand in second brains, GTD, and such, you will know how invaluable this automatic filing and organization can be to speed up the weekly reset of systems.

In order to build Shortcuts from scratch, I often use ChatGPT to assist me with the steps — I'm not a master coder after all, although I understand it fairly well.

The prompt I used to train a bot was:

“You’re going to act as an Apple Shortcuts expert. You will help me with the scripting, variables, and the order of the commands.

Right now I want to create a shortcut to [convert a 4K video to 1080p, then save it to the camera roll.]”

You can search the App Store for Shortcut companions as well, such as Nautomate, to connect Notion and Shortcuts, Toolbox pro, Actions, Actions for Obsidian, and others, which will enhance the actions inside the app and automate through multiple other apps on your phone.

Embracing automation isn't just about boosting productivity; it's about crafting a life that feels efficient and fulfilling, without messing with the small annoying tasks.

By integrating tools like Make.com, Notion, and Shortcuts into your daily routine, you can streamline tasks, reduce overwhelm, and create a smoother workflow. Remember, the goal is not just to do more but to do better, and not spend time in trivial tasks that should be resolved quickly.

So take a moment, reflect on your habits, and see how these tools can elevate your efficiency and, workflows, and ultimately, your well-being. Experiment, adapt, and let your Systemphoria lead you to a more organized and empowered life.

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