Routine Shortcuts

I use Shortcuts on my iPhone every day. I like gimmicky shortcuts as much as anyone, but the ones that give me the most value are routine-style shortcuts, the type you likely hit once a day around the same time. Here are the ones I’ve made. Clicking on the header while on your iPhone or iPad will install the shortcut. Some of them have sub-shortcuts, also linked.

Good Morning

Starts a Toggle timer for “Morning”
Runs my “Battery Check” Shortcut, which changes brightness and turns on and off radios based on battery level
Runs my “Fitbit Weight,” shortcut which I wrote about here
Runs my “Morning Workout” Shortcut.

Transit

Starts a Toggl timer for “Transit”
Opens Google maps to commute
Opens up the app “Rocket Man” to show streetcar times.
Turns “Do Not Disturb” off

Ride

This is for when I’m riding my bike instead of taking transit.

Runs “Battery Check”
Asks if I’m starting or stopping a ride
If I’m starting, Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on
If I’m stopping, Sets “Do Not Disturb” to off
Adds a calendar item
Starts playing Overcast
Opens up “Map My Ride”
Opens up “Biko”
Opens up “Fitbit”

Morning Prep

For when I’m at work but haven’t started an actual task yet.

Starts a Toggl timer for “Morning prep”

Pomo

Sets a timer for 25 minutes
Starts a blank timer in Toggl
Adds a calendar event for “Pomodoro”
Opens “Freedom”
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on

Pomo Break

Starts a Toggl for “Pomo Break”
Starts a timer for 5 minutes.
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to off

Meeting

Starts a Toggl for “Pomo Break”
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on

Lunch

Starts a Toggl for “Lunch”
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on

Afternoon Prep

For when I’m coming back from lunch but haven’t started an actual task yet.

Starts a Toggl timer for “Afternoon prep”

Home

Start a Toggl timer for “Evening”
A menu choice between “Elliptical workout,” “Evening Workout,” and “I’m feeling lazy.”

“Elliptical Workout” adds a calendar event for “Elliptical,” and turns off bluetooth (so I can easier connect my Airpods to my Surface)
“Evening Workout” adds a calendar event for “Evening workout,” turns on my hip hop playlist, and begins my “evening routine” in Strong


GTS Routine

Starts a Toggl timer for “Yoga”
Sets bluetooth to off

Sleep

Starts a Toggl timer for “Sleep”
Opens “Sleep Cycle”
Waits 20 seconds, then dims the screen to the minimum amount.

Weekend

Starts a Toggl timer for “Weekend”

Using these shortcuts allows me to keep Toggling running 24/7, which means my weekly email from them is far more useful. Mainly, though, these were things I was often doing manually before Shortcuts showed up. It’s actually what led me to make them like this. It’s the advice I give people who are having trouble thinking of ways Shortcuts can benefit them: think of the things you do over and over and automate that. It’s boilerplate advice about computers, sure, but it’s true here. Your iPhone is a computer. Let it help you.