133: Personal Automation Fun

In case any of you missed it Rose mentions a handy utility for running scripts at 1:11:49 of episode 133.

It isn’t in the show notes and I had to slow down the audio speed to make out what the name is.

It is:

FastScripts from Red Sweater software: FastScripts 3

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If you check back to episode 101, the developer, Daniel Jalkut (@redsweater) was the guest. During that show there is some additional discussion of the app.

The app has had regular mentions on the podcast since v3 released. it is worth noting it adds some additional things outside of launching scripts. I think regular expressions for AppleScript is the most widely noted.

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One thing mentioned in this helpful episode and something I read/hear often is that capturing tasks quickly is something Apple Reminders doesn’t do well.

In case it helps others, I use a combination of Instaremind on Mac and Remind Me Faster on iOS as add ons to my use of Reminders. Both have become a core part of my workflow and reduced friction around capture of tasks. Excellent utilities and highly recommended.

FWIW, I’ve been using a simple Alfred workflow for many years to quickly capture Reminders on Mac.

The Alfred launch keyword is “dp” - for “do personal”.

I used to use a different keyword for work related tasks - “dw”. Retirement has thankfully obviated the need for that one!

the syntax is simply: reminder title;number of days until due (optional);reminder note (optional)

Examples:

Add a reminder to my Personal list with no notes and no due date:

dp my reminder title

Add a reminder to my Personal list with no notes and due 30 days from now:

dp my reminder title;30

Add a reminder to my Personal list with a note but no due date:

dp my reminder title;;I need to do this after I finish my other 30 tasks

Super fast

Here’s a link to the workflow file. As you’ll see noted, you simply need to change the reminder list title to the one or more that you want to be able to use.

Glad to answer any questions. There are other more robust Reminders related workflows out there, but I have found this one to be very effective for my own use. Almost zero friction!

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@RosemaryOrchard, have you shared your shopping list categorization and cleanup shortcut anywhere? This episode inspired me to create one but I feel like I’m brute forcing my way through things that I suspect you have found more elegant ways of handling.

I too am looking to help automagically sort reminders. Loved the idea of sorting all reminders with a location into a specific list yet cannot find how to check if a Reminder has a location in the Find Reminders shortcut action. Curious to know how @RosemaryOrchard is doing this! :grin:

Here is one way you could access location attributes to check against. Purely for illustrative purposes.

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/9fd65fef80bd4c319e44a63dc8e81970