Chapter 2: Morning Routine Automation

Apple's Siri Shortcuts offer remarkable capabilities, albeit with a steep learning curve. Recognizing that this is one of the best ways to automate tasks in the Apple ecosystem, I dedicated time to mastering its functionalities. After extensive experimentation, I crafted a personalized morning briefing that Siri delivers each day.

This morning brief includes:

• Today's calendar events
• To-do items
• Urgent tasks
• A quick overview of world news
• Sports results from the previous day
• Stock market updates
• Cryptocurrency news
• Inspirational quotes

While I could gather this information manually from various sites, I prefer to let Siri handle it, providing consistency and a calming start to my day.

The first video, 5 Ways I Use AI To Automate My Life (as a senior developer), offers insights on how AI tools can streamline daily tasks and boost productivity.

Chapter 3: Financial Automation

Establishing certain automations is crucial for maintaining financial wellness. If there's one takeaway from this discussion, let it be this: set up your financial automations!

The first automation I created involves investing. Every three days, a set amount is automatically allocated to various index funds from my brokerage account, irrespective of market conditions. This strategy, known as dollar-cost averaging (DCA), helps me detach emotions from my investment decisions. I’ve experienced the emotional highs and lows of investing, but automating this aspect has significantly improved my mental well-being.

Another automation I have in place manages my paycheck. It distributes my earnings to different accounts for savings, bills, investments, and retirement funds, minimizing the balance in my primary checking account to avoid unnecessary spending. This has greatly simplified my financial life and enhanced my overall mental health.

Chapter 4: Grocery Shopping Made Easy

Grocery shopping can be rewarding or frustrating, depending on your level of preparation. After much trial and error, I found that automating my weekly grocery orders was the most effective approach. While it has its drawbacks, the advantages far outweigh them.

On the positive side, automating grocery orders saves me hours by eliminating decision fatigue and impulsive buys. It also reduces human error, ensuring I never forget essential items. The downside is that I occasionally miss out on sales and seasonal items. Nevertheless, I have minimized grocery store visits and have all my essentials covered.

I developed a Python bot that:

• Extracts my grocery list from a task manager
• Adds regularly needed items (like milk)
• Prepares a shopping cart with necessary groceries
• Sends me notifications via email and SMS for confirmation

Once confirmed, I can schedule a pickup from the nearest store. Although this program isn't flawless, it has drastically reduced the frequency of my grocery trips.

Chapter 5: Content Curation Automation

Previously, I spent hours deciding what to read, watch, or listen to each week, often falling into the trap of endless scrolling. To tackle this, I created a Python program that curates my weekly media consumption every Sunday evening.

This program:

• Selects podcasts, YouTube videos, and reading materials for the week
• Gathers relevant Instagram content and emails me a summary
• Reviews my Raindrop.io library for articles of interest

This solution has saved me countless hours! While the program is tailored specifically to my preferences, I plan to share more about it in an upcoming YouTube video, so stay tuned!

Chapter 6: Enhancing Productivity with ClickUp

The final automation in my toolkit is a recent addition. I transitioned my life management system from TickTick and Notion to ClickUp, which offers powerful automation features. I never anticipated how much I would rely on these tools, but they have made a significant difference.

Here are some automations I’ve implemented:

• Automatically generate project templates (Medium, YouTube, Work)
• Create journal entries for weekly, quarterly, and yearly reviews
• Dashboards for tracking productivity and goal alignment

I’ll delve deeper into ClickUp’s automation features in a future post. If you're interested, make sure to subscribe!

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