The best way to get started with Mac automation is to identify Mac tasks you regularly perform on your Mac, and then figure out which ones can be automated.
Though computers are supposed to save us time and help us be more productive, many computer users perform redundant tasks without knowing that many actions can be automated or triggered with one or more less steps.
To help you become familiar with tasks you perform regularly, the following poll is a list of tasks that Mac users regularly perform on their computer.
Take Mac Tasks Survey
- Vote up a task if you perform it nearly every time you work at your computer
- Vote down a task if you don’t perform that task very often.
Note: at the end of this poll, I share examples of how common Mac tasks can be automated using relatively easy to learn automation applications.
[wp_quiz_pro id=”8525″]
Sample Automated Mac Tasks
If you want to get started with Mac automation, there’s about a dozen relatively applications (including Keyboard Maestro, BetterTouchTool, Hazel, SuperTab, Speech Commands, TextExpander, PopClip, smart folders, and iClip) that help you automate tasks on your Mac.
The title for each example includes a link to an article that will explain more about the particular automation.
Use PopClip to Automations
Automatically Hide and Quit Apps
Download SuperTab using my affiliate link. 60% Off.
Expand Snippets of Text
Download trial version of TextExpander.
Use Hazel to Automatically Move and Copy Files
Use Automator to Automatically Resize Image Files
Use BetterTouchTool to Trigger Keyboard Shortcuts
Use SnappyApp to Take Screenshots
Keyboard Maestro Time and Day Triggers
Get a discount on Keyboard Maestro using my affiliate link.
Subscribe To and Browse This Site
The above examples are just a few of the type of automation hacks you can have triggered on your Mac. Depending on what you do, there are endless workflows that you can create that save you time and clicking using automation programs.
I invite you to subscribe to the MacAutomationTips newsletter to get updated about new articles, and to browse the site for more detail ideas about getting started with Mac automation.
Also, feel free to share the type of tasks you perform on your Mac that are not listed in the survey. I’m always interested in knowing about the automation needs of my readers.
Your Feedback Is Important, Comment and Rate Below Was this article useful to you? How so? Do you have experience with the application(s) discussed in this article? Can you suggest similar applications or strategies discussed in this article? What questions do you have after reading this article?