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Probably off initial topic, but: - FileJuggler on Windows, to automatically clean Desktop, Download folder and archive everything into a date-based folder stru

Probably off initial topic, but: - FileJuggler on Windows, to automatically clean Desktop, Download folder and archive everything into a date-based folder structure in Drive. - AutoHotKey to insert text templates into everything (e.g. current date, formatted Jira issues, annoying things to type) The problem with automation is that one will want to break even quickly [time saved > (time spent finding/setting/maintaining)] otherwise automation is just a glorified delayed action. Time saving is not the only reason for automating but I assume it's n°1's when it comes to personal use.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
Perhaps underappreciated aspect of automation is friction reduction. Having a semi-automated process can be what it takes for you to stop avoiding doing some little chore, or what makes you no longer suffer as you do it.
- ehnto 7y ago
  I am really susceptible to friction. It's why my bike is at my front door, and why I don't stack things. Adam Savage has a principle he called First Order Retrievability that helps reduce friction for using tools around his workshop. This thread made me think about automating my invoicing. If all it did was mail me the completed PDF to then forward to clients, that would definitely make me do it more consistently on the 1st of the month even though it's not completely automated. https://hackaday.com/2015/02/28/adam-savages-first-order-of-retrievability-tool-boxes/ https://hackaday.com/2015/02/28/adam-savages-first-order-of-...
patrickk 7y ago
Some more items that I've setup in AHK: - Launching commonly used apps, like Notepad, Windows Explorer or Sublime Text - Launching commonly used websites in a browser, e.g. gmail - Paste from the clipboard into a language translation site (languageX to languageY via URL parameters) - Open a to do list in Excel (hard coded file path) - Text expansion for personal and work email addresses - With one keypress, open the train schedule on the website, type in the 'from' and 'to' stations, search - Text expand to symbols that I always forget, eg. euro symbol, hash sign etc - Google/Wikipedia search clipboard text
- clement_b 7y ago
  > Text expand to symbols that I always forget, eg. euro symbol, hash sign etc Yes! That's a big time saver on my end to. I was also using it to insert emojis, but the new `Windows+.` shortcut is actually useful for that.
- jaclaz 7y ago
  Hopefully you are prolific enough in AHK to use it directly, for all other people I suggest Lintalist: https://lintalist.github.io/ https://lintalist.github.io/ which is a AHK based tool, very easy also for the "casual" user (like I am).
  - patrickk 7y ago
    Thanks for linking this, I hadn't heard of this tool before (I've been using AHK for many years). Another very useful tool that I recommend for automating PixelSearch and the like is Pulover's Macro Creator: https://www.macrocreator.com/ https://www.macrocreator.com/ It spits out AHK code after recording actions (e.g. a long mouse and keyboard sequence), it's a great time saver for more complex scripts.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

Perhaps underappreciated aspect of automation is friction reduction. Having a semi-automated process can be what it takes for you to stop avoiding doing some little chore, or what makes you no longer suffer as you do it.

ehnto 7y ago
I am really susceptible to friction. It's why my bike is at my front door, and why I don't stack things. Adam Savage has a principle he called First Order Retrievability that helps reduce friction for using tools around his workshop. This thread made me think about automating my invoicing. If all it did was mail me the completed PDF to then forward to clients, that would definitely make me do it more consistently on the 1st of the month even though it's not completely automated. https://hackaday.com/2015/02/28/adam-savages-first-order-of-retrievability-tool-boxes/ https://hackaday.com/2015/02/28/adam-savages-first-order-of-...

patrickk 7y ago

Some more items that I've setup in AHK: - Launching commonly used apps, like Notepad, Windows Explorer or Sublime Text - Launching commonly used websites in a browser, e.g. gmail - Paste from the clipboard into a language translation site (languageX to languageY via URL parameters) - Open a to do list in Excel (hard coded file path) - Text expansion for personal and work email addresses - With one keypress, open the train schedule on the website, type in the 'from' and 'to' stations, search - Text expand to symbols that I always forget, eg. euro symbol, hash sign etc - Google/Wikipedia search clipboard text

clement_b 7y ago
> Text expand to symbols that I always forget, eg. euro symbol, hash sign etc Yes! That's a big time saver on my end to. I was also using it to insert emojis, but the new `Windows+.` shortcut is actually useful for that.
jaclaz 7y ago
Hopefully you are prolific enough in AHK to use it directly, for all other people I suggest Lintalist: https://lintalist.github.io/ https://lintalist.github.io/ which is a AHK based tool, very easy also for the "casual" user (like I am).
- patrickk 7y ago
  Thanks for linking this, I hadn't heard of this tool before (I've been using AHK for many years). Another very useful tool that I recommend for automating PixelSearch and the like is Pulover's Macro Creator: https://www.macrocreator.com/ https://www.macrocreator.com/ It spits out AHK code after recording actions (e.g. a long mouse and keyboard sequence), it's a great time saver for more complex scripts.