Sans Pantalones

Building a Keyboard Maestro workflow is a great way to save time and make a consistent work environment. I trigger several workflows for writing, SQL, and automation development. This creates consistency by having all my tools laid out in front of me before I begin.

Let’s use my Journal workflow as an example. Before I begin writing, several things need to happen. I need to open and mount the DMG file that contains my .scriv file. I need to start Scrivener and load that file. I start Wordweb so I have a dictionary and thesaurus at the ready. I also start TextSoap for text cleaning.

They are simple steps, but when you pick each apart, there are multiple actions taking place. Here is the breakdown:

– Open Finder, navigate to the Dropbox folder, open the Scrivener folder, then load the DMG.
– Once the DMG is open, select the .scriv file inside and load it.
– Open Launchpad, find Wordweb and start it.
– Check to make sure TextSoap is running. If not, start it.

They’re simple steps, but each takes time to execute. With Keyboard Maestro all of this can be accomplished as a single task with no time spent opening files or folders. This is a great example because all the steps are predictable and repeatable. When that happens, we get the following:

Automation=Consistency
Consistency=Efficiency
Efficiency=Time Saved

As you can see, this is a straightforward macro that is easy to read. It mimics the same process I just described.

The first step is open the DMG file using the Open File module.

We need to wait for the DMG to mount, so we can access the files inside. The same as waiting for a hard drive to become available.

Once mounted, we need to open the .scriv file with the correct application, in this case, Scrivener.

At the same time, we can launch Wordweb, and TextSoap, so all apps are ready to be used. With one keyword all of these actions are invoked together. There is no need to manually look for a file, mount a volume, or switch applications. Everything is handled without breaking “flow.”

The same process is followed when I’m done. All the applications are closed and the volume is dismounted. Once the volume is dismounted, it can be synced through Dropbox.

Again, all of this is done as a single process. I don’t have to switch to each application, close it, switch to the next, close it, then check Finder to dismount the volume.

This may not seem like much, but I execute this process 300 times a year. I either work on an article or write in my journal nearly every day.

Let’s say by using Keyboard Maestro for this process, I save a minute of time each day. Not much on it’s own, but over the course of a year, it amounts to 5 hours.

Five hours of time saved by a single action is almost an entire workday. This marginal gain creates a huge amount of banked time.

It’s also not a minute. In reality it will be several, since manually going through this process is likely to break my train of thought, cause me to get distracted by an email, make me forget a thought, give me the opportunity to focus my attention somewhere else. That all leads to lost time.

This process probably saves 5 minutes each day. That would equate to 1,500 minutes for an entire year. 1,500 minutes is 25 hours, or 3 workdays saved. Not bad.

This is for a single macro, not a complicated one either. When set up for a dozen of events, the time savings is huge. This becomes banked time. Instead of spending time locating files, finding apps, or switching your mental context from one task to another, a single keyword can trigger a workflow that handles the task for you.

This can be extended to multiple workflows:
– Closing all your apps before doing a screen share on Zoom
– Apps and files you need when paying bills
– Apps and files for putting a recipe together
– Apps and files for setting up your task list for the week

With these simple workflows you can start more efficiently, be done sooner and move on to something else.

Other articles of interest:

• How I Use Scrivener
• Getting Started With Keyboard Maestro
• Alfred Climbs Aboard the Party Barge
• How I use Alfred
• Inserting and Appending Text with TextSoap
• Creating an Automated Job to Empty the Trash in Keyboard Maestro
• How Am I Spending My Time?
• How I Use Keyboard Maestro
• Password protecting documents regardless of application
• How to play Blu-Ray discs with VLC Media Player

Each Friday, I like to tidy up my machine before turning it off for the weekend. This includes several maintenances tasks including emptying the Trash. Like a real trashcan, why leave it sit?

With Keyboard Maestro, this becomes an automated task. With one code block, the trash can be emptied on a schedule. There is no need for me to remember. No need to switch apps. No need to accept a confirmation prompt.

As you can see from the screenshot, the Trigger is set to At Time. Since this is for my home machine, I have this set for 7:45PM each Friday. The one at work is set for 3:00PM. As long as the machine is turned on and I’m logged in, the macro will run. And come on, who isn’t logged into their at 7:45 on a Friday night?

The next block of the macro is the small piece of AppleScript it takes to empty the Trash. It’s job is to turn off the confirmation prompt, empty the trash, then turn the prompt back on.

While this is a simple macro, it takes the task off my plate. I don’t have to spend time thinking about it. I won’t get distracted remembering to switch over to Finder, pressing the correct key combination, or going through the menus, then selecting OK. It happens silently in the background, every Friday like clockwork. This is why we love computers.

For those who want the code:

tell application "Finder"
    set warns before emptying of trash to false
    empty trash
    set warns before emptying of trash to true
end tell

Other articles of interest:

• Prompt for User Input in Keyboard Maestro
• Building a Simple Workflow With Keyboard Maestro
• Getting Started With Keyboard Maestro
• How I Use Keyboard Maestro
• It’s all about templates, macros and workflows in 2020
• Wait for a Volume to Mount or Unmount/Eject in AppleScript
• How To Create a Ram Drive Using Keyboard Maestro
• Checking for the presence of an object without throwing an error
• Using Sets to fill in Form Details with Katalon Studio
• Save 50% on Roboform (Mac)

Before getting on board with a tool like Keyboard Maestro, it's common to say, "I don't have anything to automate." Actually, working on automation is the old chicken and egg scenario. You don't have an automation tool because you aren't working on automation. However, you aren't working on automation because you don't have an automation tool.

You need to look at it from a different angle. I'm sure you've had this experience, you only notice how many blue cars are on the road right after you buy one. The same is true for automation. Once you have the right tool, you see all the ways it can be used. You notice the repetitive tasks. You see this is the third time you've done this job. Each week you clean out the Download folder the same way. There are multiple tasks to be automated.

Automation macros don't have to be grand programs. They can be simple, one hit wonders. In fact, those are best.

They don't need to contain elaborate decision making trees to handle a dozen scenarios. Rather, write a dozen small scripts to accomplish a single task. Use them weekly, or daily. When they are effective, you are saving time.

Some great script ideas are:

• Building a workflow to launch applications
• Build a consistent folder structure
• Move files based on filename or extension
• Delete files of a certain size or with a certain name
• Rename groups of files
• Trigger actions based on mouse button clicks

When working with Keyboard Maestro, the more macros you write, the easier it is to write macros. Even for a simple task, writing a macro takes less time than doing the task by hand. This is especially true for copy/paste jobs. I needed to copy dozens of pieces of text, then append them together. I quickly wrote a Keyboard Maestro macro to do the work for me. It saved time, plus kept the total tedium of the process at bay.

I'm now at the point of looking for ways to use Keyboard Maestro. I repeatedly ask, "How long will this take? Should this be a macro? Will I need to do this again at some point?" If that last question is a yes, I'm absolutely writing a macro.

Macros don't have to be perfect. I often spend a little time each weekend refining my "brute force" macros from the work week with better logic and capabilities. This refactoring takes less time each week.

The more simple macros I write, the better and more complex the macros can be later because I have a library of examples available. I can take a macro to add tags to files, then combine it with a macro to loop through a folder of files.

Especially now, there is always room for improvement in your daily workflow. Automation and Keyboard Maestro are a step in that direction.

Small macros save large amounts of time.
Small macros make work more efficient.
Small macros make light work of big tasks.

Other articles of interest:

• Creating an Automated Job to Empty the Trash in Keyboard Maestro
• Building a Simple Workflow With Keyboard Maestro
• Keyboard Maestro makes a last minute appearance on the Party Barge
• How I Use Keyboard Maestro
• Prompt for User Input in Keyboard Maestro
• Controlling and Selecting VPN Connections with Keyboard Maestro
• It’s all about templates, macros and workflows in 2020
• Making applications with Keyboard Maestro
• More file management with Keyboard Maestro
• How I use Alfred