The Secret iPhone Shortcuts That Beat Siri Every Time
5 real automations that save you hours and fit your day-to-day — built from real community requests
If you're still manually doing the same digital chore more than twice… there's probably a better way.
I was reminded of this a few days ago when I saw a job posting in one group where the first requirement was "be comfortable with repetitive stuff".
In 2025. When almost everything repetitive can be automated.
While many people are still handling tasks manually, people building leverage are putting systems in place to do that work for them.
That gap isn’t just about efficiency, or lack of it. It’s becoming a real competitive edge for the people who start automating now. Because the less time you spend on repetitive tasks, the more space you create for the work that actually matters.
Which is exactly why I invited
, my go-to for all things automation, to guest write today’s post — and show you how to use Shortcuts (that app hiding on your iPhone that I also ignored until Tiff showed me what it could do) to automate the tasks you’ve been asking us about.
And if you don't know Tiff yet, here's why you should pay attention: she started sharing her tech knowledge on social media in March and has already gained over 130k followers across Instagram and TikTok in just a few months. That kind of growth doesn't happen by accident, it happens when you're sharing genuinely valuable knowledge that people desperately need.
So if you’re ready to turn your iPhone into an automation machine, here’s Tiff.
You'll spend 30 minutes choosing the perfect Instagram filter but won't spend 10 minutes building a shortcut that saves you hours weekly? Let's change that.
These five shortcuts reclaim 10+ hours every week. Hours that most people waste on manual busywork while their business stagnates.
Your phone is already smarter than most people's entire workflow. Time to prove it.
1. Notes to Notion: From Scattered Thoughts to Action Plan
The Problem: You brain-dump everything into Apple Notes, but then what? Those scattered thoughts just sit there, becoming digital clutter.
The Shortcut: Transforms your messy notes into organized, actionable task lists in Notion—automatically.
How It Works:
Tag your note with #Notion when you're ready to process it
Run the shortcut
It finds the most recent #Notion tagged note automatically
Sends the content to ChatGPT with a specific prompt that says: "Please summarize this as bullet points and give me the next steps as a to-do list"
Creates a new Notion page with the formatted task list
Your dopamine moment: Every time you run it, you get that satisfying "level up" feeling as chaos becomes order. Plus, Notion's checkbox animations give you dopamine hits as you complete tasks.
Stop letting good ideas die in digital notebooks.
Real Example: I dumped this mess into Notes:
"Need to call Sarah about hiking Saturday, remember tent for backpacking trip, buy better socks, research weather for Bend Oregon camping trip 7/3/25"
Became this organized Notion page:
Call Sarah about Saturday's hiking plans
Purchase new tent for upcoming backpacking trip
Buy hiking socks (upgrade current pair)
Research weather forecast for Bend, Oregon camping (July 3, 2025)
2. Custom Workout Designer: Workouts That Meet You Where You Are
The Problem: You want to work out, but you're tired of fitness apps designed by people who apparently never have low-energy days or bodies that work differently.
The Shortcut: Delivers personalized workouts based on your current energy level and modifications needed, making fitness feel achievable every day.
How It Works:
Rate your energy on a scale of 1-5
Get your custom workout based on your input:
1-2 Energy: Automatically selects gentle stretching or mobility work
3-5 Energy: Choose workout focus:
Cardio
Strength
Stretching / Mobility
Work with your body: Select considerations (knees, shoulders, neck, position preferences, equipment available)
Get a custom workout plan with specific exercises designed around your inputs
Gives a random motivational notification like "You crushed it! 🙌" or "Nice work 💪"
Your dopamine moment: The energy rating system makes you check in with your body, and the motivational messages create positive reinforcement. No more guilt about "easy" workouts—you're working with your energy, not against it.
No more skipping workouts because you 'don't know what to do.’
3. Content Repurposer: One Post, Any Platform
The Problem: You write great content but manually adapting it for different platforms is time-consuming and mentally draining.
The Shortcut: Takes your original content and instantly adapts it for any platform while keeping your unique voice.
How It Works:
Tap the shortcut when you have content to repurpose
Paste your original content into the text box
Choose your target platform from the menu:
TikTok (short, punchy, trend-aware)
LinkedIn (professional, value-focused)
Instagram (visual, story-driven)
Substack (long-form, newsletter style)
Email (personal, direct)
The shortcut sends both your content + platform choice to ChatGPT
GPT rewrites it using platform-specific best practices while maintaining your tone
Get your adapted content on your clipboard, ready to paste + post
Your dopamine moment: It's like having a content translator that speaks fluent "platform." Each transformation feels like unlocking a new level of reach.
Stop manually rewriting the same post for different platforms.
Real Example - Original LinkedIn Post:
"Just spent 3 hours debugging a shortcut and learned that automation isn't about perfection—it's about progress. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one."
Became This TikTok Script:
“You ever spend three hours trying to debug an automation, thinking you're about to unlock some galaxy-brain solution…
...only to realize the fix was stupid simple?
Yeah. That was me today.
And it hit me—automation isn't about getting it perfect. It's about making progress.
You can spend hours obsessing over the perfect system…
Or you can ship something that works and tweak it as you go.
So if you're stuck in setup-spiral?
Choose the version that works today. Future you can optimize it.
Perfection is cute. Progress pays.”
4. Air Quality Tracker: Breathe Easy with Data
The Problem: Your environment controls your performance more than your morning routine does, but most people track their coffee intake while ignoring the air they breathe.
The Shortcut: Logs real-time air quality data to Notion, building a personal environmental health database.
How It Works:
Pulls live air quality data for any specified location using the Weather app, including:
Overall AQI (Air Quality Index)
Category (Good, Moderate, Unhealthy, etc.)
Key pollutant levels (PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, etc.)
Creates a new Notion entry in your database with date, time, and air quality data.
Why This Matters: When you see "AQI: 150 - Unhealthy" logged automatically, you make different choices—maybe indoor workout instead of outdoor run, or closing windows during high pollution periods.
Pro Tip: Set an automation to run the shortcut daily to build ongoing data.
5. AI Grading Assistant: The Teacher's Secret Weapon
The Problem: Grading student assignments is time-consuming and mentally exhausting, especially when you're trying to provide consistent, helpful feedback.
The Shortcut: Processes entire folders of student work, providing grades and feedback faster than you ever thought possible.
How It Works:
Tap the shortcut when you're ready to grade
Select your folder of student PDFs (the shortcut asks for the assignment folder)
Input assignment details (subject, grade level)
For each student file:
Extracts the text content using OCR
Sends content + grading criteria to ChatGPT
Receives structured feedback with:
Numeric score out of 100
2-sentence feedback (1 strength + 1 improvement)
Grade bands: <60 "Be honest but encouraging," 60-80 "Balance praise with 1 clear suggestion," 80+ "Focus on polish and higher-order thinking"
Saves results:
As individual graded PDFs using the original file name followed by “_grade”
In a note that has the entire batch of grades, assignment name, and date grading was completed
Your dopamine moment: Teachers get that satisfying "done" feeling as each assignment gets processed. After everything gets graded a notification shows you how many items were processed.
Turn weekend grading marathons into 30-minute tasks.
What Makes This Powerful: The shortcut doesn't just assign grades—it provides educational feedback that actually helps students improve. And because it processes entire batches, you can grade 30 essays in the time it used to take for 1.
Here's What Separates Doers from Dreamers
People who actually automate pick one friction point and eliminate it.
People who stay busy bookmark articles and do nothing.
You just read five shortcuts that reclaim 10+ hours weekly. Most readers will save this and never touch it again.
If you're different? Pick the shortcut that fixes your biggest daily annoyance. Download it. Build it today.
Shortcuts isn’t just another utility app buried on your iPhone, it’s a gateway
Not just to automating the repetitive stuff, but to building actual integrations between tools you already use, in ways that start to feel like tiny products.
No code. No app development. Just workflows that fit your life.
I hope these examples show just how much is possible when you stop thinking of your phone as just a device for tapping and scrolling, and start seeing it as a system you can design.
You’re not just saving time. You’re changing how you work, one shortcut at a time.
 | A guest post by
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This is awesome! It’s basically a full Make-style automation workflow, running on a phone, and free. Love it!
Like others, I find shortcuts confusing. I have a colleague who, if you call him when he’s unavailable, automatically sends a detailed text message reply back with information and other contact details. He says it's done with shortcuts, but Perplexity tells me there is no way it can be done. If anyone knows how to do it I’d be grateful.