We have the same 24 hours.
Yet 24 hours felt different in high school, shorter in college, longer in the summer and shorter again in corporate life.
I’ve spent a lot of time listening to successful people recall their twenties as the “years of grinding.” It’s a recurring theme, and every time I hear it, I feel the same pressure: if I want to build anything meaningful, I need more time.
At some point, it starts to feel unproductive to keep learning about productivity.
So I simplified the problem.
I don’t need to optimize my entire life.
I just need more focus time, without sacrificing the things I enjoy.
Where My Time Actually Goes
Over the years, I’ve built a “second brain” in Obsidian, my note-taking app of choice.
A second brain is a personal system for capturing, organizing, and resurfacing information so your mind can focus on thinking instead of remembering.
I use mine to track projects, newsletters, finances, and poke ideas until something useful falls out.
Before I sit down to work, I usually need to organize my second brain:
- Prioritize tasks so I’m working on the right thing
- Stay current across multiple ongoing projects
- Communicate clearly with stakeholders
None of this is hard work.
It’s administrative work.
And it quietly eats the best hours of the day.
Automation as a Trade
Automating just 15 minutes a day saves about four days a year.
Four days doesn’t sound dramatic until you realize that’s a long weekend of basketball, better sleep, or doing nothing without guilt.
That’s a gift to my future self.
My current weapon of choice for reclaiming that time is Apple Shortcuts.
Shortcuts is a legitimate superpower I’m only now discovering. I can use time, location, focus modes actions that let apps talk to each other without my involvement.
Favorite Apple Shortcuts
These are the ones I use regularly:
- Stop Distractions Quit all running apps except for a few you choose and turn on Do Not Disturb
- Top News Browse today’s top news stories from the RSS feeds of Techmeme, The New York Times, CNN, BBC, or NPR, then open the selected articles in Safari
- Email Last Image Email your most recent photo
Each of these are small actions that on their own.
That’s the point.
What Comes Next
Apple Shortcuts still requires manual interaction. I have to press a button. I have to start the flow.
I’m just getting started.
Longer term, I want automation that runs even when I forget it exists.
I’ve started exploring n8n, a workflow automation tool that lets me connect apps, APIs, and services outside my phone.
For now, I’m happy letting Apple Shortcuts.
And I’ll keep asking myself the same question:
What part of my day repeats without adding value?
That’s usually where automation belongs.