Creating a morning workflow automation using macOS built-in tools
I wanted to share how I built a complete morning startup sequence using just the native Shortcuts app on Mac. No third-party software needed.
What gets automated:
Launches Chrome, Teams, and Photoshop automatically
Opens my daily planning spreadsheet
Activates my productivity timer
Plays background music from iTunes
Step-by-step setup process:
Launch the Shortcuts application and create a new automation called “Morning Launch”
Add these actions sequentially:
Launch Application for each program you need
Open URL action for web pages or cloud documents
Open Document for local files
Start Playlist if you want music
Access shortcut settings and assign a hotkey combination
Now pressing Cmd + Shift + M triggers everything at once.
Bonus: Schedule it to run automatically
For hands-free operation at 8:30 AM on weekdays:
Create a Calendar entry at your desired time
Set notification to Custom > Launch File
Select your shortcut
The system handles everything without manual intervention.
This approach eliminates the need for expensive automation utilities since macOS includes powerful workflow tools by default. Anyone interested in variations like desktop cleanup automation or network drive mounting?
Had the same problem with native solutions until I found that combining Shortcuts with System Events works great. The key is using AppleScript for timing and error checking since Shortcuts sucks at that. I wrap my whole morning routine in a try-catch block - if one app crashes, everything else keeps running. Here’s what nobody talks about: memory management. If you’re launching heavy apps like Photoshop through automation, you’ll get kernel panics when your system’s already stressed. I added a quick memory check at the start that waits if available RAM drops below 4GB. For scheduling, forget all the complicated stuff. Just use Login Items with a simple shell script that checks time and day. Way cleaner than dealing with calendar permissions or cron syntax. The real trick is chaining several small automations instead of building one giant shortcut.
Shortcuts works fine for basic stuff, but it gets messy fast once you want anything complex beyond launching apps.
I’ve tried this route. Native tools seem great until you need conditional logic, API calls, or service integrations. What if your morning routine should check for holidays? Or pull calendar events to decide which apps to open?
I switched to Latenode for morning workflows and it’s been a game changer.
You can build the same routine but make it actually smart. Check weather APIs to decide on apps. Connect to project management tools to see your workload. Get a summary email with daily priorities.
Since it’s cloud-based, you’re not stuck with just Mac apps. Update Google Sheets? Send Slack messages? Pull CRM data? All doable without Shortcuts’ limitations.
The visual builder makes debugging way easier too. Your future self will thank you when you want to expand beyond basic app launching.
Been doing automation for years and honestly? You’re missing a crucial piece - environment setup.
Your shortcut works great for launching apps, but what about getting your workspace ready? I learned this after months of manually adjusting window positions every morning.
Add these actions to your shortcut:
Set Desktop Picture to switch to your work wallpaper
Set Do Not Disturb to block distractions until 10 AM
Run AppleScript to arrange windows exactly how you want them
The AppleScript part is key. You can position Chrome on the left half of screen 1, put Teams in the top right corner of screen 2, whatever layout works for you.
Here’s the thing about calendar triggers though - they’re unreliable if your Mac’s sleeping. I switched to Automator with a folder action instead. Drop a dummy file in a specific folder and boom, everything launches. Way more consistent.
For the music part, try adding a volume check first. Nothing worse than your productivity playlist blasting at full volume because you forgot to adjust it the night before.
One warning: don’t add too many heavy apps at once. Photoshop plus a bunch of other stuff will make your Mac crawl for the first few minutes.
Nice approach with native tools. I found another trick that works great with the calendar trigger - just add your shortcut to Login Items in System Preferences. It’ll run right when you log in, perfect for regular work hours. Downside? It runs every startup, not just weekdays. But you can fix that by adding conditional logic to the shortcut itself - use “Get Current Date” to check if it’s the weekend before running anything. Pro tip I learned the hard way: add small delays between app launches, especially heavy ones like Photoshop. Skip the pause and some apps won’t open properly because they’re fighting for system resources during startup.
automator beats shortcuts for this hands down. been using it for years - way more stable. set up a workflow with “run applescript” actions to launch everything exactly how you need it. skip calendar triggers though, they’re garbage. go with launchd instead. drop a simple plist file in ~/library/launchagents and it’ll run flawlessly every time, even after restarts. much more reliable than the other stuff mentioned here.
I had this working perfectly until I upgraded to Ventura and everything broke. The calendar trigger method died because of permission changes in newer macOS versions. Cron jobs saved me though - way more reliable than calendar triggers and they run even when your system’s sleeping. Open Terminal, type crontab -e, then add 30 8 * * 1-5 open ~/path/to/your/shortcut.shortcut for 8:30 AM weekdays. Game changer was discovering you can chain multiple shortcuts together. I run three separate ones now - core apps, document setup, and environment tweaks. If one fails, the others still work. Plus you can test each piece when debugging. Watch out for the iTunes integration though. Apple Music replaced iTunes and the shortcut actions are different now. Sometimes playlists won’t start unless the app’s already running. I added a two-second delay before the music action so everything has time to load.