Tech Trends - At Home with Tech

August 16, 2026

How to Use Shortcuts on Your iPhone to Save Time

How many times a day do you tap or swipe your phone screen? One study suggests the number is over 2,600 times for the average smartphone user. Though it’s ten-year-old research, the conclusion is clear. That’s a lot of finger action… and a fair amount of mental work as well. Any way to reduce all these taps would be welcome, and Apple offers one solution.

Apple Shortcuts has been around for years in a dedicated iPhone app called… Shortcuts. You select from a variety of predesigned shortcuts to activate that will help speed up certain tasks on your iPhone.

You can also create your own shortcuts using a series of ‘actions.’ You can even automate many shortcuts to run automatically.
(Yes, they’re called… automations.)

If you’re new to using these shortcuts, their powers enable you to combine multiple actions with a single tap (or you can also use Siri).

How to Set Up an Apple Shortcut

To get started in Shortcuts, you simply select the Gallery icon on the bottom of your screen. This brings up all of Apple’s shortcuts. Then if you tap on one of them, it explains what it does. If you want to activate it, tap on “Add Shortcut” or “Set up Shortcut” on the bottom.

After that, the new shortcut is easily accessible in the main library view in the Shortcuts app. You can also choose to create a little icon for your shortcut that lives on your phone’s home screen for even quicker access.

You activate the icon by tapping on the three dots on the top right of the colorful shortcut box. This brings up more choices. Select the drop down by the name on top and select “Add to Home Screen.”

Six Shortcuts to Try that I’ve Found Useful

Dictate & Share

There are multiple ways to dictate messages on your iPhone, but this as efficient as it gets. You tap the shortcut to begin recording, and then you can immediately start talking. After you’re done, you choose where to send your text file.

Email Myself

Though this may feel old school, emailing something to yourself can still be a quick solution. Once you activate this shortcut, it’s available directly from the ‘Share Sheet’ that displays after you tap the ‘share’ icon (square with the up arrow).

Directions to Event

Sometimes when I get in the car to drive to an appointment, I realize I need directions. Then, I have to open my Calendar app and tap on the address I’ve added to my appointment. This activates my Maps app and I’m ready to go.

But this shortcut speeds up that process by instantly pulling the address and sending it to the Maps app. (No more need to first open my Calendar app.)

Estimate Meeting Travel Time

Have you ever worried how long a drive is going to take depending on traffic conditions? As long as you’ve added an address and day/time in your calendar for your destination, this shortcut first confirms the future event and then calculates the current estimated travel time.

This is especially helpful a few hours before you intend to leave to see if traffic is already building up.

Share Location

There are several ways to do this from your phone, but this shortcut enables you in one tap to immediately share your location to a predetermined contact via text.

No need to go to your Messages app and choose who you’re texting. It’s lightning fast.

Play Podcast

Often, when I decide to listen to a podcast, I get a little cranky spending time after I open the Podcasts app to find my specific podcast, even if I follow it. If you have a favorite podcast, this enables one-tap access to it from your iPhone’s home screen. No Podcasts app required.

I created this shortcut myself by simply tapping on the plus-sign at the top right of the Shortcuts’ screen. Then I typed “Podcast.”

From there, I scrolled to the bottom, which displayed the podcasts I’ve been listening to. Next, I selected the podcast I wanted. After that, at the top drop down, I updated the name of my podcast shortcut and tapped “Add to Home Screen.”

You can repeat this process for as many podcasts as you like.

Be Kind to Your Finger

Shortcuts certainly aren’t as cool as what AI can do for you these days, but they do eliminate some unnecessary finger taps throughout your day.

Alternately, you can continue to take the extra few seconds to do it all yourself for each screen task. But those seconds add up quickly!

I do think proactively setting up easy shortcuts to help simplify your own user interface is a no brainer.

For your consideration…

July 19, 2026

I Kayaked to this Lighthouse with My Drone for these Incredible Views from the Air

Goat Island Lighthouse has stood at the edge of the southern Maine coastline for almost two centuries. It wasn’t built to be admired. It was built to be obeyed. Established in 1833 to guard the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor, ‘Goat Island Light’ is still an active beacon.

I’ve admired this brick tower for the past five summers during our vacations to the Cape Porpoise coast.

Though Goat Island Lighthouse continues to shine bright at night, the morning sun enhances its beauty and bold elegance.

A Lighthouse, a Kayak, and My Drone

I’ve taken many photos from afar. But this year, I decided it was time to try to capture its rugged strength up close and from the air.

With my preproduction planning complete, I set out in a kayak shortly after first light with my DJI camera drone and headed off to the rocky shore of Goat Island.

As soon as I arrived, I put my little DJI Flip drone in the air and got to work recording short clips. And I’m proud to present my completed video sequence of Goat Island Lighthouse.

My experience capturing these aerial moments was exhilarating. And I’m pleased that my footage benefits from a rousing score I conjured up via Google Flow Music (another remarkable AI-powered creative tool).

I didn’t exactly follow my less-is-more creative strategy, as this video clocks in at close to two minutes. My earlier editing exercise using the DJI Fly app created snappier results. But I really wanted to explore the ‘cinematic feel’ while featuring my ‘hero.’

Five Summers of Admiring… One Morning of Finally Flying

Creative success is often a team sport. I’d like to thank Kennebunkport Conservation Trust for permission to fly my drone by the lighthouse. And special thanks go to my two friends for accompanying me on my little adventure.

I captured incredible views that few can normally see. I’m still beaming.

June 21, 2026

The Art of Managing Your Shared Work Calendar

Part of an occasional series about solving technology challenges in the workplace *

Does your job involve lots of meetings? Does your daily schedule get regularly consumed by meeting invites? Do you find this interfering with the rest of your work? If so, then it’s time to take a more proactive approach to managing your shared work calendar.

This is something of an art that each of us must ultimately curate for ourselves. And no matter where you are in your career, it requires ongoing attention and perhaps a few reminders.

So, here are my best practices.

Block ‘Focus Time’ for Your Own Work

Everyone usually has a plan regarding what they need to accomplish on a given day or week. But if you leave your calendar wide open, you may find a deluge of meeting invites redirecting your focus away from immediate priorities.

That’s why blocking time for yourself in your shared calendar is critical to maintaining the right balance in how you spend your time.

This is about actively architecting your day to optimize your own output instead of passively responding to a myriad ofother tidal forces that can drain your effectiveness.

Make Yourself Available Too

But if the nature of your job requires ongoing collaboration, then you also need to make yourself sufficiently available for these other meetings. Blocking off too much time can isolate you and frustrate others.

As in many other parts of life, this comes down to finding the right balance. So, it’s important to leave enough availability on your calendar for your colleagues to utilize.

How much time should you leave open? Well, only you can determine that. You’ll quickly discover if it’s not the right amount. Otherwise, you may find colleagues double booking your schedule.

Don’t Get Double Booked

If these double bookings conflict with your own ‘focus time,’ well, that’s easy enough to manage.

But what if they conflict with other important meetings? Well, of course you can’t attend two meetings simultaneously.

So now, you’ve got to figure out how to repair your schedule.

Pro Scheduling Tips

Here are a few more scheduling tips to help optimize your work calendar.

Choose the Best Times for Your Own Meetings
All time slots throughout a day are not created equal. If you’ve got your own meetings to schedule, it’s important to pick the times that work best for you. (Everyone has a sense when they’re most effective during the day.)
Avoid Scheduling Meetings at the End of the Day
If you can help it, try not to take that very last slot. Sure, it might be the only time that everyone has open. But no one will appreciate this. I recommend you wait a day to find a better option. Everyone will be in better spirits, and that alone can drive a meeting’s success.
Don’t Miss Lunch!
If you’re not careful, you can easily find yourself without time to grab a bite to eat. So scheduling time for your own lunch is critical. There’s nothing worse than a mid-afternoon meeting on an empty stomach.

Playing Both Defense and Offense

Yes, you’ve got to protect your calendar for your own priorities. But if work is a team sport, you’ll always want to actively engage with others and satisfy group requirements. So, your success also flows through all those other meetings.

When you reduce friction in your schedule, then you can focus on doing your best work.Said another way, the more you can successfully manage the ‘when,’ the easier it will be to accomplish the ‘what.’

At Home with Tech

Category: Tech Trends

August 16, 2026

How to Use Shortcuts on Your iPhone to Save Time

How to Set Up an Apple Shortcut