Happy New Year, folks! As I reflected on the progress of technology these past few months, I realized that we don’t necessarily need more apps and downloads to move ahead… we need to create workflows so that the tech we have will work better.

So this is the first of what will be many posts this year on how to streamline and automate the tech you use with the life you have.

Five IFTTT Automations to Start the Year Right

IFTTT is a tool that links together apps and resources to automate tasks. IFTTT stands for “If this, then that,” representing how one action triggers other actions on some of your favorite apps.

The best thing about IFTTT is that you can make your own recipes (They call them “Applets”) by copying the thousands of templates that others have already set up. So try these first….

Keep Track of the Weather

Stop wasting time checking the forecast… have news about the weather delivered to you when you need it. Several weather apps let you set up automatic notifications, like this one that notifies you of rain and puts it on the calendar.

Automatically Email Important Posts

Use this recipe to automatically mail certain Instagram posts to specific people when you use a certain hashtag. As the sample shows, this is great for sharing pics with family members who aren’t on your sites.

Track Your Whereabouts in Google Sheets

If getting fit is your goal in 2019, you can set up a geotag that records your visits to the gym automatically every time you pull into the parking lot. Of course, all bets are off on the efficacy if the shopping center also houses a cupcake bakery.

This is also a great way to log hours in the office.

Have Alexa Find Your Phone

I LOVE this one! With this Applet, I just have to say, “Alexa, trigger find my phone,” and usually less than 15 seconds later, I hear a faint jingle from the phone under the couch!

Synchronize Your Favorite Playlists

IFTTT does all kinds of fun things with music. Start with synchronizing your favorite songs to multiple music services.