Use HomeKit and Shortcuts to Pause your Work when you Leave your Office

In our previous entry, we gave you a recipe to help you get into your focused zone using Shortcuts, a few excellent 3rd Party apps, and Signals for HomeKit, using a HomeKit button — but what if you need to go to the front door to get a delivery, or just need a break? You’ll be left with a running a Focus timer, and your devices will still be in Work mode — that’s no good!

Well, there’s an easy way to pause your focus session for a few minutes, and then get it started again using Shortcuts, and a few automation triggers from Signals for HomeKit on your Mac.

*Before we start, download this updated version of our previous Focus Time Shortcut - it includes a few changes that will help it work together with the Shortcut we’re introducing here.

What you’ll need:

A Mac running Monterey, with Signals for HomeKit installed

• A Contact Sensor on your office door, and/or a HomeKit Button

• This Shortcut, and a few Apps to help you get focused. This Shortcut includes:

  • Focused Work - A flexible Focus Timer that helps you stay productive, by Michael Tigas

  • Data Jar - A simple database, designed to be used with Shortcuts, by Simon B. Støvring (it’s a free app - don’t forget to tip the author!)

The Shortcut:

Here’s the Shortcut that will help you take a break - you can customize this to do whatever you want, of course. Here’s what this will do to start you off:

• It will check to see if you have a live focus session, using Data Jar — if you don’t, it will exit

• Your Focus Session timer will be paused in Focused Work

• Your active Focus Mode will be disabled

• You’ll be prompted if you want to resume your work session, so when you get back to your desk, you pick up where you left off

  • If you answer ‘yes’, your Focus Session timer will be resumed, and your Focus Mode will be re-enabled

The Automation(s):

This is an excellent Shortcut to trigger with a HomeKit button. I personally have this running on the same Aqara button that triggers the ‘Focus Time’ Shortcut — a Single Press turns on the Focus Time, and a Double Press runs the Take a Break Shortcut. So easy!

But what if I leave my office and forget to hit the button? No problem! With the recent update to Signals for HomeKit on the Mac, you can automate Shortcuts with Contact Sensors — a strategically placed Aqara Contact Sensor on my office door triggers this shortcut automatically, and the ‘do you want to resume’ prompt helps remind me to turn it back on when I get back!

And it’s as easy as that! With just two Shortcuts, and a few automations, triggered by Signals for HomeKit, you can help get yourself into a super-productive focused zone, and ensure that when you take a break, you can get back into the zone as quickly as possible!

Ready to give it a try? Download Signals for HomeKit now!