Automate Your Timer with Apple Shortcuts: Location, Focus, and NFC Triggers

You don't have to remember to open Pomlo and tap start. Apple's Shortcuts app can do it for you — the moment you arrive somewhere, turn on a Focus mode, or tap an NFC tag. All three triggers live in the same Automation tab, take a few minutes each to set up, and remove the exact step that makes most people quit time tracking within two weeks: forgetting to hit start before the work begins.

Trigger 1 — Arrive at a Location

If you work from a consistent place — a coworking desk, a client's office, a specific coffee shop — an Arrive trigger opens Pomlo the second you cross into that spot.

Setting up the Arrive automation

Open Shortcuts, go to Automation, tap the plus button, then choose Travel and Arrive. Pick the location from your saved places, or search for the address. Apple's documentation has you drag a boundary circle on the map to set the trigger zone's size. A tight circle fires closer to the exact address; a looser one fires while you're still approaching. Working from a small studio or a shared desk in a bigger building? Err toward looser, so the trigger doesn't miss you.

Time-range refinement

Arrive triggers support a time-range filter, too. Set it to "Any" and it fires every time you cross the boundary — including on a Saturday grocery run past the same coworking space. Set a defined window instead (say, 8am-6pm on weekdays), and the automation only fires during actual work hours. That keeps your time log honest instead of padded with accidental sessions.

Trigger 2 — Turn On a Focus Mode

Already use a dedicated Focus mode for concentrated work? This is the fastest of the three to wire up, and per a long automation forum thread, one of the most overlooked. The original poster there had already built other Shortcuts automations and still didn't realize Focus was a trigger option — not until someone pointed them to it.

Setting up the Focus automation

In the Automation tab, scroll past the time- and location-based options to the Focus section. Pick the Focus you want to watch — this works best with a custom Focus built specifically for work, not just your default Do Not Disturb. Then choose "When Turning On" to start the timer, or "When Turning Off" to stop it. Haven't set up a dedicated Focus mode for deep work yet? That's the natural first step before this automation is worth building.

Why Focus is a strong trigger for deep work sessions

Turning on a Focus mode is already a deliberate "I'm starting now" gesture — it silences notifications and signals a mode switch. Tie the timer to that same gesture, and one action does two jobs: your notifications go quiet and your hours get logged, no extra tap for either.

Trigger 3 — Tap an NFC Tag

An NFC trigger turns a cheap sticker into a physical start button.

Setting up the NFC automation

Buy a pack of blank NFC tags — a handful of dollars for five to ten stickers — and add an NFC automation in Shortcuts. Apple's guide notes that Shortcuts only reads the tag's unique identifier, not anything written to it. So the cheapest blank tag works exactly the same as a pre-programmed one. Hold your phone against the tag once to register it, give it a name like "Desk," and it's live.

Where to put the tag

Stick it somewhere that already marks the start of work: your desk, a studio door, the top of your laptop. The physical act of tapping becomes the ritual that used to be "remember to open the app."

Make the Automation Actually Silent

Here's the catch: by default, every one of these triggers shows a confirmation banner and waits for you to tap it before running — which defeats the point. Apple's documentation on personal automations covers the fix. Open Automation, tap the automation you built, turn off "Ask Before Running," and confirm "Don't Ask." After that, the shortcut fires the instant the trigger condition is met — no notification, no tap.

The trade-off: a silent automation gives you no visual confirmation it ran. Name each one clearly, and check your Pomlo history the first few days to confirm they're firing as expected.

Common Problems and Fixes

• Nothing happens when you arrive, focus, or tap. An iOS update can silently re-enable "Ask Before Running." Check that setting first.
• Location trigger fires too early or too late. Adjust the boundary circle — tighter for precision, looser for a building with a large parking lot or lobby.
• NFC tag won't scan. Confirm your device supports NFC reading (iPhone 7 and later do), and hold it flat against the top edge of the phone, where the reader sits.
• You want two conditions at once — say, arriving and a Focus mode being on. The trigger picker only fires on one condition at a time. Build the automation on the more specific trigger, then add an If statement inside the shortcut to check the second condition before it opens Pomlo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to buy special NFC tags for a Shortcuts automation?

No. Shortcuts only reads a tag's unique ID, not anything written to it, so a pack of blank NFC stickers works exactly the same as a pre-programmed tag. Tap it once in the Shortcuts app to register it, name it, and it's ready.

Will these automations drain my battery?

Location and Focus triggers use the same background location and system-state APIs iOS already runs for Find My, Weather, and Focus itself, so the added drain is minimal. NFC triggers only activate on an active scan, so there's no background cost at all.

Can I combine two triggers, like "arrive at the office AND Focus is on"?

Not directly in the trigger picker — each automation fires on one trigger type. To approximate a compound condition, set the automation to fire on the more specific trigger and add an If statement inside the shortcut that checks the other condition before it runs.

Why does my automation ask for confirmation instead of running silently?

Apple defaults every personal automation to "Ask Before Running" for privacy and safety. Open the Automation tab, tap the automation, turn off "Ask Before Running," and confirm "Don't Ask" — after that it runs the instant the trigger fires, no tap required.

Doing This with Pomlo

None of this replaces Pomlo — it just removes the step before Pomlo. The Shortcut's only job is to open the app at exactly the right moment: when you walk in, when you switch into deep-work mode, when you tap the tag on your desk. Starting the timer is still the one tap Pomlo is built to make effortless. Now it happens the moment work actually starts, not five distracted minutes later.

Two features make this worth setting up. Focus sessions pair naturally with the Focus-mode trigger — the same toggle that quiets your notifications can open straight into a tracked session. And Reports mean every automated arrival, focus switch, or desk tap still rolls up into an accurate weekly picture of where your time actually went, instead of a log full of gaps from sessions you forgot to start by hand.

Pomlo is free to try on the App Store and Google Play — set up one trigger today and see whether it sticks better than remembering.