Time is something that most of us seem to have less of, and we always want more of. The right software can help you automate your Mac, and easily help you out with basic tasks such as organizing tasks, finding files, and so on.

We've covered some third-party apps below that'll help you automate your tasks on your Mac. This will help you organize your workflows to save time, and should help you make your life a bit easier and get things done quicker.

Why Automate Your Mac?

You might have trouble finding different apps for doing different tasks on your Mac. Finding the correct app through the millions available on the market can be very time-wasting, and not efficient at all.

This is why we recommend having a specific collection of apps that help you get your work done quickly and efficiently—not only will this save you time, but will also make sure you don't have any excessive apps on your system.

Using the following apps, you can try to clean up your workflow and automate tasks on your Mac as much as possible.

1. Setapp

Setapp is a productivity toolkit that helps you get quick solutions to different problems on your Mac. It helps you solve tasks easily on your Mac and iPhone.

Setapp works by offering a curated collection of apps from inside the Setapp suite itself. You can search the platform for specific tasks that you want to achieve, and you'll be offered the right apps that you need.

Setapp Search Interface

This may seem counterintuitive—as you usually search stores for the app you want to download rather than a specific task. But this is what makes Setapp so good—you can literally type in anything that describes your task, and you'll get recommended apps that will help you get the task done.

Having only the proper recommended apps for tasks will help you save storage space on your Mac, and make sure you don't clutter up your system. Once you have your desired apps, you can incorporate them into your workflow to keep on top of your tasks. Setapp offers apps for nearly any task you could imagine, be it basic or advanced. These range from converting HEIC into JPEG images, working on UX, cleaning up your Mac, writing & blogging to coding, and more.

Setapp costs $9.99 per month but has a limited 14-day free trial that allows you to test out the toolkit to make sure you like it. The monthly subscription gives you access to over 230+apps, which in our opinion, is a very good purchase.

Download: Setapp (Solo: $9.99,Team: $9.99 per person per month)

2. Alfred

Alfred is often promoted as a Spotlight alternative, so you may think it's a better search app for your Mac. It excels at finding files from all over your Mac and usually does a better and quicker job than Finder. You can also include search results from sites like Google and Amazon in Alfred. The app also works as a text expander, saves your clipboard history, executes system commands, and much more.

Alfred search bar

The main advantage of using Alfred is that it helps you automate your daily workflow, by helping you quickly access whatever you need on your Mac. You can use Alfred to set workflows that can set custom actions through multiple apps.

Alfred is available to use in a basic free version, but most of the features described above require a paid plan, called a PowerPack. An Alfred Powerpack license currently costs $29 USD.

Download: Alfred (Free) / PowerPack ($29 USD)

3. Toggl Plan

Toggl Plan is a team project planning software that allows you to plan, manage and track work using timeline views. The app offers collaboration features for small teams that allow them to have an oversight of the different tasks they’re planning to do, or are doing.

Toggl Plan basically works by you tracking the time you spend on a project, allowing you to compile the total time spent by each team member, or the team as a whole. By doing this you can track your project status, estimated time to complete, and more.

toggl track

The app can be very helpful to your workflow and can allow you to automate many tasks, provided you use all the features wisely. The Timeline and Board views can allow you to complete your projects and achieve your milestones on time, which can make your life much easier.

The app offers three plans—Solo, which is for free, Team ($9 per person per month), or Business ($15 per person per month). The free Solo plan is for individuals, whereas the Team option offers team collaboration and additional features.

The Business plan offers additional features such as Workplace guests, priority support, and the ability to export data to CSV files.

Download: Toggl Plan (Solo: Free, Team: $9 per person per month, Business $15 per person per month)

Make Your Life Easier

With so many things going on and so many tasks to do, your digital life may seem overloaded and confusing at times. This is where proper productivity apps come in—they allow you to make your life easier by automating simple tasks so that you don't need to waste time finding the proper apps for the job.

This is why we recommend having productivity suites such as Setapp and using them regularly, as they automate basic tasks for you so that you can focus better on your work, and increase your output.