Building Claude

Scroll-to-system template

Hey, it's Cindy 🌱 This Shortcut asks why you opened the app and redirects “I’m just scrolling” into one twenty-minute build.

btw the waitlist for AI System Club is now open! If you're keen on using AI to automate your content, video editing, job search, business or build AI agents, feel free to sign up (only if you want to hehe). Ps. the waitlist gets first dibs:)

What you are building

When Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube opens:

a menu appears
you choose Post or reply or Build instead
Build instead finds the first unfinished item in a Reminders list called BUILD
it starts a twenty-minute timer
it copies a focused Claude prompt and opens Claude

The reliable path copies the prompt to your clipboard and opens Claude. Paste it into the app. If your installed Claude app exposes a compatible Shortcut action, you can replace the copy-and-open pair with that action.

1. Create the BUILD list

In Apple Reminders:

Create a list called BUILD.
Add tasks that finish with one visible deliverable.
Keep each task under twenty minutes.

Good:

Draft three hooks for the folder-system reel
Turn one saved article into a one-page diagram
Build the empty state for the app
Write the decision log for the pricing change

Too vague:

Work on content
Learn AI
Build my business

Ask Claude to create the first list:

Break this project into ten tasks that each take twenty minutes or less.

Every task must:
- begin with a verb
- end with one visible deliverable
- be possible without waiting for another person
- name the file, screen, message, or artifact I will have when it is done

Project: [PASTE]

2. Build the Shortcut

Open Shortcuts and create a new shortcut named Build instead.

Add actions in this order:

Find Reminders
- List is BUILD
- Is Completed is false
- Sort by creation date or priority
- Limit: 1
If
- If no reminder is found, show alert: BUILD list is empty. Add one twenty-minute deliverable.
Get Details of Reminders
- Get Title
Text
- Help me complete [Reminder Title] in 20 minutes. Keep me focused on one deliverable. Ask at most one question, then give me the next three actions.
Copy to Clipboard
Start Timer
- 20 minutes
Open App
- Claude
Show Notification
- Prompt copied. Paste it into Claude and finish one thing.

Apple documents Find Reminders and app-launch actions here: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/shortcuts/apd3c845e881/ios

3. Add the app-open pop-up

In Shortcuts:

Open Automation.
Tap New Automation.
Choose App.
Select Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Choose Is Opened.
Choose Run Immediately.
Add Choose from Menu with:
- Post or reply
- Build instead
Under Post or reply, add Stop This Shortcut.
Under Build instead, add Run Shortcut → Build instead.

Apple’s official app-open trigger guide: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/shortcuts/apde31e9638b/ios

Test every app once. Apple may change labels by iOS version, but the trigger remains App → Is Opened.

4. Add a real blocker

The Shortcut creates a conscious choice. It does not prevent you from choosing the social app.

Use one:

ScreenZen: free across iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows; good for schedules, limits, and lock mode. https://screenzen.co/
one sec: free for one target app; useful for a deliberate breathing or intention step. https://tutorials.one-sec.app/en/articles/3036418
Opal: polished focus system with a limited free tier and paid plans. https://opalapp.com/pricing

Set the blocker around your real danger window, not all day by default.

5. Use the one-input, one-artifact rule

Every learning session gets:

one input: one video, post, article, chapter, or idea
one artifact: one diagram, note, hook set, prototype, checklist, or decision

Stop after the artifact exists. Saved content becomes useful only when it changes what you can do.

Seven-day tracker

Day	App interrupted	BUILD task	Artifact finished	Minutes	What changed
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Why the stopping cue matters

Aza Raskin has described inventing infinite scroll to remove page friction, later saying he had been blind to the incentives around it and calling the result horrendous. Source transcript: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant/aza-raskin-on-why-technology-and-democracy-are-in-an-imagination-crisis-transcript

The intervention here is deliberately small: put one decision point back.