Question 1

What kind of work can I automate with Things?

Accepted Answer

You can automate the creation of tasks in Things from external data sources, such as new items from email, web forms, or other business tools. You can also pull task data out of Things (like completed tasks or task lists) to trigger actions elsewhere, such as updating a spreadsheet or notifying team members. Things does not expose real-time webhooks or a public API, so automations typically work through integrations that read or write task information on a schedule rather than instantly.

Question 2

How does data flow between Things and other tools?

Accepted Answer

Data moves into Things primarily through integrations that create tasks based on external events or data. Data flows out of Things less commonly, since the tool is designed for personal task management rather than team collaboration or system-wide data sharing. Any two-way sync between Things and another tool depends on the capabilities of the integration platform, which may read task lists or completed items from Things at intervals.

Question 3

What breaks when automating with Things?

Accepted Answer

Things is a single-user app for Mac and iOS, so automations cannot reliably coordinate tasks across team members or devices. Task data synced into Things may not match custom fields or structures from the source system, leading to incomplete or hard-to-parse task information. If Things is not running or synced, incoming task creation requests may fail silently or queue without clear feedback, making error handling difficult.

Question 4

How should I organize Things to make automations work better?

Accepted Answer

Use consistent, descriptive task titles and a stable set of lists or projects to organize automated tasks, so incoming data maps to the right places each time. Avoid frequent manual reorganization of lists or projects, since automation rules depend on those structures remaining predictable. Consider using Things' tags or area feature to categorize automated tasks by source system, which helps you track what was created by automation versus manual entry.

Automate the manual work in Things

Things by the numbers

Top 5 Things friction points when done manually

Things projects scattered across team

Things deadlines slip without alerts

Things status updates require constant chasing

Things data doesn't connect to billing

Things reports require manual compilation

What you can automate in Things

Add new Trello cards to Things as to-dos

Add saved Slack messages to Things as to-dos

Create Things to-do's for new incomplete tasks in Todoist

Create Things to-dos for new Google Calendar events

Create Things to-dos from starred emails in Gmail [Business Gmail Accounts Only]

Create to-dos in Things from new flagged emails in Microsoft Outlook

Tools commonly connected to Things

Things Automation questions

Ready to automate your work in Things?