Create a Mindful Morning Routine using Things3, Bear & X Callback URL Protocol

Adding mindfulness to your morning routine

The internet told me that doubling down on a consistent morning routine is the key to a productive and impactful day.  I’ve got a solid routine when it comes to my Daily and Weekly Reviews with Things, but I wanted to add a more consistent “mindful” component.  

I stumbled on a fantastic post by Matt Valentine called 7 Morning Rituals That Will Change Your Life.  I’ve baked a few of his suggestions into my morning routine (focusing on journaling, meditation & being creative) and I am digging the clear-headed results so far. 

In this article, I’ll share a super simple way to create a mindful morning routine using a recurring todo in Things and an X Callback URL in Bear (+ a bonus Siri Shortcut).  I’ve included URLs below to help you set this up on your end.

Mindful morning in action

This quick video demonstrates how I use Things3 & Bear to facilitate my Mindful Morning routine.  

I have an Area called 🚀 Launch @ the top of my Things’ lists where I keep todos that help me get my day started right.  I’ve added a recurring todo called “🧘‍♂️ Mindful Morning” into my Launch Area. 

When I click the URL in the notes section of the todo, a note is created in Bear with a title = “Mindful Morning”, a tag = “reflect” and text for the different things I want to journal on.

From there, I work my way down my mindful checklist: I start by journaling a bit, I meditate for a few minutes (I’m new to meditation so I’m starting small!), then dive into some creative work (writing or drawing) and I always try to sneak a workout in.

Here’s how to quickly set this up:

1. New Bear Note URL: Long press this URL and click “Copy” to save it to your clipboard.
2. New Things Todo URL: Click this URL to create a Mindful Morning todo in Things3 (the previous link should be pasted into the todo’s note). If you haven’t enabled URLs in Things3, you’ll get a pop up message with instructions.
3. Update the Todo:  You can make it recurring, add or remove checklist items, add tags & move it to the appropriate Area or Project.
4. Additional Resources: Here are the official X Callback URL Protocol docs for Things3 & Bear.  These docs explain all the different ways you can create, modify and find notes & todos in Things3 & Bear.
5. Bonus Siri Shortcut:  Here’s a Mindful Morning Siri Shortcut (Click Get Shortcut, go into the Shortcut’s settings and record a Siri Phrase … so anytime you tell Siri “Mindful Morning,” it’ll automatically create a Bear note with the same mindful journal template as above).

What’s your morning routine?

In this article, I wanted to share a quick X Callback (& Siri Shortcut) use case for Things3 & Bear that’ll help you establish a Mindful Morning routine. Feel free to copy and tweak the URLs I shared to get them to fit your flow. 

I’d love to hear about your Morning Routine … and how you use X Callback and Siri Shortcuts with Things3 & Bear. Please share your examples in the comments below!