2 minutes read

Raycast: Spotlight on Steroids

January 7, 2025

What if I told you there’s a tool that can save you hours each week by turning your most repetitive tasks into a single keystroke?

So now that I’ve got your attention, I just wanted to share this cool tool that I use every day.

For those that are unfamiliar with Raycast, imagine Spotlight — but on steroids. And for the non-Mac users who lost me at “Spotlight”, I’m sorry you will never experience this tool (you still can.. if you’re brave enough to join the dark side). Whether you’re a shortcut enthusiast or just trying to work more efficient, Raycast is the tool for you.

Why I love it

In my daily workflow, I deal with a lot of repetitive tasks. From visiting the same websites multiple times a day to constantly switching between apps, or even sending that one message (”Please text X on environment Y”) over and over to our PO after bug fixes or new features. Raycast helps me save time.

My favourite extensions

  • Google Meet
  • Clipboard history and search
  • Calendar (right in the menu bar!)
  • Snippets (for the repetitive messages, with dynamic placeholders)
  • Quicklinks (shortcuts to websites)
  • Start work day (custom script to open all the apps that I need, shoutout to Ezra for that!)
  • Manage macbook notch (you know that little black intruder at the top of your screen)

Take Google Meet, for example: I can create a new meeting, open it in my default browser, and copy the URL to my clipboard—all in seconds. What used to take multiple steps is now almost effortless.

Before Raycast

  1. ⌘ + space (spotlight)
  2. Type “Chrome” hit enter
  3. Go to meets.google.com
  4. Click on “new meeting”
  5. Click on “instant meeting”
  6. Copy the link
  7. Send link to X

After Raycast

  1. ⌘ + space
  2. Type: “Meet” hit enter (link gets copied automagically)
  3. Send link to X

Raycast has made my day-to-day a lot smoother. It’s simple, efficient, and honestly just really handy. Give it a try, you might end up loving it. And if you need help setting it up, just give me a shout.