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Everyday Productivity

Beginner

Five things almost anyone can use today. Each comes with a starter prompt — paste it, swap the brackets, refine in plain language.

1. Tame your inbox​

"Here's an email I received. Draft a polite, concise reply that [accepts the meeting but proposes Thursday instead]. Keep it under 80 words. Email: [paste]"

Follow-ups that help: "more formal," "add a line thanking them," "give me two versions."

2. Summarise long things​

"Summarise this in 5 bullet points a busy manager could read in 30 seconds, then list any decisions or action items separately. Text: [paste]"

Works on articles, meeting notes, threads, and reports. For very long inputs, ask for the summary first, then drill in.

3. Plan and break down work​

"I need to [organise a 30-person team offsite] by [October]. Give me a step-by-step plan with rough timing, and flag the 3 things most likely to go wrong."

Great for project plans, checklists, and turning a vague goal into next actions.

4. Think it through with you​

"I'm deciding between [option A] and [option B] for [situation]. Lay out the trade-offs in a table, then tell me what else I should consider before deciding."

Use it as a sparring partner — ask it to argue the opposite case to pressure-test your thinking.

5. Draft, then make it yours​

"Write a first draft of [a LinkedIn post announcing our new feature]. Match this voice: [paste a paragraph you wrote]. Then suggest a punchier opening line."

Giving a sample of your writing is the secret to outputs that don't sound generic.

The two habits that matter​

:::tip Give context, then iterate Every prompt above names the goal, format, and constraints — that's Prompting Basics. And none of them have to be right first try; refine in plain language. :::

:::warning Verify anything factual Dates, numbers, names, quotes, and "facts" can be confidently wrong. For anything that matters, check it — see Hallucinations. :::

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