You can find a hundred articles showing you how to make ChatGPT write poems, pretend to be a pirate, or generate dad jokes on command.
That’s fun. It’s not useful.
What I want to do in this newsletter — and what I’ll keep doing in every edition — is give you something you can actually try in the next ten minutes. Practical things. Time-saving things. The kind of things that make you wonder why you didn’t start sooner.
Here’s a way to think about it: ChatGPT is a calculator for words. A calculator doesn’t do your thinking for you — it handles the tedious arithmetic so you can focus on solving the problem. That’s exactly what we’re doing here.
Five things. All practical. Let’s get into it.
1. Turn Meeting Notes Into Action Items (2 Minutes Instead of 20)
The problem: You’ve got messy notes from a meeting — bullet points, half-sentences, scribbles that made sense at the time and make no sense now. Turning that into a clear list of action items takes longer than it has any right to.
I spent twelve years as a high school maths teacher. The amount of time I wasted trying to decipher my own scrawled notes from staff meetings could have powered a small country. If only I’d had this back then.
Here’s the prompt — copy and paste it:
Here are my rough notes from a meeting. Extract all action items with:
- Who is responsible (if mentioned)
- What needs to be done
- Any deadline mentioned
Format as a simple checklist.
[Paste your notes here]
Why it works: ChatGPT is remarkably good at parsing unstructured text and pulling out patterns. It handles the tedious bit — reading through the mess — so you can focus on doing the actual work.
What people tend to find: This often takes around 2 minutes instead of 15-20. Your experience will vary depending on how messy your notes are, but even rough results beat doing it manually.
2. Summarise Long Documents Before You Read Them
The problem: Someone sends you a 30-page report, a lengthy email thread, or a dense article. You need to know what’s in it, but you don’t have an hour to find out.
Think of it like having a teaching assistant who reads ahead and highlights the important bits before class. You still make the decisions — you just start from a better place.
Here’s the prompt:
Summarise this document in 3 sections:
1. Key points (bullet points, max 5)
2. Decisions or recommendations made
3. What I need to do or respond to (if anything)
Keep it under 200 words total.
[Paste document text here]
Worth knowing: For PDFs, you may need a paid tier or to copy-paste the text manually. Some AI tools can read URLs directly — it’s worth checking what your version can do.
Why it works: You get the essential information first. Then you decide if the full document is worth your time. Often, it isn’t — and knowing that quickly is valuable in itself.
3. Write Difficult Emails Without the Agony
The problem: Some emails are genuinely hard to write — declining a request, giving critical feedback, navigating office politics. You stare at the screen, rewrite the same sentence five times, and it still doesn’t feel right.
This is where AI genuinely shines. Think of it like a spell-checker for diplomacy. It won’t write your emails perfectly — but starting from a reasonable draft is so much easier than starting from a blank screen.
Here’s the prompt:
I need to write an email to [person/role].
The situation: [explain briefly]
I want to: [your goal — decline politely, ask for something, give feedback, etc.]
Tone: [professional / friendly / firm / apologetic]
Keep it concise — under 150 words. Don't be too formal or use corporate jargon.
Example:
I need to write an email to a client.
The situation: They want a 2-hour meeting next week to "explore opportunities" but I'm swamped and the meeting will probably be unproductive.
I want to: Decline the meeting but offer an alternative that takes less time.
Tone: Friendly but firm.
Why it works: AI produces an acceptable first draft quickly. You’ll want to edit it — always edit it — but starting from something tends to be much faster than starting from nothing.
If this resonates: If writing certain emails makes you anxious, you’re not alone. Many people find this prompt helpful precisely because it takes the pressure off that first attempt.
4. Explain Things at the Right Level
The problem: You need to explain something complex to someone who doesn’t have your background. Or you need to understand something yourself, but every explanation you find is either too basic or assumes knowledge you don’t have.
This one is close to my heart. Twelve years of teaching taught me that the best explanations meet people where they are — not where you think they ought to be. ChatGPT does this remarkably well when you give it the right context.
Here’s the prompt:
Explain [topic] to me as if I'm [audience description].
Keep it practical — I need to understand enough to [what you're trying to do].
Avoid jargon. Use simple analogies where helpful.
A few examples to get you started:
- “Explain how mortgages work to me as if I’m a first home buyer who’s good with numbers but has never dealt with banks.”
- “Explain what the Reserve Bank interest rate decision means as if I’m a small business owner who just wants to know if my loan repayments will change.”
- “Explain intermittent fasting to me as if I’m skeptical and want to know what the actual evidence says.”
Why it works: ChatGPT can tailor its explanations to your level of knowledge and your specific purpose. A generic search result can’t do that.
5. Draft Repetitive Documents From Templates
The problem: You write similar things repeatedly — project briefs, proposals, feedback forms, weekly updates. Each one is slightly different, but the structure is the same. You’re not doing creative work; you’re filling in blanks.
Think of it like a mail merge, but smarter. You provide the thinking; AI handles the assembly.
Here’s the prompt:
I need to write a [document type]. Here's my template structure:
[Paste your usual structure/headings]
Here's the specific information for this version:
[Paste the details — bullet points are fine]
Fill in the template with this information. Keep my voice — [describe your style: direct, formal, casual, etc.]
Example:
I need to write a project status update. Here's my template structure:
- Project name
- Status (on track / at risk / blocked)
- Completed this week
- Planned for next week
- Blockers or risks
- Any decisions needed
Here's the specific information:
- Project: Website Redesign
- Status: at risk
- Done: finalised wireframes, got sign-off from marketing
- Next: start development, but waiting on new branding
- Blocker: branding team delayed, no ETA
- Decision needed: do we proceed with old branding or wait?
Keep my voice — direct, no fluff.
Why it works: You’re outsourcing the assembly, not the thinking. The actual substance — what happened, what matters, what’s at risk — is still yours. That’s the part that counts.
What This Isn’t
These aren’t “10x productivity hacks.” They’re practical tools for tasks you already do.
The limits are real, and worth being honest about: - ChatGPT makes things up sometimes. Always check facts and important details. - It doesn’t know your specific context. Review and edit everything before sending it anywhere. - It can’t replace your thinking. What it can replace is the typing.
But for the repetitive work — parsing, drafting, summarising, reformatting — many people find it genuinely useful. And honestly, once you see it handle one of these tasks, you start spotting opportunities everywhere.
Here’s what I want you to know: you don’t need to be technical to use any of this. I’ve never written a line of code in my life. If a former maths teacher can figure this out, so can you.
Your Homework
Pick ONE of these five and try it this week. Not all five — just one.
The meeting notes prompt is a good place to start. Most people have messy notes from something lying around, and it takes less than two minutes to test.
When you see it work, you’ll start finding more uses on your own. That’s how it tends to go.
Tried one of these? Reply and tell me how it went.
Know someone who thinks AI is only for tech people? Forward this — it might change their mind.
Further reading: - OpenAI’s official prompt engineering guide: platform.openai.com/docs/guides/prompt-engineering - Anthropic’s guide to prompting: docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/overview
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only. Tools and capabilities described may change. Verify important outputs independently.
Affiliate disclosure: This edition contains no affiliate links. Most examples work on free tiers, though paid versions handle longer documents better.
