AI Productivity for Busy Professionals

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One ChatGPT Prompt to Plan My Workday

When you start the day with a full inbox, half-finished tasks and a noisy calendar, it is easy to feel behind before you even begin. Instead of trying to juggle everything in your head, you can use a single ChatGPT prompt to turn the chaos into a clear plan for the day.

This guide walks you through a simple, reusable prompt that helps you describe your situation, prioritise what matters and create a realistic schedule—without spending half the morning planning.

The core “plan my workday” prompt

You are my daily planning assistant. I will paste:
- My to-do list
- Any fixed appointments in my calendar
- Notes about deadlines or energy levels

Please:
1) Summarise what I have on my plate today.
2) Identify the 3 most important tasks I should complete (MITs).
3) Suggest a realistic schedule for my working hours.
4) Highlight anything that looks unrealistic or should be deferred.

Here is my information:
[PASTE TASKS, CALENDAR AND NOTES]

Use this prompt first thing in the morning, or whenever you feel overwhelmed. The more honest you are about your commitments and energy, the more useful the plan will be.

How to prepare your input

To get the best results, spend two or three minutes gathering everything in one place:

  • A quick list of tasks you think you “should” do today.
  • Any fixed meetings or appointments, with times.
  • Important deadlines coming up in the next few days.
  • Notes about how you feel (tired, energised, distracted).

Paste all of this into ChatGPT under the prompt above. Do not worry about formatting; bullet points and fragments are fine.

Customising the plan

After ChatGPT suggests your schedule, you can refine it with follow-up questions, such as:

  • “I only have 4 hours of deep-focus time today. Please rebuild the plan with that constraint.”
  • “Move all email-related work to the afternoon and group it into one block.”
  • “I need a 30-minute buffer before and after this specific meeting.”

FAQs

Do I need to follow the plan exactly?

No. The plan is a guide, not a contract. The real benefit is reducing decision fatigue. When interruptions happen, you can glance at the plan and decide what to adjust instead of starting from zero.

What if my tasks are too big?

Ask ChatGPT to break down large tasks into smaller steps first. For example: “Break ‘prepare client presentation’ into tasks that each take less than 45 minutes.” Then run the main planning prompt with the smaller tasks.

Can I use this prompt every day?

Yes. Many people turn it into a short morning ritual. Over time, you can tweak the wording so that the output looks and feels exactly how you like to plan your day.

Next steps

Try the prompt tomorrow morning. Paste your full list of tasks and calendar events, follow the suggested plan as best you can, and notice how it changes your sense of control.

If you want a full set of prompts for email, meetings, documents and weekly planning as well, you can explore the AI Productivity for Busy Professionals course.