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5 Magic Prompts

your take-home cheat sheet for talking to AI. fill in the blanks with your own details and paste into ChatGPT or Claude.

the recipe formula

every great instruction has 4 parts

🧑

WHO

Tell AI who to be

"You are a helpful meal planner..."

📋

WHAT

Say exactly what you need

"...plan 5 dinners for this week..."

📏

RULES

Give it your specific details

"...family of 4, $80 budget, no shellfish..."

📦

FORMAT

Tell it how to show the answer

"...as a daily list with a shopping list."

🍽️

Meal Planning Magic

You are a friendly family meal planner.

Plan [NUMBER] dinners for my family this week.

Here are my details:
- Family size: [HOW MANY PEOPLE]
- Budget: $[AMOUNT] for the whole week
- Foods we don't eat: [ALLERGIES OR DISLIKES]
- Cooking skill: [BEGINNER / AVERAGE / GOOD]
- Max cooking time: [MINUTES] per meal

Give me:
1. Each dinner with ingredients and simple steps
2. A combined shopping list organized by store section

📧

Email Writer

You are a professional but friendly email writer.

Write an email for me about: [WHAT THE EMAIL IS ABOUT]

Here are the details:
- Sending to: [WHO — teacher, boss, landlord, doctor]
- Tone: [POLITE / FIRM / CASUAL / PROFESSIONAL]
- Key points I need to include:
  1. [POINT 1]
  2. [POINT 2]
  3. [POINT 3]

Keep it short — no more than [NUMBER] sentences.

📝

Resume Booster

You are an experienced resume writer.

Improve my resume summary for a [JOB TITLE] position.

About me:
- Years of experience: [NUMBER]
- Current/past job: [JOB TITLE]
- My top 3 strengths: [STRENGTH 1], [STRENGTH 2], [STRENGTH 3]
- One accomplishment I'm proud of: [DESCRIBE IT]

Give me 3 different versions:
1. Confident and bold
2. Professional and measured
3. Warm and personable

📅

Schedule Organizer

You are a time management expert who is warm and understanding.

Help me organize my week. I feel overwhelmed and need a clear plan.

Here's what I need to fit in:
- Work hours: [YOUR SCHEDULE]
- Kids/family commitments: [LIST THEM]
- Appointments this week: [LIST THEM]
- Things I keep putting off: [LIST THEM]
- I need at least [MINUTES] of personal time per day

Create a simple daily schedule for Monday through Friday.
Be realistic — I'm a real person, not a robot.

💡

Decision Helper

You are a thoughtful advisor who helps people think through decisions.

I'm trying to decide: [YOUR DECISION]

Option A: [DESCRIBE IT]
Option B: [DESCRIBE IT]

Things that matter to me:
- [WHAT'S IMPORTANT — money, time, family, career, etc.]
- [ANOTHER THING THAT MATTERS]
- [ONE MORE]

Help me think through this by listing the pros and cons of each option,
then give me your honest recommendation based on what I said matters to me.

quick tips

✅ be specific — "I have 2 kids under 5" beats "I have kids"
✅ follow up — say "make it simpler" or "add more detail about the budget part"
✅ try again — if the first answer isn't great, say "try again with a different approach"
✅ copy and save — when AI gives you something great, save it somewhere!
✅ it's free — ChatGPT (chat.openai.com) and Claude (claude.ai) both have free versions

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Guide to Artificial Intelligence for New Skills

You are a friendly family meal planner. Plan [NUMBER] dinners for my family this week. Here are my details: - Family size: [HOW MANY PEOPLE] - Budget: $[AMOUNT] for the whole week - Foods we don't eat: [ALLERGIES OR DISLIKES] - Cooking skill: [BEGINNER / AVERAGE / GOOD] - Max cooking time: [MINUTES] per meal Give me: 1. Each dinner with ingredients and simple steps 2. A combined shopping list organized by store section

You are a professional but friendly email writer. Write an email for me about: [WHAT THE EMAIL IS ABOUT] Here are the details: - Sending to: [WHO — teacher, boss, landlord, doctor] - Tone: [POLITE / FIRM / CASUAL / PROFESSIONAL] - Key points I need to include: 1. [POINT 1] 2. [POINT 2] 3. [POINT 3] Keep it short — no more than [NUMBER] sentences.

You are an experienced resume writer. Improve my resume summary for a [JOB TITLE] position. About me: - Years of experience: [NUMBER] - Current/past job: [JOB TITLE] - My top 3 strengths: [STRENGTH 1], [STRENGTH 2], [STRENGTH 3] - One accomplishment I'm proud of: [DESCRIBE IT] Give me 3 different versions: 1. Confident and bold 2. Professional and measured 3. Warm and personable

You are a time management expert who is warm and understanding. Help me organize my week. I feel overwhelmed and need a clear plan. Here's what I need to fit in: - Work hours: [YOUR SCHEDULE] - Kids/family commitments: [LIST THEM] - Appointments this week: [LIST THEM] - Things I keep putting off: [LIST THEM] - I need at least [MINUTES] of personal time per day Create a simple daily schedule for Monday through Friday. Be realistic — I'm a real person, not a robot.

You are a thoughtful advisor who helps people think through decisions. I'm trying to decide: [YOUR DECISION] Option A: [DESCRIBE IT] Option B: [DESCRIBE IT] Things that matter to me: - [WHAT'S IMPORTANT — money, time, family, career, etc.] - [ANOTHER THING THAT MATTERS] - [ONE MORE] Help me think through this by listing the pros and cons of each option, then give me your honest recommendation based on what I said matters to me.