Plan my week: focus and planning prompts

Use this at the start of the week, when your head is full and you do not know where to start.

You are a calm, practical planning coach. I am going to dump everything on my mind. Help me turn it into a short list of priorities. <brain_dump> [TYPE EVERYTHING: TASKS, WORRIES, IDEAS, ERRANDS, HALF-FINISHED THINGS. ANY ORDER, ANY LENGTH.] </brain_dump> My main goal for the next few months: [YOUR GOAL, OR 'NOT SURE']. Before you sort it, ask me up to three questions, one at a time, about anything you need to know. Deadlines and what happens if a task slips are the most useful. Then give me: 1. Everything sorted into groups: Must do this week, Should do soon, Could do later, Someone else could do it, Drop it. 2. My top three priorities for the week, with one sentence each on why. 3. Anything with a real deadline, listed with the date. 4. Anything that is a worry, with no task in it yet. For each, suggest the one small action that would settle it. Be honest. If my list is too much for one week, tell me what to move. If something looks unimportant to my goal, say so.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tips

• Once it is all written down, it is easier to see what matters.
• Write fast and messy. Claude sorts it for you.

Use this straight after the brain dump, to fit your priorities into the time you really have.

Now help me fit this week's work into real time. My priorities and tasks: [PASTE THE RESULT OF PROMPT 1, OR LIST THEM] What is already booked: [MEETINGS, SCHOOL RUNS, SHIFTS, APPOINTMENTS, WITH DAYS AND TIMES] My working hours: [FOR EXAMPLE 'MONDAY TO FRIDAY, 9 TO 5'] When I focus best: [FOR EXAMPLE 'MORNINGS'] Plan it like this: 1. Estimate how long each task will take. Show your estimate, and I will correct it. 2. Add up the hours. Compare them with my free hours and show both numbers. 3. Put the hardest priority in my best focus time, early in the week. 4. Leave at least a fifth of my free time empty for surprises. 5. Give me a table with columns: Day, Time block, Task, Hours. 6. List what does not fit, and suggest whether to move it, shrink it or drop it. If the week is overbooked, say so clearly. I want a plan that fits my real hours, even if it holds less.

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Tip

• People often underestimate how long tasks take. Correct Claude's estimates with how long the same kind of task took you last time.

Use this when you suspect your plan is too optimistic.

Here are tasks I plan to do, with how long I think each will take: [LIST EACH TASK AND YOUR ESTIMATE] For each task: 1. Break it into the steps it really involves, including small ones like replying to emails about it or waiting for someone. 2. Give a more realistic estimate, with a short reason. 3. Flag anything that depends on someone else. Then give me the new total next to my original total. Be direct if I am being too optimistic. If you have no way to judge a task, say so and ask me how long it took last time.

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Use this each morning, in the same chat as your weekly plan. It takes about five minutes.

Good morning. Here is today: What is booked: [TODAY'S MEETINGS AND APPOINTMENTS] Energy level from 1 to 5: [NUMBER] Anything new since yesterday: [NEW TASKS, MESSAGES OR CHANGES, OR 'NOTHING'] Using my weekly plan, give me: 1. The one task that matters most today, and why. 2. The very first physical step for it, small enough to start in the next two minutes. 3. A simple schedule for today in a short list, with focus blocks and breaks. 4. Two small tasks I can do in gaps. If my energy is low, make the plan lighter and tell me what to move. Keep the whole reply short enough to read in one minute.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tip

• Write the first step on a sticky note and do it before you open your email.

Use this at the end of each workday, so you can stop thinking about work.

I am finishing work for the day. Help me close it down. What I got done: [LIST] What I did not get to: [LIST] Anything new that came up: [LIST, OR 'NOTHING'] Anything on my mind: [WORRIES OR LOOSE ENDS, OR 'NOTHING'] Please: 1. Update my weekly plan with what moved. Show only the days that changed. 2. Tell me the first task for tomorrow morning, so I do not have to decide then. 3. For each worry, write a one-line note of what I will do about it and when, so I can put it down for tonight. 4. Give me one honest sentence on how today went against the plan. Keep it short. The point is to finish work and stop thinking about it.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tips

• Doing this at the same time each day helps it become a habit.
• Once it is done, close your laptop. Anything new can wait for tomorrow's start.

Use this when a project has not moved for a while and you keep avoiding it.

You are a coach who helps people restart stuck projects. I keep avoiding this project: [THE PROJECT]. Ask me questions one at a time, and wait for each answer, to find out why it is stuck. Check for these common causes: 1. The next step is unclear. 2. The task is too big to start. 3. I am waiting on someone or something. 4. I am worried about doing it badly or about what people will think. 5. I do not really want to do it, or it no longer matters. Ask no more than six questions. Then tell me: 1. The main reason it is stuck, in one sentence. 2. The smallest next action that takes under 20 minutes. 3. When to do it, based on what I have told you about my week. 4. If the honest answer is that I should drop or hand off this project, say so and help me do that well.

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Tip

• Do the 20-minute action today if you can. When it is done, ask Claude for the next small step in the same chat.

Use this when a task feels too big to start.

This task feels too big: [THE TASK]. What finished looks like: [HOW YOU WILL KNOW IT IS DONE]. Deadline: [DATE, OR 'NONE']. Break it down: 1. List every step in order, each one small enough to finish in one sitting of under an hour. 2. Mark the first step that I can start right now. 3. Mark any step that needs someone else, so I can ask them early. 4. If there is a deadline, give me a date for each step that leaves a buffer before the end. If any step is still vague, ask me about it. Write each step as an action starting with a verb, for example 'Email Sam for the figures'.

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Use this when someone asks for your time and you are not sure you should agree.

Someone has asked me to do something. Help me decide whether to say yes. The request: [WHAT THEY ASKED, WHO ASKED AND BY WHEN] What it would take: [YOUR ROUGH ESTIMATE OF TIME AND EFFORT] My priorities this week: [PASTE OR LIST THEM] 1. Ask me up to two questions if you need more context, one at a time. 2. Tell me what saying yes would push out of my week. 3. Give me your honest view: yes, no, or yes with conditions. Explain it in two or three sentences. You can tell me to say yes if that is right. I want a clear view of the cost before I decide.

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Use this when you have decided to say no, or not now, and need the words.

Help me reply to this request. The request: [PASTE THE MESSAGE, OR DESCRIBE IT] Who it is from and our relationship: [FOR EXAMPLE 'MY MANAGER', 'A CLIENT', 'A FRIEND'] What I want to say: [NO / NOT NOW / YES, BUT ONLY PART OF IT] Anything I could offer instead: [FOR EXAMPLE 'A 15 MINUTE CALL NEXT MONTH', OR 'NOTHING'] Write three versions of the reply: one warm, one brief and one firm. Each must: 1. Be clear about the answer in the first two sentences. 2. Give a short, true reason, or no reason if none is needed. 3. Keep the relationship friendly. 4. Leave out over-apologising and long excuses. Keep each reply under 80 words.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tip

• Pick the version that fits the person, then change a few words so it sounds like you.

Use this mid-week when something has blown up your plan.

My week has gone off plan. Here is what happened: [WHAT CHANGED]. My plan was: [PASTE THE PLAN, OR SAY 'IT IS ABOVE IN THIS CHAT']. Days left this week: [DAYS]. 1. Tell me which of my top three priorities are still possible this week. 2. Rebuild the rest of the week in the same table format, with the buffer kept. 3. List what I should move to next week, and anyone I need to tell. 4. Write a one-line message I can send to anyone affected. Keep it calm and practical. A smaller plan I can finish is fine.

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Use this on Friday or Sunday to learn from the week before you plan the next one.

Help me review my week. Here is what happened: My plan: [PASTE IT, OR 'IT IS ABOVE IN THIS CHAT'] What I finished: [LIST] What I did not finish, and why: [LIST] How I felt most of the week, from 1 to 5: [NUMBER] Give me: 1. What went well, with specifics. 2. The main pattern behind what did not get done, for example too much planned, interruptions or unclear tasks. 3. One change to try next week, small enough to stick to. 4. A list of what carries over into next week's brain dump. Be honest and kind. Skip generic advice and stick to what my week shows.

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Tip

• Follow this with prompt 1 for next week, and paste in the carry-over list.