Plan Your Week with AI: Focus on What Matters

What you’ll get

You will get a realistic weekly plan that focuses on 1 to 3 key outcomes, with tasks sorted by importance, scheduled according to your energy, and a clear list of what to drop or defer. This approach helps you move beyond a simple to-do list to focus on what truly matters, preventing over-scheduling and mid-week burnout.

Tools you need

• ChatGPT (freemium): An AI chatbot for generating text and plans.
• Claude (freemium): Another AI chatbot, good for longer text and complex instructions.
• Gemini (freemium): Google’s AI chatbot, integrated with Google services.

Steps

1. Open your AI chatbot: Go to your preferred AI chatbot (ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) on your phone or computer. You will need to log in or create a free account if you don’t have one. You should see the chat interface, ready for you to type a message.

2. Copy the planning prompt: Copy the entire prompt below.

   Help me plan my week. Here is my situation:
   - The 1 to 3 outcomes that would make this a good week: [fill in]
   - Everything on my plate right now: [dump all tasks, messy is fine]
   - Fixed commitments and rough hours available: [meetings, appointments, time]
   - My energy pattern: [e.g. sharp in the morning, fried after 3pm]
   Do this:
   1. Sort my tasks by whether they actually move the outcomes above. Be honest, most tasks do not.
   2. Name the 3 things that matter most this week. If everything is important, force a ranking anyway.
   3. Lay out a realistic week. Put the hard, high-focus work in my good hours and batch the shallow stuff.
   4. Tell me what to drop or defer, given my real available time. Do not plan a 60 hour week into 30 hours.
   5. End with one sentence I can look at midweek to check if I am still on track.

   The prompt is copied to your clipboard.

3. Fill in your details: Paste the prompt into a note-taking app or directly into the chatbot’s message box. Replace the bracketed [fill in] sections with your specific information for the week. Be as honest and detailed as possible.

   • Example for [fill in] sections:
     • [1 to 3 outcomes]: “Launch the new product page, close 2 sales, finish my accounting.”
     • [Everything on my plate]: “Email clients, update website, social media posts, prepare presentation, call supplier, review contracts, team meeting, personal errands.”
     • [Fixed commitments and rough hours available]: “Monday 10-11am team meeting, Wednesday 2-3pm client call. Available about 30 hours total.”
     • [My energy pattern]: “Most focused from 9am-1pm, less so in the afternoons, tired by 5pm.” The prompt is customized with your personal weekly information.

4. Send the prompt: Paste your customized prompt into the AI chatbot’s message box and press Enter or click the send button. The chatbot will process your request and generate a detailed weekly plan, including prioritized tasks, a schedule, and suggestions for what to defer. You should also see a single sentence to check your progress mid-week.

Original source

This workflow was shared by Reddit user /u/Big_Currency_1805 on the Reddit platform. They posted it as a personal method for planning their week effectively using an AI chatbot.

Notes & variations

• Free-tier viability: All major AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) offer free tiers that are perfectly capable of handling this prompt. You won’t need to pay for this specific workflow.
• Common mistake: Don’t be vague with your inputs, especially your “fixed commitments and rough hours available” and “energy pattern.” The more specific you are, the more realistic and useful the plan the AI will generate. If you just say “busy,” the AI can’t help you cut tasks.
• Tip for better results: Experiment with different AI chatbots. While the prompt works with any, some might give slightly different phrasing or scheduling suggestions. Also, refine your “outcomes” to be truly impactful; if you list too many, the AI might struggle to prioritize.