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Clear the 40-item list waiting for you after a week off
Back from a week off to a list as long as your arm. Get every item sorted into do, plan, hand off or drop, with your first day back mapped out.
The prompt · ChatGPT
Help me clear the list that's built up while I was away. The whole list: [paste everything, messy is fine] Hours I really have this week: [e.g. 30, with Tuesday afternoon in meetings] Real deadlines I know about: [e.g. report Friday, invoice by the 30th] People who could take things on: [e.g. a colleague, my partner, nobody] What I'm most worried about: [optional] Before you start, ask me up to 3 short questions if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A table of every item: Do this week, Plan for later (with a suggested date), Hand off (to whom) or Drop, with a few words on why. 2. Flag anything that looks urgent but isn't, and anything that looks small but blocks other things. 3. My first day back, hour by hour, starting with the one job that unblocks the most. 4. A short message for each hand-off, ready to send. 5. A polite one-liner for anything I'm dropping that someone is expecting. If the "Do" pile won't fit in my hours, say so and tell me what to move. Only use what I've typed. UK English. Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. paste everything, messy is fine: a short note you already have. e.g. 30, with Tuesday afternoon in meetings: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
The prompt · Grok
Help me clear the list that's built up while I was away. The whole list: [paste everything, messy is fine] Hours I really have this week: [e.g. 30, with Tuesday afternoon in meetings] Real deadlines I know about: [e.g. report Friday, invoice by the 30th] People who could take things on: [e.g. a colleague, my partner, nobody] What I'm most worried about: [optional] Before you start, ask me up to 3 short questions if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A table of every item: Do this week, Plan for later (with a suggested date), Hand off (to whom) or Drop, with a few words on why. 2. Flag anything that looks urgent but isn't, and anything that looks small but blocks other things. 3. My first day back, hour by hour, starting with the one job that unblocks the most. 4. A short message for each hand-off, ready to send. 5. A polite one-liner for anything I'm dropping that someone is expecting. If the "Do" pile won't fit in my hours, say so and tell me what to move. Only use what I've typed. UK English. Stay in this Grok chat. Do not connect an inbox or another app.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. paste everything, messy is fine: a short note you already have. e.g. 30, with Tuesday afternoon in meetings: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
You paste the whole messy list and say how much time you've really got this week.
The assistant asks which items have real deadlines and who could take some off you.
You get every item in one of four piles, a plan for your first day back and messages to hand jobs on.
What happens
Use Grok Bot to clear the 40-item list waiting for you after a week off
Back from a week off to a list as long as your arm. Get every item sorted into do, plan, hand off or drop, with your first day back mapped out.
Tools
Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.
- Grok Bot — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.
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