Turn Last Week's Chaos Into Next Week's Clarity
One simple prompt helps you reflect on what you got done (or didn't), discover your energy patterns, and build you a plan for next week's tasks.
Happy Saturday, friends!
Got any big plans for the weekend? Are you going to tackle a project in the yard, or do some tidying up around the house?
Me? I’m heading to Home Depot in a couple of hours to rent a stump grinder.1
See, we decided about five or so weeks ago that we wanted to remove the bushes leading up to our front door. We’re getting our house ready to list on the market—we’re moving to Las Vegas early next year—and the bushes were, well, ugly.
So, we decided to remove them, put mulch over the entire area, and possibly plant some wildflowers or other flowers. It’ll look nice, you know?
Seemed easy enough.
Except, here we are, five weeks later, and the bushes still aren’t gone. Most of them are gone. All that’s left are stumps. And what I know now, that I didn’t know five weeks ago, is that removing bushes? It ain’t easy. These dumb bushes have become the bane of my existence.
We decided that our best option would be to cut them down to ground level and cover them in mulch. Digging them up would require an excavator at this point. The ground is hard. Those little bushes apparently spent way more time growing roots than growing leaves. And the wood is hard. I’m telling you, this is the hardest wood I’ve ever tried to cut.
So, after my wife spent about 4 hours with our little electric 24v chainsaw, only to finish cutting two of the stumps—and after I spent 3 hours this week trying to do the same—we decided that cutting them with a chainsaw was very dumb. So we’re renting a stump grinder from Home Depot today; we’re just going to grind those things down to just a little below ground level, cover them with mulch, and move on to the next big task in our moving project.
The Problem With “Just Winging It”
Here we are, five weeks later, and the bushes still aren’t gone.
It doesn’t stop there. All over our house, we’ve got dozens of tasks sitting in various stages of “almost done” or “haven’t started yet.” There’s the guest room closet that needs organizing. The garage that looks like a tornado hit it. The boxes in the basement we keep saying we’ll sort through “this weekend.”
And what I know now, that I didn’t know at the start, is that moving isn’t just physically hard—it’s mentally exhausting. These little to-dos apparently spent way more time growing roots in my brain than I expected. Every unfinished task gnaws at me.
We decided that our best approach would be to just... keep pushing through. Power through the chaos. But that strategy? It ain’t working. These tasks need a system, not just determination.
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Moving Is Not Fun
Have you ever moved before? What was the experience like for you? Because, for us? It’s terrible. There are so many things to do just to get the house ready to go on the market. We created a list on paper before we started. It seemed manageable. Within hours of writing that list, it doubled in size. Within a couple of days? We’re no longer talking about a one-page list. We’re talking about a book in progress.
The problem with taking on a project of this size—while still remembering the stuff you have to do every day, like taking out the trash, sweeping the floor, cleaning the kitchen²—is managing everything.
You have to have a system.
If you don’t, things slip through the cracks. And before you know it, you open your fridge door and nearly pass out from the horrid smell emanating from somewhere inside it.2
Let AI Be Your System
When non-AI users hear about AI, they tend to think of how complicated it must be, or all of the crazy things you can do with it, if you know what you’re doing.
Me? My favorite part of using AI is how it can make mundane, everyday tasks easier. Things like organizing your medicine cabinet, turning any recipe into air fryer instructions, or getting tech/product support that’s actually helpful.
Today’s prompt is similar. Once you copy and paste it into ChatGPT or your favorite AI tool, it’ll ask you questions about what you accomplished this past week, what you dropped the ball on, and what you need to accomplish next week. When you’re done, it’ll create an actual plan for getting next week’s tasks done efficiently. It creates an optimized schedule, too, scheduling bigger/harder tasks for the moments/days when you have the most energy.
It’s actually incredible. And useful.
And it just takes one copy-and-paste prompt to do it.
Get the Prompt
Please copy the text in the gray box below, and then paste it into your favorite AI tool and hit the Submit button.
You are a strategic weekly planning assistant who helps users create effective plans by learning from the previous week’s experiences.
Begin by explaining: “I’ll help you create a detailed weekly plan that builds on last week’s lessons and sets you up for success. I’ll ask you a few questions about the past week, then we’ll plan the week ahead together.”
Then gather information through these questions, asking only ONE question at a time and waiting for the user’s response before moving to the next:
1. “What did you accomplish this past week? Please list everything you completed, big or small.”
2. “What tasks or projects didn’t you finish? It’s okay if there are several—this helps us plan better.”
3. “What unexpected challenges or obstacles came up during the week?”
4. “Looking at your energy throughout the week, when did you feel most productive and focused? When did your energy dip?”
5. “What are your top 3 priorities for next week?”
After gathering all responses, create a detailed weekly plan that:
- Celebrates wins: Acknowledges what worked well and why
- Learns from gaps: Identifies patterns in incomplete tasks (timing issues, overcommitment, external factors)
- Strategically reallocates: Reschedules incomplete tasks based on energy patterns and realistic time estimates
- Incorporates lessons: Applies insights from obstacles to prevent similar challenges
- Includes buffer time: Builds in flexibility for the unexpected (aim for 20-30% buffer capacity)
- Aligns with energy: Schedules high-priority tasks during identified peak energy periods
- Sets realistic expectations: Ensures the plan is achievable, not aspirational
Format the plan as a nicely-formatted, downloadable .pdf document with clear sections for each day of the week, specific time blocks when helpful, and brief explanations for why tasks are scheduled when they are. Ensure each table row expands to contain the cell’s text. Use WordWrap for all table cells.
End with a “Flexibility Reminders” section that normalizes adjustments and encourages self-compassion.I know the prompt looks complex. But it’s not. I promise. Just copy and paste it into your AI tool, answer the few questions the AI will ask you, and sit back and watch while it creates a printable PDF schedule of your plan for the next week.
Have a Great Weekend!
If you have any questions or comments about what you just read, simply hit reply in your email app and send me an email. I respond to every single email I receive. If you’re reading this on the web, then jump into the live chat or leave a comment on this post.
Most of all, have a great weekend. If you’re off work Monday for Columbus Day, do something awesome involving meats and a smoker or grill. That’s what I’ll be doing.
FOOTNOTES
A stump grinder is a fantastic tool. It’s basically a lawnmower, but for tree stumps.
The culprit was a package of fake H-Mart “lobster” I’d taken out of the fridge to defrost so I could make our very cheap but very delicious “Lobster” Rolls. It’s an easy (and very cheap) recipe that makes amazing lobster rolls. The cost works out to roughly $1.73 per roll. I’ll share it as a Note sometime.
Anyway, we ended up eating something else that night, and the “lobster” ended up hiding in the back of the fridge, slowly turning into a science experiment.
That night was well over a year ago. I’m not proud of this.