Paste your whole to-do list into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and let it decide what goes. For every task it cuts, it tells you why: it can wait, it doesn't matter yet, or someone else should be doing it. I did this with 24 tasks and had a list of 12 in under two minutes.
Here is my to-do list. Cut it in half. Be ruthless. I tend to hang on to tasks out of guilt or habit, and I want a list I can finish. Judge each task on its impact, what depends on it, and whether it needs me personally. For every task you remove, give one reason: - It can wait (say until when) - It doesn't matter yet (say what would need to happen first) - Someone else should do it (say who, or what kind of person if you don't know a name) Then give me: 1. The kept list, in the order I should do it. 2. The cut list, grouped by reason, with one line on each. 3. Any task I'm holding on to only because I haven't taken five minutes to hand it over. For context, my main goal right now is: [your main goal this week or month] My list: [paste your list here]
When I ran it in Claude, it cut my favorite passion project first, which was rude and completely accurate. It also caught three tasks I was clinging to because I hadn't taken five minutes to delegate them.
Yes. Paste your whole list into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini with a prompt that asks it to judge each task on its impact, what depends on it and whether it needs you personally. Ask for the kept list in the order to do it, and a cut list with a reason for every task it removes.
Ask the AI to cut your list in half and give one reason for each cut: it can wait, it doesn't matter yet, or someone else should do it. Add your main goal for the week or month so it can judge impact, and ask it to name any task you're holding on to only because you haven't handed it over.
Any AI chat works, including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. The prompt needs no special feature or paid plan. Copy your list as plain text from your task manager, notes app or spreadsheet, and paste it in without tidying it first.
Tell it in the same chat and ask it to cut again. The AI only knows what you give it, so a task with a real deadline can land on the cut list. Read the cut list before you move anything, then take the cut tasks out of your main list.
Run a weekly re-cut. Paste your current list back into the chat, ask the AI to mark anything that has been on it for more than two weeks, and cut it in half again with the same three reasons. Set a reminder for the same time each week, like Friday afternoon.
Cutting the list is step one. The bonus gives you a prompt that writes the handover messages for everything someone else should do, a weekly re-cut to stop the list growing back, and a prompt for the task you keep avoiding.
Take every task from the cut list that someone else should do. For each one, write a short message I can send to hand it over. For each message include what the task is, why it matters, what done looks like, the deadline, and where to find anything they need. Keep each message under 120 words, friendly and direct, in plain language. If you need a name, a deadline or a file location from me, list those questions first, then write the messages with [brackets] where my answers go.
Here's my to-do list as it stands today. Last week you cut my list in half, and new tasks have crept in since. 1. Mark anything that has been on the list for more than two weeks. 2. Cut the list in half again, using the same reasons: it can wait, it doesn't matter yet, or someone else should do it. 3. Tell me which task, if I finished it this week, would make the most others easier or unnecessary. My list: [paste your list here]
There's a task on my list I keep putting off: [describe the task]. Ask me up to five short questions, one at a time, to work out why I'm avoiding it. It might be unclear, too big, dependent on someone else, boring, or something I don't want to do at all. When you've heard my answers, tell me which one it is and give me the smallest next step I could take in the next 15 minutes. If the honest answer is that I should drop it or hand it over, say so.
Set a reminder for the same time every week, like Friday afternoon, and run the re-cut before you plan the next week.
Prompts, step-by-step guides and checklists you can put to work today.