One good chat helps you once. A system helps you every week. Here are the four I'd build first, in order, with the prompts to set each one up in ChatGPT, Claude or the AI tool you already use.
In the video I said to comment SYSTEMS. This is that guide. Build one system, use it for a week, then build the next.
You are my assistant for [your business name]. Read this before every answer. About me: [your name, what you do, who you do it for]. My customers: [who buys from you and what they care about]. My goals this year: [your top 3 goals]. My voice: [how you write, for example short sentences, warm, no jargon]. Words I never use: [list]. The files in this project are my notes, past work and examples. Use them before you ask me anything. If something you need isn't here, ask me one question at a time, and tell me what to add to the project so you don't have to ask again.
I want you to do one job for me every time I ask: [the job, for example draft replies to client emails]. Here's how I do it now: [the steps you follow]. Here's an example of what good looks like: [paste one finished example you were happy with] What to avoid: [anything you always fix by hand]. Ask me any questions you need, then do the job on this: [paste today's real one]. After I've checked it, write the instructions as one block I can save and reuse.
Here's the transcript of a meeting I just had: [paste the transcript] Do these in order: 1. Write a recap in five bullet points or fewer. 2. List every decision we made. 3. List every action item with the owner and the due date. If either is missing, write "not set". 4. Write a short Slack message for [channel or team name] with the recap, decisions and action items, ready to post. Don't add anything that wasn't said in the meeting.
An AI system is a setup you build once and reuse, so you stop starting from a blank chat. The four I start beginners with are a home base with your context, one regular job with instructions and an example, a workflow that chains steps together, and an agent that runs on a schedule.
It's one place where your AI already knows you and your business. In ChatGPT and Claude that's a project: you add instructions and files once, and every chat started inside it can use them. Projects are on free and paid plans in both tools. Claude's free plan allows five.
Start with something you do every day or every week and are tired of repeating, like drafting emails or writing meeting recaps. Saving 10 minutes on a daily task adds up fast. Give the AI clear instructions and one example of a finished version you were happy with.
Yes. Paste the transcript and ask for a recap, the decisions, the action items with owners, and a Slack message ready to post. Claude's Slack connector, built by Slack, can send the message for you. In any other tool, copy and paste it into the channel.
A prompt that finds the tasks eating your week and ranks which one to build a system around first. Plus an interview prompt that writes your home base for you in one sitting.
Help me find where my week goes. Ask me these one at a time and wait for each answer: 1. What do you do every day or every week that feels the same each time? 2. What do you explain to people, or to AI, over and over? 3. What do you put off because it's tedious? 4. What do you do right after every meeting or call? Then list every task I mentioned in a table with: how often I do it, roughly how many minutes it takes me each time, and which of these four systems fits it best: home base, regular job, workflow or agent on a schedule. Rank the table by minutes saved per week and tell me which one to build first and why. Use only what I told you.
Interview me so you can write the instructions for my AI home base. Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer. Cover: what I do and for whom, my customers, my goals for this year, how I like to write, words I never use, the tasks I'll bring to you most, and anything you should always check with me first. When you're done, write the instructions as one block under 400 words that I can paste into a project. Then list the files I should add to the project, such as past emails, my price list or a bio.
Run the sticking points prompt once a month. Every time a system runs smoothly, go back to the list and build the next one.
Prompts, step-by-step guides and checklists you can put to work today.