These prompts assume you have one thing written down: your quarterly goal. If you don’t, write it before using any of them. A prompt without goal context produces generic advice.
Copy them, fill in the bracketed fields with your actual information, and run them in any capable AI assistant.
Prompt 1: Morning Priority Vetting
When to use: Every morning, before you start work, after you’ve drafted your daily list.
My quarterly goal is: [one sentence]
My weekly outcome is: [what needs to be true by Friday]
My planned most important task today is: [specific task]
Stress-test this choice. Does it connect logically to my weekly outcome and quarterly goal?
Are there dependencies I might be missing? Is there a higher-leverage task I'm not considering?What to expect: Either confirmation that your choice is sound, or 1–3 specific questions or alternatives to consider. If the AI validates your choice without any pushback, try explicitly asking “What am I potentially missing?” as a follow-up. That prompt surfaces more useful friction.
Prompt 2: Brain Dump to 1-3-5
When to use: When your morning feels scattered and you can’t identify your “1 big thing” clearly.
Here's my brain dump for today — everything competing for my attention:
[paste your unordered list of 10-20 items]
My quarterly goal is: [goal]
My weekly outcome is: [weekly target]
Organize this into a 1-3-5 structure: 1 big task (requiring 90+ minutes of focused work),
3 medium tasks (30-60 minutes each), and 5 small tasks (10-20 minutes each).
Prioritize based on my goals, not on urgency or ease.What to expect: A proposed 1-3-5 structure with brief reasoning for each placement. Review the reasoning, not just the output — the rationale tells you whether the AI understood your priorities correctly.
Prompt 3: Mid-Day Reprioritization Check
When to use: When something has disrupted your plan and you’re not sure whether to adapt or hold.
I planned to make [original big task] my most important work today.
It's now [time] and I haven't started it because [specific reason].
My quarterly goal is: [goal]
My weekly outcome is: [target]
Is this a legitimate reprioritization or am I rationalizing avoidance?
What should I do for the rest of today?What to expect: An honest evaluation of whether the disruption was genuine or a displacement. The AI will ask whether the interrupting item was actually more important, or just more urgent. The distinction is the useful part.
Prompt 4: Stuck Task Diagnostic
When to use: When a task has been on your “1 big thing” list for three or more consecutive days without progress.
I've had [task] as my most important task for [N] days and haven't meaningfully started it.
Here's what's been displacing it each day:
Day 1: [reason]
Day 2: [reason]
Day 3: [reason]
Is there a pattern here? What might actually be blocking me — unclear scope, missing information,
genuine avoidance, wrong priority level? What's the smallest version of this task I could
complete in 30 minutes to break the deadlock?What to expect: A pattern diagnosis and a decomposition of the task into a smaller starting action. The “smallest version” question is often the most useful element — it converts an intimidating open-ended task into a specific, executable entry point.
Prompt 5: Evening Priority Prep
When to use: At the end of the workday, before closing down.
Today I planned to accomplish:
- Big task: [task] — [completed / not completed, reason]
- Medium tasks: [task 1: status], [task 2: status], [task 3: status]
- Small tasks: [overall summary]
My weekly outcome is: [target]
Days remaining this week: [N]
Given what happened today, what should be my most important task tomorrow?
What should I remove from tomorrow's list entirely?What to expect: A suggested “1 big thing” for tomorrow based on what’s been accomplished and what hasn’t, with reasoning. The “what to remove” question is equally important — it prevents the list from accumulating indefinitely.
Using These Prompts Effectively
The prompts above are templates. They work better when you customize the framing to your actual situation rather than submitting them with placeholder text.
The single most important customization: your quarterly goal should be a specific, measurable outcome — not a direction. “Increase trial-to-paid conversion from 18% to 28% by end of Q2” vets daily priorities differently than “improve conversion.” Vague goals produce vague alignment checks.
For the full workflow these prompts slot into, see how to set daily priorities with AI and the complete guide to daily priorities with AI.
Your action today: Copy Prompt 1, fill in your actual quarterly goal and weekly outcome, and run it against tomorrow’s planned most important task. If you don’t have a quarterly goal written down, that’s the action — write it first.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Do these prompts work with any AI assistant?
Yes. These prompts are designed for any capable AI assistant — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar. The quality of the output depends on the quality of the context you provide, specifically your actual goal and weekly outcome rather than placeholder text. Fill in the bracketed fields with your real information before submitting.
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How often should I use these prompts?
Prompt 1 (morning vetting) is designed for daily use. Prompts 2 and 5 are for occasional use — when you need them. Prompt 3 is for genuine mid-day disruptions, not as a routine check-in. Prompt 4 is for the specific situation of persistent task avoidance. Using all five every day would add more overhead than value.