AI Prompts for Task Automation

**Role:** You are an automation strategist who prioritizes by ROI, not by what's technically coolest.

**My Repetitive Tasks:**
[List 8-10 tasks with: what it is, how long it takes, how often you do it]

**My Tools:** [apps and platforms I already use]
**My Tech Skill Level:** [beginner / intermediate / can write scripts]
**Budget for Automation Tools:** [free only / up to $X/month]

**Automation Audit:**
1. **ROI Ranking:** Sort every task by (time per occurrence × frequency) — this is your automation priority list
2. **Automation Verdict:** For each task: High / Medium / Low automation potential with specific reasoning
3. **Best Tool/Method:** The simplest way to automate each (Zapier, email rules, scripts, AI tools, delegation)
4. **Setup Time vs. Savings:** Hours to set up vs. hours saved per month — payback period for each
5. **Top 3 Implementation Plans:** Step-by-step for the three highest-ROI automations
6. **Keep Manual List:** Tasks that should stay manual and why (judgment-heavy, relationship-dependent, too variable)

**Role:** You are an email productivity specialist designing an automated triage system.

**My Email Volume:** ~[number] emails per day
**Provider:** [Gmail / Outlook / other]
**Main Email Categories:**
[List 5-7 types with example subject lines, e.g., client requests, newsletters, internal updates, vendor invoices, meeting invites]

**Build My Email Autopilot:**
1. **Filter Rules:** Exact syntax for my email provider to auto-sort each category into labels/folders
2. **Auto-Responses:** Template replies for categories that can be acknowledged automatically
3. **Label/Folder System:** A structure that keeps my inbox under 20 items at all times
4. **Human-Required vs. Auto-Handled:** Which emails genuinely need my attention vs. can be processed by rules
5. **Daily Email Routine:** A 30-minute processing system — exact steps in exact order
6. **Unsubscribe Audit:** Categories I should unsubscribe from entirely (with one-line scripts for polite opt-outs)
7. **Emergency Override:** How important emails bypass the system and alert me immediately

**Role:** You are a no-code automation architect designing reliable multi-step workflows.

**The Process I Want to Automate:**
- Trigger: [what starts the workflow, e.g., 'new form submission']
- Apps I Use: [list apps with plan tier, e.g., Google Sheets free, Slack Pro, Notion free]
- Desired Outcome: [what should happen automatically end-to-end]

**Build the Workflow:**
1. **Step-by-Step Flow:** Each step with trigger, action, and data passed between steps
2. **Platform Recommendation:** Zapier vs. Make.com vs. n8n — which is best for THIS specific workflow and why
3. **Field Mappings:** Exactly which data fields connect between apps at each step
4. **Conditional Logic:** If/then branches for edge cases (e.g., what if a field is empty?)
5. **Error Handling:** What happens when a step fails — notification, retry, or fallback
6. **Test Checklist:** Specific test scenarios to run before going live
7. **Enhancement:** One smart addition that makes the workflow significantly more useful

**Role:** You are a pragmatic automation developer writing scripts for non-engineers.

**Task to Automate:**
[Describe the repetitive task in detail — what you do, what files/data are involved, what the output should be]

**Environment:** [Mac / Windows / Linux]
**Skill Level:** [beginner / intermediate / can debug]
**Preferred Language:** [Python / Bash / PowerShell / any]

**Generate:**
1. **Complete Script:** With inline comments explaining each section in plain English
2. **Dry Run Mode:** A flag that shows what the script would do without executing
3. **Setup Instructions:** Step-by-step for installing dependencies and configuring
4. **Scheduling:** How to run it automatically (cron job / Task Scheduler / launchd) with exact commands
5. **Error Logging:** Write failures to a log file with timestamps so I know when it breaks
6. **Safety Checks:** Input validation, backup creation before destructive operations, confirmation prompts
7. **Three Extensions:** Ways to make the script smarter over time

**Role:** You are a reporting automation specialist eliminating manual report creation.

**Report Details:**
- Type: [weekly metrics / monthly financials / client update / team status]
- Frequency: [how often]
- Audience: [who reads this]
- Data Sources: [where the raw data lives]
- Current Format: [spreadsheet / slides / doc / dashboard]
- Time It Takes Now: [hours per report]

**Automate My Reporting:**
1. **Template Design:** A structure that auto-populates with new data each period
2. **Data Pull Formulas:** Queries, IMPORTRANGE functions, or API calls to fetch data automatically
3. **Conditional Formatting:** Rules to highlight changes, anomalies, and trends (red/green/yellow)
4. **Executive Summary Generator:** A section that writes key takeaways from the data (template with fill-in logic)
5. **Distribution Automation:** How to email or share the report automatically when data refreshes
6. **Data Quality Gate:** A validation check that runs before the report publishes — catches bad data before your boss sees it

**Role:** You are a meeting intelligence analyst who extracts actionable structure from messy conversations.

**Meeting Transcript or Notes:**
[Paste transcript, rough notes, or key discussion points]

**Meeting Context:**
- Type: [standup / planning / client call / brainstorm / 1:1]
- Attendees: [names and roles]
- Project: [what this relates to]

**Extract and Structure:**
1. **Decisions Made:** Every decision reached during the meeting, stated clearly with who approved it
2. **Action Items:** Each task with: owner, deadline (explicit or inferred), and specific deliverable — not vague 'follow up on X'
3. **Open Questions:** Issues raised but not resolved — who needs to answer them and by when
4. **Key Discussion Points:** 3-5 bullet summary of what was discussed for people who missed the meeting
5. **Follow-Up Meeting Needed?** If yes, suggested agenda based on open items
6. **Slack/Email Summary:** A ready-to-send 5-line recap for the team channel

**Role:** You are a digital wellness specialist designing a notification management system.

**My Current Notifications:**
[List 8-12 apps/services with rough daily notification count each]

**My Priorities:** [what I absolutely can't miss vs. what can wait]
**Working Hours:** [start time] to [end time]
**Devices:** [phone, laptop, watch, tablet]

**Build My Notification Detox:**
1. **Kill List:** Notifications to turn off entirely — with reasoning for why it's safe
2. **Batch List:** Notifications to consolidate into a digest — with specific schedule (e.g., 'Slack: check 3x/day at 9am, 1pm, 5pm')
3. **Priority List:** Notifications that stay as real-time alerts — and which device they should reach
4. **DND Schedule:** Do-not-disturb windows for deep work, family time, and sleep
5. **App-Specific Settings:** Exact menu paths to change settings in each app (not just 'go to notification settings')
6. **Monthly Audit Checklist:** A 10-minute review to prevent notification creep from sneaking back in