1/12
The Trap

Ask it what to automate.

What should I automate? WHERE IT POINTS Custom apps Scripts Cron jobs Glue code WHAT IT NEVER MENTIONS Skills Projects Scheduled tasks ALREADY IN THE TOOL
The Shift
Stop asking what AI is good at.
Start looking at what your tasks
are made of.
The Shift

Zoom out. Slice the work.

ROLE ACTIVITIES TASKS STEPS Your role Client work Reporting Admin Weekly numbers Board deck IN ONE SPREADSHEET Pull the numbers Write ten lines Send it OUT ONE EMAIL
The List

The evidence already exists.

Calendar Sent email FULL VIDEO Your chats YOUR REPEATS · LAST 90 DAYS Weekly numbers summary × 12 Client follow-up emails × 9 Meeting prep notes × 7 Monthly invoice run × 3 The one you never named × 8
The List

Build the list — with receipts.

PROMPT

Search my calendar and my sent email from the last 90 days. Find recurring work — tasks I did more than once. This is for me, the person who does this work every week, so I can decide what to hand to AI first.

For each task you find, give me:

  • (1) a plain one-line description of the task,
  • (2) how many times it appeared, with the dates,
  • (3) where you saw it — which emails or calendar events.

List up to 10 tasks, ranked by how often they appeared.

Your only job is to list and describe what you found — I will be the one who judges which tasks fit AI. If the evidence for a task is thin, label it "insufficient evidence" instead of guessing.

Three Numbers

Count three things.

Steps START TO FINISH + Sources PLACES IT PULLS FROM + ? Judgment calls CALLS ONLY YOU MAKE = LOWEST TOTAL GOES FIRST
Three Numbers

You talk. It digs.

PROMPT

I want to hand this task to AI: [describe the task and attach example outputs if relevant]. Before I can do that, I need to get the process out of my head.

Your goal in this interview: capture every step I take, every source I pull from, and every judgment call I make — including how I make each call — in enough detail that it could become instructions an AI follows.

Interview me one question at a time. Base each new question on my last answer. Keep it under 15 questions.

When you are done, write a one-page spec with four sections:

  • Steps (in order),
  • Sources (where each input lives),
  • Judgment calls (each decision plus the rule I use to make it),
  • and Output (what a finished, good version looks like).
Three Numbers

The spec is the starting point.

The spec STEPS SOURCES JUDGMENT CALLS OUTPUT Becomes its instructions PROJECT SKILL
Judgment

Fix the rule, not the task.

Your rule AI makes the call You review Tighten the rule THE GAP · ITS CALLS vs YOURS WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 FULL VIDEO
Recap
Build the list from evidence.
Count steps, sources, judgment calls.
Let it interview you. Keep the spec.
Use what's already built in.