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Image: Emiliano Vittoriosi/Unsplash]
Endless notifications, a constant barrage of information, and never-ending to-do lists can make it feel like you’re digitally drowning. Why not use AI to claw some of your precious time back?
While you may have used ChatGPT for the basics like writing an email or proofreading documents, there’s plenty of power to be harnessed from less obvious applications.
Here are five ways you can put AI to work for you.
You’ve just finished an hour-long meeting, and your notes look like a verbal train wreck: a mix of shorthand, half-finished sentences, and random keywords. There are action items in there somewhere, but finding them feels like a chore.
Paste your notes into ChatGPT with a prompt such as: “Here are my meeting notes. Please create a prioritized task list with deadlines and the person responsible for each item.”
ChatGPT can turn that mess into a clean, actionable list in seconds, giving you back precious time you’d have spent deciphering your own writing.
You’ve come across a new industry term or a technical concept that’s critical to your job, but the online explanations are full of jargon you don’t understand. Or maybe you’re trying to explain something complex to a colleague who isn’t as familiar with the subject.
Ask ChatGPT to “explain [the concept] in plain English for someone with no background in [the field].”
AI is great at simplifying dense information. You can even ask it to “use a relatable analogy” to make the concept stick. It’s like having a personal tutor who’s always on call.
You have an important call with a potential client or a new partner, and you want to go in prepared. But digging through their company’s website, recent press releases, and social media feeds for relevant background info is a serious time sink.
Prompt ChatGPT with something like: “Help me prepare for a call with [Customer Name]. Summarize the top three news stories from the past six months and highlight anything relevant to their business goals.”
This gives you a quick, digestible cheat sheet, so you can sound informed and confident without spending hours on a deep dive.
You’ve created a great piece of content: a long-form blog post, a podcast episode, or a detailed report. Now you need to turn it into a dozen different things for social media. The thought of writing 12 unique captions and a handful of tweets is exhausting.
Upload your content and ask ChatGPT to “repurpose this information into three short social media captions and five bullet points for a Twitter thread.”
It can instantly transform your work into multiple formats, saving you the mental load of starting over each time you switch platforms.
There’s nothing quite like smashing headfirst into a creative wall. You’ve got to come up with ideas for a new marketing campaign, a blog post title, or a product name, but the well has run dry. The blank page is staring at you, mocking your lack of creativity.
Use a prompt to get the ball rolling, such as: “I’m launching a new service for [target audience]. Give me 10 creative marketing campaign ideas that are both approachable and professional.”
ChatGPT can act as a tireless brainstorming partner, providing you with a starting point, new angles, and ideas you might never have considered on your own. It won’t do all the work, but it will give you a solid foundation to build upon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Doug Aamoth is a former writer and editor at TechCrunch and Time magazine, and has written for Fast Company, PCWorld, Money magazine, and other publications. With more than 20 years in consumer electronics, tech media, digital video, and software, his goal is to make technology approachable and useful for everyone, helping readers stay informed, productive, and secure in the digital age.