I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!

Before we get into this week's AI Moment...

I've heard this one a lot: "Doesn't using AI feel like cheating?" No, not if you use it correctly. AI is a tool, not a shortcut or a replacement for doing the work itself. Think of it as if you are using Google or Bing. Don't use AI to replace what you do. Use it to handle the repetitive stuff so you can spend your time on what actually matters. Let AI handle the busy work, so you focus on the strategic thinking, decisions, and the stuff that only a human can do. So, if you've felt weird about using AI, give yourself permission to change your mindset. You're not cheating. You're working smarter.

Monday AI Moment Week 4: Tell AI who you are once, never again

This week, a setting that saves you from typing the same context over and over again: Custom Instructions.

Custom Instructions are background rules you set once inside your AI tool. Every time you start a new conversation, the AI reads those rules first before doing ANYTHING else. Think of it like briefing a new colleague on Day 1. You'd tell them your role, your communication style, what kind of output you expect, etc. Custom Instructions do exactly that, except the "colleague" has perfect memory and never forgets.

Try this today: Use these custom instructions

Feel free to copy this as your starting point, then adjust it to match your own role and preferences.

=START=

About me:

• I'm [your role] at [your company/industry].

• I value clarity, brevity, and actionable advice.

How I want you to respond:

• Give the direct answer first, then add context and reasoning.

• Write like you're talking to a smart colleague over coffee, not drafting a formal document.

• Use simple language. Avoid jargon and corporate buzzwords.

• Be concise. Short paragraphs, clear headings when helpful.

• Be opinionated and direct. Don't hedge. Give me one strong recommendation, not three options.

• When giving examples, make them specific and practical, not hypothetical.

• Every paragraph must earn its place. If removing it doesn't lose information, cut it.

• Avoid AI-sounding phrases: "dive into," "unleash," "game-changing."

• Quality test: read it out loud. If it sounds like a person talking to a colleague, it's right. If it sounds like a document was generated, rewrite it.

=END=

Why this template works: most people either skip Custom Instructions entirely or write something too vague ("be super helpful and smart ok?! cool").

• The two-section structure (who you are + how you want responses) gives the AI enough context to meaningfully change its output.

• The "read it out loud" test at the end is the single most effective instruction I've found for killing AI-sounding language.

Where to paste your Custom Instructions in each model

Microsoft Copilot

ChatGPT – Settings > Personalization

Claude – Settings > General

Gemini

Perplexity

Grok

PRO TIP: For any AI tool you use, if you don’t want to look up where to put your custom instructions, just ask it how to do it or give it your custom instructions and ask it to update for you.

Now try asking AI anything after you upload and save your custom instructions to the AI model you are using. You’ll notice it already “gets” you a lot better than before.

Why it matters: This will save you tons of time. Over a year, that’s hours. More importantly, the quality of every response goes up because AI isn’t starting from scratch every time, and it knows who and what your goals are.

One heads-up: what you put in Custom Instructions gets sent with everything you do within that model… so treat it like something you’d say in a public meeting. Nothing confidential, nothing about specific members or policies. We’ll cover what to keep out of AI entirely next Monday and how to turn off data retention in every model.

Want to Take It Further?

The template above is a strong starting point, but once you get comfortable, you can go deeper. Here are two ways:

First, make it role-specific. Instead of one set of generic instructions, tailor them to your primary use case. A product manager's Custom Instructions should look different from a sales rep's. The more specific you are about your context, the more useful the AI becomes.

Second, reverse-engineer a writing style you admire. Take a few examples of someone's writing you like, paste them into the AI, and ask it to "generate Custom Instructions that match this writing style." Now paste those into your Custom Instructions. The AI will default to that tone in every conversation.

Here is a great video of someone who used to work at Google and now teaches people how to use AI, walking through this exact process if you want to follow along: watch it here (timestamped).

PROMPT OF THE WEEK

How to create your own custom instructions you can copy and paste into any AI tool with one prompt

USEFUL RESOURCES

How to configure your AI so it thinks, writes, and responds like you

Custom AI Instructions That Actually Work

ChatGPT Custom Instructions Tutorial: Personalize Your AI Assistant
- Clear walkthrough of where to click, what each field means, and how to fill in simple instructions.


How to Create ChatGPT Custom Instructions – Easy Guide 2026
- Up to date video focused on the current ChatGPT interface, showing step by step how to turn on and edit custom instructions.


Hope this helps! See you in June!
Lauren, Lulu and Zoey
Barktobank.com

HAVE AN IDEA FOR THE NEXT MONDAY AI MOMENT, or curious about how to do something with AI? Send us an email!