This week we’re doing two very human things with AI: **spring cleaning using a checklist AI creates**, and **giving feedback to a team member**. One is about your home and energy; the other is about your relationships and how you show up as a leader. Both matter more than any shiny new app, because they touch the part of life you actually feel every day.

Try at least one before Sunday. That is the whole assignment.

Use Case 1 of 2

Use Case 1: Spring cleaning using a checklist AI creates

On a Saturday morning in late March, Denise, 57, stands in her kitchen with a mug of coffee and that familiar tightness in her chest. She’s a high school counselor, works full-time, and her husband had knee surgery over the winter. The house didn’t exactly “fall apart,” but little things piled up: the junk drawer you can barely close, dust bunnies behind the sofa, a guest room that’s quietly become a storage unit.

She’s tried to tackle it before with printable checklists from the internet, but they’re all the same: clean every room, every surface, in one heroic weekend. Denise knows that’s a lie for real people with real lives. She has *one* weekend and maybe 12 - 14 usable hours, not an empty calendar and a cleaning crew.

She’s heard AI can make custom checklists based on your home and energy level, but she doesn’t know how to ask for that without getting something generic. So the house stays cluttered, and she keeps telling herself, “Next month I’ll get organized.” What she really needs is one realistic plan: specific tasks, in a smart order, sized for her actual energy - not the 25-year-old version of herself.

Here is the exact prompt to use:

Copy and paste this into ChatGPT or Claude:

You are an organized, practical home assistant helping me plan spring cleaning.

Your goal is to create a realistic, room-by-room checklist I can follow over one weekend **without exhausting myself**.

About me: - I am [age], generally healthy but I get tired if I’m on my feet all day. - I have about [total hours] of focused cleaning time this weekend. - My priority rooms are: [list the 3 - 5 rooms or areas that bother you most]. - I live with: [who else is in the home and whether they’re helping or not].

About my home: - I have: [number] bedrooms, [number] bathrooms, plus: [office, basement, garage, etc.]. - The house is currently: [brief description: e.g., “moderately cluttered but not dirty,” or “dusty, some deep cleaning needed”].

Your task: 1. Create a spring cleaning checklist organized by room, in the order you recommend I tackle them across the weekend. 2. For each room, list 5 - 10 specific tasks, ordered from highest impact to lowest impact. 3. Mark each task as one of three levels: “Must do this weekend,” “Nice to do,” or “Can be postponed.” 4. Estimate how many minutes each task should take for an average person. 5. Keep the total time within the hours I said I have, and leave at least 10% of that time unassigned for breaks or unexpected tasks. 6. At the end, suggest a simple 15-minute daily maintenance routine I can follow for the next 2 weeks to keep the progress.

Before you give the checklist, briefly restate what you understand about my situation and priorities in 3 - 4 sentences.

Why this prompt works:

You’re not asking for “a spring cleaning checklist” in the abstract - you’re giving AI constraints the way a good professional organizer would ask you questions first. You specify your time, energy, house layout, and priorities, and you tell it exactly how to structure the answer: by room, impact order, time estimates, and “Must / Nice / Can be postponed” labels. That pushes the AI to design a *plan*, not just a list.

AI will often underestimate how long things take in real life, especially if you get distracted or sentimental while decluttering. If it says “10 minutes” to clear a closet you haven’t touched in years, double it. Also, it doesn’t know your physical limits - if you have back or joint issues, adjust tasks that require a lot of bending or lifting, or ask it to add “seated” or “low-impact” alternatives.

Use Case 2 of 2

Use Case 2: Giving feedback to a team member

Monday afternoon, 3:30 p.m. James, 49, is a regional manager at a mid-sized company. He’s been with the firm for over a decade, seen three rounds of reorganizations, and now leads a team of six. One of his team members, Priya, has started missing deadlines and turning in work that’s… fine, but clearly rushed. He suspects she’s overwhelmed but isn’t sure how to address it without sounding accusatory.

In the past, James would stew on it, rewrite parts of her reports himself, and hope she “gets the hint” from his edits. Now his own workload is up, and he can’t quietly compensate for everyone else’s gaps. He knows he needs to give clear, constructive feedback: name the problem, explain the impact, and work with her on a plan.

His fear is familiar: if he’s too soft, nothing changes; if he’s too blunt, he damages the relationship. He’s heard AI can help draft feedback and even suggest phrasing, but he doesn’t want something robotic or manipulative. He wants to sound like *him*, just a more thoughtful and precise version.

Here is the exact prompt to use:

Copy and paste this into ChatGPT or Claude:

You are helping me draft constructive, respectful feedback for a team member.

Context: - I am a [role, e.g., “regional manager”] in a [industry] company. - The team member is [first name only, or “my direct report”], and I want to maintain a supportive, professional relationship. - Their strengths: [list 3 - 4 things they do well or times they’ve been reliable]. - The specific issue I need to address: [describe what’s happening: missed deadlines, quality problems, communication issues, etc.]. - Concrete examples from the last 4 - 6 weeks: [brief bullet points with dates or projects]. - Impact on the team or business: [what happens when this goes wrong - extra work, lost trust, mistakes, etc.]. - What I *want* to see going forward: [describe the behaviors or outcomes you need instead].

Your task: 1. Draft a short feedback script (300 - 500 words) I can use in a 1:1 conversation. It should sound like a calm, experienced manager in their 40s - 50s talking to an adult peer, not like corporate jargon. 2. Structure it roughly like this: - Start with appreciation for their strengths and contributions. - Clearly describe the specific issue and recent examples, focusing on behaviors and outcomes, not their character. - Explain the impact on the team/business in practical terms. - Invite their perspective (ask what they’re seeing or struggling with). - Collaboratively suggest 2 - 3 concrete changes or supports we can try over the next month, and agree on how we’ll follow up. 3. Offer 3 - 4 alternative phrases for the most sensitive parts (for example, instead of “You’re dropping the ball,” suggest gentler but honest wording). 4. At the end, give me a 5-point checklist of what to *say* and what to *avoid* saying in the conversation.

Before you draft the script, restate my situation and what tone you think I’m aiming for.

Why this prompt works:

You’re not just asking AI to “write feedback” - you’re feeding it the raw material a good manager would use: concrete examples, impact, and desired future behavior. You also tell it what *tone* you want (adult-to-adult, low on jargon) and give it a clear structure for the conversation. Asking for alternate phrases is key; it turns AI into a kind of phrasing coach so you can choose language that sounds like you.

AI can drift into generic corporate-speak if you don’t rein it in. If the script it gives you sounds like a handbook instead of a human, ask it to “rewrite this in more natural, conversational language for someone in their 40s - 50s, cut the buzzwords, keep it direct and kind.” And remember: AI doesn’t know your team member’s emotional state - if you suspect they’re dealing with health, family, or mental health issues, treat the AI draft as a first pass and use your judgment about how hard to push.