On Tuesday morning at 8:15, Linda stared at the spare bedroom she had been calling a home office for six years. There were three filing boxes on the floor, two unused printers on the desk, and a tangle of charging cables that seemed to reproduce overnight. Across town, Marcus had spent the previous evening rewriting an email asking for a raise - and still had not sent it. These are different problems, but they have something in common: both require turning a vague discomfort into a clear, practical next step. AI can help with that if you give it enough real information to work with.

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

Use Case 1 of 2

Use Case 1: Organizing a Home Office Overhaul

At 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, Elaine, 58, opened the door to her home office and immediately wanted to close it again. The room had become a holding area for tax papers, old technology, craft supplies, unopened mail, and things she had promised herself she would “deal with later.” She worked from home three days a week, but her desk was so crowded that she balanced her laptop on a stack of magazines. She did not need a beautiful showroom. She needed to find important papers, concentrate during video calls, and stop wasting twenty minutes before work looking for a pen, a charger, or the notebook she had been using.

The problem was not a lack of motivation. It was that “organize the office” was too large and shapeless a project to begin. A good AI prompt can turn it into a sequence of decisions, while leaving the final choices to her.

Here is the exact prompt to use:

Copy and paste this into ChatGPT or Claude:

> I need help planning a practical home-office overhaul. Please act as a calm, realistic organizing coach - not a minimalist influencer. > > My situation: > - The room is approximately 10 feet by 12 feet. > - I work from home three days a week and use a laptop for email, video meetings, documents, and spreadsheets. > - The room currently contains a desk, one bookcase, a filing cabinet, three storage boxes, old computer equipment, paper files, office supplies, and miscellaneous household items. > - I want to keep: current tax and financial records, work-related papers, essential office supplies, family photographs, and equipment that still works. > - I probably need to discard, recycle, donate, or relocate: duplicate supplies, outdated papers, broken equipment, and items that do not belong in the office. > - My goals are to create a clear desk, make important documents easy to find, improve video-call appearance, and finish the project over two weekends. > - I do not want to buy expensive storage furniture unless it is genuinely necessary. > - I have about 90 minutes available on weekdays and three hours available on each weekend day. > > Create: > 1. A two-weekend plan divided into sessions of no more than 90 minutes. > 2. A decision process for sorting items into keep, recycle, shred, donate, relocate, and undecided. > 3. A simple paper-filing system using no more than six categories. > 4. A list of questions I should answer before buying anything. > 5. A recommended desk layout for laptop work and video calls. > 6. A short “stop for today” checklist so I do not create a bigger mess than I can finish. > > Be specific, practical, and economical. If any information is missing, ask me no more than five questions before making recommendations. Do not tell me to organize the entire room in one day.

Why this prompt works: It gives the AI a real description of the room, the person’s work, available time, priorities, and limits. That matters because “organize my office” invites generic advice. The prompt also asks for a sequence of sessions rather than a fantasy weekend transformation. The categories, time limits, and spending constraint force useful trade-offs. Most importantly, it tells the AI what success means: a usable desk, findable papers, and a manageable process - not perfection.

Use Case 2 of 2

Use Case 2: Asking for a Raise via Email

At 7:05 a.m. on Thursday, October 15, David, 52, sat in his parked car outside the office with his thumb hovering over “Send.” He had been with the company for four years. During the previous year, he had taken over a troubled client account, trained a new colleague, and redesigned a reporting process that saved his team several hours every week. His manager had recently praised his work, but David had never asked directly for a salary review. The email on his phone began, “I hope this message finds you well. I was wondering if perhaps we could discuss…” It sounded apologetic, and he knew it.

David’s real task was not to persuade an AI to demand more money. It was to present his contribution clearly and request a conversation. A strong raise email is usually brief, professional, and supported by specific results rather than personal expenses or frustration.

Here is the exact prompt to use:

Copy and paste this into ChatGPT or Claude:

> Help me draft a professional email asking my manager for a meeting to discuss my compensation. Do not make the email aggressive, apologetic, emotional, or overly long. > > Here are my details: > - My name is David. > - My job title is Senior Account Coordinator. > - I have worked at the company for four years. > - Over the past year, I took over a difficult client account and helped retain the client. > - I trained one new employee and created a written onboarding guide. > - I redesigned a weekly reporting process that saves the team approximately four hours per week. > - My manager has recently praised my reliability and client communication. > - My last salary review was 18 months ago. > - I would like to discuss an adjustment that reflects my responsibilities and contributions. > - I do not want to mention coworkers’ salaries or my personal bills. > - I am not certain whether to name a specific salary figure in the first email. > > Write: > 1. A concise email of 150 words or fewer. > 2. Three subject-line options. > 3. A version that asks only for a meeting. > 4. A version that briefly mentions that I have researched the market without making an unsupported claim. > 5. A short list of the facts or numbers I should prepare before the meeting. > > Use a confident, respectful tone. Make the request clear by the end of the email. Do not invent results, percentages, market data, or praise that I did not provide. Mark any sentence that requires verification with [CHECK].

Why this prompt works: It supplies concrete contributions, timing, tone, length, and boundaries. It also tells the AI not to invent evidence - a crucial instruction when writing about compensation. Asking for two versions is useful because some workplaces expect the first email to request a conversation, while others are comfortable with a preliminary figure. The [CHECK] markers help separate David’s facts from polished language that still needs verification. Quantified results and a clear request for a follow-up conversation make the case easier for a manager to evaluate.

Know someone who spends too long on things AI could do in two minutes? Forward this to three people who subscribe and I will send you my free AI Prompt Starter Pack: 20 ready-to-use prompts for everyday life.

By Dr. Rowan Hayes