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Five small jobs
Your first week using AI at work, one small job a day
Pick five small jobs you already do, give one to a chat tool each day, and check every answer yourself. No setup, no big project.
What you'll be able to do
By Friday you will have used an AI chat tool for five real jobs from your own week. You'll know which ones it helped with, and you'll keep the one or two worth repeating. No setup, no big project, and nothing goes out without you reading it first.
Before Monday: pick a tool and two rules
Pick one chat tool. The free versions of ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini are enough to start. If you can't decide, this comparison by the job on your desk helps. Then keep two rules all week:
- Only paste what you'd be fine showing a stranger. No card numbers, passwords, or customer health details. If your workplace has rules about AI tools, those come first. More on this in whether customer data is safe with AI tools.
- You still own the result. Read everything before you send it or act on it.
You can't break it. If a chat goes sideways, start a new one.
Floor vote
Which job would you hand to AI first?
One vote per device. Change it any time.
Loading votes…
Monday: the email you've been putting off
Everyone has one. Paste the facts in a few bullets and ask:
Write a short, polite email from me to [who] about [what].
Facts: [bullets]. Under 120 words. Don't add anything
I didn't mention.
Read it out loud. Change anything you wouldn't say.
Tuesday: messy notes into a to-do list
Paste your scribbled notes from a call or meeting and ask: "Turn this into a to-do list. One line per task, with who does it, if my notes say. Put anything unclear at the bottom as a question."
Wednesday: explain something confusing
A letter from the bank, a term in a contract, a vendor's invoice. Ask: "Explain this like I'm new to the job. Then tell me what question I should ask the person who sent it." You're not taking its word as final. You're getting ready to ask better questions.
One job a day
- MONAn emailYou've been putting off
- TUENotesInto a to-do list
- WEDExplainSomething confusing
- THUPlanA crowded day
- FRIKeep or dropTwo yeses to keep
Thursday: plan a crowded day
List what has to happen tomorrow and how long each thing usually takes. Ask: "Put this in an order that makes sense. Flag anything that won't fit." You decide the final order. It just gives you a starting draft.
Friday: keep or drop
Look back at the four jobs and answer two questions for each:
- Did it save me time, after fixing its mistakes?
- Would I do it this way again next week?
Keep the ones with two yeses. Drop the rest without guilt. One job that works every week is worth more than five you tried once. If you want to bring the rest of your team along later, see how to get staff using AI tools.
If something goes wrong
It will get something wrong this week. That's normal. Chat tools sometimes state things that aren't true, so check names, dates, and numbers before they leave your desk. Here's a five-minute way to fact-check an AI answer.
Field check
Field check
Three questions. Honest answers. No score sent anywhere but this page.
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Have you picked one chat tool for the week?
Short close
One small real job a day, nothing private in the chat, read everything before it goes out, and keep only what saved you time.
Keep these
The working rules
Start small with real jobs. Then: One job a day; Paste only what you'd show a stranger; Check every answer; Keep what saved time.