Practical examples of AI taking work off your plate, written for someone who has never used it. Copy a prompt, fill in the parts in square brackets, and paste it into any AI assistant, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Microsoft Copilot. Every prompt follows the same six-part structure, so once you have used a couple you can write your own.
Never paste client names, case details, health or financial information into a free AI tool. Free versions can keep what you type. Use a business version covered by a data agreement, or remove anything that identifies a person first.
AI writes fluently and is sometimes wrong. Treat what it gives you as a first draft from a quick but inexperienced assistant: useful, and always checked before it goes anywhere. The DONE WHEN line in each prompt tells you what to check.
ROLE: You are an experienced office manager who writes clear, friendly emails. CONTEXT: I run [type of business]. I need to email [who it is for] about [topic]. Here are my rough notes: [paste your notes] TASK: Turn my notes into an email I can send. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste an email you have written before that sounds like you, so it matches your tone.] FORMAT: A subject line, then the email. Under 150 words, plain English, short paragraphs. DONE WHEN: Every point in my notes is covered, nothing is added that I did not say, and it ends with one clear next step for the reader.
WHAT YOU GET A ready-to-edit email in seconds, instead of ten minutes staring at a blank screen.
ROLE: You are a sharp executive assistant. CONTEXT: This is an email thread about [topic] between [who is involved]. Personal details have been removed. [paste the thread] TASK: Tell me where things stand and what has been agreed. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste a summary you found useful before.] FORMAT: Five bullet points on where things stand, then a table of actions with columns for the action, the owner and the deadline. DONE WHEN: Every agreed action is in the table, and anything unclear or undecided is flagged rather than guessed.
WHAT YOU GET Where things stand at a glance, and a to-do list nobody forgot to write.
ROLE: You are a [solicitor / accountant / consultant] known for explaining things simply. CONTEXT: A new client has just instructed us on [type of matter or service]. They have never been through this before and are a little anxious. TASK: Write a short explanation of what happens next. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste a client letter or email of yours whose tone you like.] FORMAT: The main stages as a numbered list, one or two sentences each, then what we will need from them. Under 300 words, no jargon. DONE WHEN: Someone with no background could read it once and know what happens next and what they need to do. Any timing you have estimated is marked [check] so I can confirm it.
WHAT YOU GET A client-ready explainer you reuse on every new matter, with the guesses marked for you to check.
ROLE: You are the practice manager at a well-run [type of firm]. CONTEXT: We take on about [number] new clients a month, and our onboarding lives in people's heads. We are regulated by [regulator, for example the SRA]. TASK: Create our new-client onboarding checklist. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste any existing checklist or notes, even rough ones.] FORMAT: A checklist grouped by stage: before we accept, the first week, and internal set-up. One line per step, with who usually does it. DONE WHEN: It covers identity and conflict checks, the engagement letter, what to request from the client and our internal set-up, and it marks every step that depends on our regulator's rules so I can check it.
WHAT YOU GET A first draft of the checklist most firms keep in someone's head.
ROLE: You are an experienced letting agent who writes honest, appealing listings. CONTEXT: This property is for [letting / sale]. Facts: [bedrooms, property type, area, key features, rent or price, availability]. TASK: Write the listing. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste a listing of yours that performed well.] FORMAT: A one-line headline, then under 120 words of description. No clichés like "must be seen". DONE WHEN: Every fact above is included, it leads with what makes the property stand out, and it adds no feature I have not listed.
WHAT YOU GET A listing that does not invent a garden the flat does not have.
ROLE: You are a calm, helpful property manager. CONTEXT: A tenant at [address or area] has reported this: [describe the issue]. We normally respond within [timeframe]. TASK: Write our reply to the tenant. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste a reply you have sent before that went down well.] FORMAT: A short, reassuring message that works as an email or a text. Under 100 words. DONE WHEN: It acknowledges the problem, says what happens next and when, and asks for any photos or access details we need. If the issue sounds like an emergency, such as a smell of gas, flooding or no heating in winter, it tells them to call [emergency number] straight away.
WHAT YOU GET A reply that goes out in minutes, with emergencies sent to the phone rather than left in an inbox.
ROLE: You are an operations consultant who helps small businesses find wasted time. CONTEXT: I run a [type of business] with [number] staff. A typical week looks like this: [describe what you and your team do] TASK: Find the tasks that are repetitive, rule-based, or involve copying information from one system to another. EXAMPLE: [Optional: list two or three tasks you already suspect are a waste of time.] FORMAT: A table with columns for the task, estimated hours per week, and whether it could be automated, biggest time drains first. DONE WHEN: Every task I described has been considered, the hours are clearly marked as estimates, and the top three are the ones worth looking at first.
WHAT YOU GET A rough map of where your time goes. It is the same question we answer properly, with your real numbers, in an audit.
ROLE: You are a customer service lead who writes clear, friendly website copy. CONTEXT: These are questions our customers have asked recently: [paste the questions] TASK: Turn them into an FAQ for our website. EXAMPLE: [Optional: paste one answer you have given a customer that you were happy with.] FORMAT: Similar questions grouped together, each group with a short, plain-English answer of two or three sentences. DONE WHEN: Every question is covered by a group, and any answer where you had to guess a detail is marked [check] so I can confirm it.
WHAT YOU GET A draft FAQ built from what people actually ask, with the guesses marked for you to check.
Every prompt here still needs someone to type it. The bigger wins come when the repetitive work runs on its own, set off by the enquiry, the booking or the invoice, with nobody having to remember. That is what we build.
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