How to Turn ChatGPT into Your 24/7 Personal Intern

In the fast-paced world of running a business, time is the most precious commodity. Since buying back my business from PE, I'm constantly seeking ways to optimize my productivity, streamline workflows, and achieve more with less.

But what if I told you that you have access to a tireless, always-available personal intern, ready to tackle your tasks at any hour of the day?

Enter ChatGPT (or Claude): the AI-powered tool that's revolutionizing the way we work.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. "I've heard about ChatGPT, but I have no idea how to use it effectively." Or perhaps, "I've tried using it, but I struggle to get the results I need."

Trust me, I've been there. But through trial and error, I've figured out a bunch of useful ways to use the tool as my personal 24/7 intern.

In this article, I'll be sharing my personal examples and prompts that have helped me leverage ChatGPT for a wide range of tasks since buying my company back. From content creation, brainstorming and summarizing to research and hiring. By the end, you'll have a clear framework for adapting these strategies to your own business, so you can start reaping the benefits of having your own AI-powered intern.

World's smartest intern

Enter ChatGPT: the AI-powered tool that's revolutionizing the way we work. It's like having a tireless, always-available personal intern, ready to handle your low-leverage tasks at any hour of the day.

But here's the thing – you shouldn't try to delegate high leverage strategy and expect it to go well. Just like you wouldn't expect your intern to make critical business decisions, you shouldn't rely on AI to do your high-leverage work for you.

Instead, the key is to use ChatGPT for the mundane, energy-draining tasks that take up valuable brain space and time. By offloading these low-leverage activities, you free up your mental resources to focus on the more important things.

So, what kind of tasks can you delegate to your AI intern? Here are a few examples:

1. Research and data gathering
2. Drafting emails and responses
3. Creating SOPs and documentation
4. Brainstorming ideas and outlines
5. Proofreading and editing

By leveraging ChatGPT for these types of tasks, you can save hours of time and mental energy each week. And the best part? You can access this powerful tool for just $20 per month with a premium account.

Of course, getting the most out of ChatGPT requires effective prompting.

How to write a great AI prompt

Firstly the most important part of working with AI is getting good at prompting. Like most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you give it a short generic prompt, expect a generic not very useful answer.

Here's a framework for structuring your prompts

1. Give the AI a clear role (marketer, copywriter, recruiter etc)
2. Give it a goal / outcome
3. Provide enough context and detail to give it what it needs
4. Give examples where necessary of formatting, templates etc
5. Output; what are you looking for out of it, give it a format.

Here's an example:

ROLE: You are a world-class marketing strategist with expertise in creating compelling hooks for new product launches.

GOAL: Generate a list of 10 powerful marketing hooks for [PRODUCT] that will grab attention, highlight key benefits, and entice potential customers to learn more.

CONTEXT: Our new product is a [give a 3-4 line summary of your product and the benefits it offers customers.]

TARGET AUDIENCE: Busy professionals, entrepreneurs, and students aged 25-45 who value productivity, efficiency, and work-life balance.

OUTPUT: Please provide a numbered list of 10 marketing hooks, each no more than 2-3 sentences long. The hooks should be concise, memorable, and focused on the key benefits and unique selling points of [product]. Feel free to use a mix of rational and emotional appeals to engage potential customers.

Please generate the marketing hooks and provide any additional suggestions or insights you may have to make this brainstorming exercise effective.

Real-World Examples and Prompts

Here's a few of my own personal prompts I've been using over the last few months to hire for the new BestSelf team, break down big projects, email responses and more.

1. Writing job descriptions

AI Prompt:

You are a world-class recruiter with direct knowledge of every possible role and title. Your goal is to generate a comprehensive job description. This prompt will consist of two parts. 

Today's task you will be in charge of hiring the role of [ROLE] for [COMPANY]. This new role will be responsible for [SUMMARY OF WHAT YOU NEED].

The job description should be concise, direct writing style, using simple language and descriptive action verbs in the present tense. It will avoid abbreviations, acronyms, ambiguous terms and gender-specific language. It will focus on essential activities and reflect only the current duties associated with the role. It will also be comprehensive and thoroughly account for the most likely and common job description content based on what’s known about the job title and company.

Please ask me the following questions and then use this in the job posting.

What is the title of the job you’re describing? 
What is the name of the company hiring for this position? 
Is the job full-time, part-time, or another arrangement? 
What is the job location? Is it remote, in-office, or a hybrid model? 
What is the compensation range for this job? 
What is this job’s primary purpose or objective?

Please use formatting in your output and ask me for any other details you might need to make this job description great.

2. Writing skill assessments

During the hiring process you often want to check someone's skills before hiring them so you know they are the right fit for the job. If you get the job description dialed in with the above prompt, you can use this job description to have AI create a skill assessment.

Prompt:

You are a recruiter focused on test applicant skills for specific roles to ensure they are the right fit for the job. You are hiring for [POSITION]. Please see attached job description for a detail outline on the primary purpose and requirements for this role.

Please create a skills assessment that we can use to test the applicant based on this. The assessment should be actionable and based on something within the company. For example for a marketing hire this could be reviewing our website and giving actionable changes as to what changes they would make. If it was a content creator it would be outline a possible content strategy based on what they see on our social media. Please create a test for me to send to her that will take her no more than 2 hours to complete and explain the reasoning behind each part.

3. SEO-based blog titles & descriptions

This alone is so helpful. Do you know how much writing I've done that has never seen the light of day because I get stuck at the final hurdle? I don't often use the exact output but it'll help me get there with just a few tweaks.

Prompt:

Act as a world-class copywriter who specializes in writing attention-grabbing articles titles and descriptions. Your goal is to come up with 10-15 clickworthy titles and meta description that intrigues, engages and makes people want to open. This should be based on the blog post attached. You should pay attention to SEO rules so that search engines will like it. Be concise, bold but not do create anything that would be considered clickbait.

4. Creating SOP's

I did a whole post on that here on how to create SOPs 100x faster. Here's the prompt:

Create a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) based on the provided Loom video transcription, which covers the process of [DESCRIPTION] and is to be completed on a [FREQUENCY] basis.

The SOP should be designed to enable any individual, regardless of their prior experience, to quickly understand and execute the task, ensuring a smooth transition in case of staff changes, such as the departure of the operations manager.

Break down the process into clear, sequential steps, guiding the user through the entire procedure. Include information on where to pull data from and how to format the reports correctly. Emphasize that these inventory reports are to be generated and submitted on a monthly basis. Organize the SOP into distinct sections to enhance readability and understanding.

Incorporate screenshots and links wherever necessary to provide visual guidance and references to relevant resources. Aim to be as comprehensive as possible while maintaining clarity and conciseness throughout the document. Please end the detailed SOP with a checklist of all the action items to be done to consider the process complete to our standards.

After creating the SOP, include a recommendation section at the end, identifying parts of the process that could potentially be automated to streamline the workflow and increase efficiency.

5. ADHD hack for project management

Take your project or to-do list that you've been procrastinating on or struggling with. Ask ChatGPT to break it down into manageable steps and milestones. I did this with a recent SEO audit I had done. This was the prompt I used:

Prompt:

ROLE: You are a highly skilled ADHD coach and project manager with extensive experience in breaking down complex projects into manageable steps and providing personalized support to help individuals with ADHD stay focused and productive.

GOAL: Create a step-by-step action plan based on the provided SEO audit PDF, breaking the project into clear, manageable tasks and milestones. Provide daily to-do lists and support to help the individual stay on track and maintain focus throughout the project.

CONTEXT: The attached PDF contains a comprehensive SEO audit for our website. The audit identifies various areas for improvement, including technical SEO issues, content optimization opportunities, and backlink strategies. As someone with ADHD, I often struggle with breaking down large projects into smaller, actionable steps and maintaining focus over extended periods. I need your help to create a structured plan that will allow me to tackle this SEO project effectively and efficiently.

INPUT: [Attach the SEO audit PDF here]

OUTPUT: Please review the attached SEO audit PDF and create a list of the main areas for improvement identified in the report.

Break down each main area into specific, actionable tasks that can be completed within a short timeframe (e.g., 30 minutes to 2 hours). Prioritize these tasks based on their potential impact and the ease of implementation.

Organize the tasks into a step-by-step action plan, grouping related tasks together and creating clear milestones to help track progress. Provide an estimated timeline for completing each milestone based on the individual tasks involved.

Generate a daily to-do list template that includes 3-5 tasks from the action plan, ensuring that each day's tasks are focused, achievable, and aligned with the project's overall goals. Include space for noting any potential obstacles or distractions and strategies for overcoming them.

Offer suggestions for maintaining motivation and focus throughout the project, such as setting small rewards for completing tasks, using time-blocking techniques, or incorporating short breaks to recharge.

Provide any additional insights or recommendations for successfully managing this SEO project as an individual with ADHD, considering the specific challenges and strengths associated with the condition.

Please generate the requested output and offer any further guidance or support you believe would be helpful in this context.

From there it can give you your daily list of to-do's for each thing.

Random life intern tasks

Writing Editing & Feedback

When writing a blog post or newsletter I will run it through ChatGPT or Claude to get some feedback on how to make it better. It'll help me figure out any missing gaps, structure or small tweaks to make more helpful.

There's great custom GPT's for this, here's one you can try.

Email feedback friend

You know the friend we all have that will review sensitive emails and give us feedback? That's what AI has become for me. I'll share emails that require some sensitivity on how to respond, then I'll share my intention and the message I'd like to get across and the tone in which to deliver it.

From there I get a thoughtful response that I can tweak slightly.

Dealing with dumb bureaucratic mail

When you're a business owner you often have to deal with a bunch of government BS. If you live in New York and California this is especially true. Despite living in Austin for over 5 years, I will still get letters from NYS Labor department asking for money. Stage 5 clingers

I'll upload the PDF of the letter into claude (more secure). 🙃

"Please write a letter that can be mailed or faxed in response to this. Letter should be concise and should say [2-3 lines o n the situation and any information needed to mention in the letter]

(We'll see if this letter finally works on them.)

Another thing I used it for? Contesting my property tax:

As we dive into what AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude.ai can do, it’s clear that their impact goes beyond just making our daily tasks easier. These tools are changing the way we work, allowing us to rethink our days and focus on what truly matters.

With an AI intern by your side, you're not just ticking off tasks; you're reshaping your workflow and boosting productivity in ways that were once just a dream.

Every task you hand over to AI clears your mind for bigger ideas, sharpens your edge in the market, and brings new insights that can take your business to the next level. Or even just free up your mind to do more of what you love like spending time with your kids.

So, here’s my call to you: Start small, think big. Use AI to take on the routine stuff and see how much more you can achieve.