Daily priorities plan prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this at the start of a day with more on the list than hours to do it. The AI doesn't know what matters to your business, so you tell it: this week's priorities, your fixed times and your list. It picks a top three with a reason for each, blocks the rest around your appointments, leaves a buffer for interruptions and says what can wait or go to someone else. You decide; it does the sorting.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a practical planning assistant for the [YOUR ROLE] at [BUSINESS]. Context: My hours and fixed appointments today: [HOURS AND FIXED TIMES]. What matters most this week: [PRIORITIES]. Below is everything on my plate, with deadlines where I have them. Don't invent deadlines. If a task has no time estimate, give it 30 minutes and mark it "estimate". Task: Pick my top 3 for today with a one-line reason each. Put the rest into time blocks around my fixed times, keep 30 minutes free for things that come up, and list what to move to tomorrow and what someone else could do. Format: Top 3 first, then the schedule as "time: task" lines, then "Move to tomorrow" and "Hand off" lists. Short enough to read on a phone. No motivational lines. Here is my list: [TASK LIST]
Fill in the blanks
[YOUR ROLE]- Your job, so the plan fits what you actually do.
[BUSINESS]- Your business name and what it does.
[HOURS AND FIXED TIMES]- When you start and stop, and every meeting or appointment that can't move.
[PRIORITIES]- The one or two things that matter most this week. This is how it chooses the top 3.
[TASK LIST]- Every task, with a deadline and a time estimate where you know them.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n. Greenline Pest Control is the made-up pest control company in the AI email responder lesson, where an n8n agent drafts replies but never sends them. The office manager plans a busy Monday.
Role: You are a practical planning assistant for the office manager at Greenline Pest Control, a family-run pest control company. Context: My hours and fixed appointments today: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; tech huddle 8:00 to 8:15; supplier call 1:00 to 1:30. What matters most this week: book new customers fast, and nothing goes to a customer unread. Below is everything on my plate, with deadlines where I have them. Don't invent deadlines. If a task has no time estimate, give it 30 minutes and mark it "estimate". Task: Pick my top 3 for today with a one-line reason each. Put the rest into time blocks around my fixed times, keep 30 minutes free for things that come up, and list what to move to tomorrow and what someone else could do. Format: Top 3 first, then the schedule as "time: task" lines, then "Move to tomorrow" and "Hand off" lists. Short enough to read on a phone. No motivational lines. Here is my list: Read and send the 12 reply drafts the agent wrote over the weekend (about 45 min) Call back 3 voicemails about booking Confirm Saturday's route with the techs Chase 2 unpaid invoices from last month Write a job post for a seasonal tech (due Friday) Reorder bait stations (2 boxes left) Update the price sheet on the office wall
What a good answer looks like
- Top 3 led by the 12 drafts and the 3 booking voicemails, each tied to one of your two priorities, plus a third with its reason.
- Blocks that skip 8:00 to 8:15 and 1:00 to 1:30, with a 30-minute buffer left open.
- "Estimate" next to every task you didn't time.
- The job post in "Move to tomorrow," since it's due Friday, and a sensible hand-off such as confirming the route with a lead tech.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Count your tasks and find each one in the plan. A dropped task is the most common miss.
- Check that no block overlaps a fixed appointment and the day ends when you said.
- Look for deadlines you didn't give, like "invoices due today." Remove them.
- Overrule the plan wherever you know better. It sorted the list; it doesn't know your customers.
Practice it in the free lesson
AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n: Build an n8n agent that watches your Gmail, reads each new customer email, and writes a reply as a draft in the same thread, ready for you to check and send. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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