Why this matters
Some office jobs are not one question but an hour of clicking: check three suppliers’ prices, copy each number into a spreadsheet, work out which is cheapest. By the time the sheet is finished it is already out of date, so it only gets done once a season.
ChatGPT’s Work mode does the clicking for you. You hand it the whole job, it opens the websites in a browser in the cloud, builds the file and tells you what it found. It also does exactly what you wrote, not what you meant, so the job has to be written like a work order and supervised like a new hire.
In this module you hand ChatGPT a real comparison job, steer it while it works, check its steps and its numbers, and turn it into a weekly report nobody has to remember.
What you’ll build
A supplier comparison for Hollow Oak Landscaping, a made-up small company: a workbook called Hollow Oak Supplier Comparison with a Comparison tab (price per cubic yard, delivery fee and a source link for every number, from three made-up supplier sites) and a Summary tab that prices the usual order and recommends one supplier. Valley Stone & Mulch comes out cheapest at $733.
On the way you approve each site, skip a trade login it does not need, tell it how to convert a bag price, open "Worked for…" to see every step, add a delivery-minimum column, and schedule the same check for every Monday at 7 AM.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practiceChatGPT, the cloud browser and the three supplier sites are practice copies, and nothing runs.
- ChatGPT with Work, to do it for realOn the web, Work needs a Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan. The desktop app has it on every plan, including Free. Look for the Chat and Work switch at the top of a new chat.
- A job you would do by clicking through public websitesPrices from a few suppliers, the opening hours of five venues, the fees on three software plans. The download has the lesson’s work order and a fill-in version.
- The links for each sourceThe public web address of each page it should check. Listing them keeps it from wandering.
Concepts
4 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Chat answers. Work finishes a job.
In Chat you ask a question and get an answer. In Work you hand over a whole task, and ChatGPT does the steps itself, including opening websites in a browser in the cloud and building a file.
You stop doing the clicking and start supervising.
Write it like a work order
The sources to use, what to collect, what the file should look like, and the limits: public pages only, flag what is missing, never contact, order from or sign up with anyone.
The limits are what keep an agent from doing too much. Write them every time.
Approve, skip logins, steer
Work asks before it opens each site. Approve the ones you listed, skip any login it does not need, and send a follow-up when you want it to change course. Answer its questions plainly.
Never type a password into the chat. Website text can try to trick an AI, so keep Work on public pages and stop it if it goes somewhere it should not.
Check, then make it repeat
Open "Worked for…" to see each step, then open the file and spot-check a few numbers against their source links. An agent can misread a page, and you are the one ordering from the file.
Then say "every Monday" and the job runs on a schedule. Scheduled tasks sit under Scheduled in the sidebar, where you can pause or edit them.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- Work order, follow-ups and checks (.txt)The lesson’s work order, a fill-in version, the four follow-ups, the Summary tab’s totals and a six-point supervision list.
- Supplier comparison (.csv)The Comparison tab ChatGPT builds in the lesson, with the delivery minimum column. Open it in Google Sheets with File, Import, Upload, or in Excel.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. What makes a good work order for ChatGPT Work?
- "Find me cheap mulch"
- The sources, what to collect, the file layout and the limits
- Your login details for each site
Show the answer
The sources, what to collect, the file layout and the limits. An agent does what you wrote. The limits keep it from contacting or ordering from anyone.
2. A supplier site asks Work to sign in. What do you do?
- Type your password into the chat
- Skip it and use the public prices
- Let it make a new account
Show the answer
Skip it and use the public prices. Never type a password into the chat. Public prices are enough for a comparison.
3. The workbook is done. What before you order from it?
- Nothing, it checked itself
- Open "Worked for…" and spot-check a few numbers against their sources
- Ask it to make the file longer
Show the answer
Open "Worked for…" and spot-check a few numbers against their sources. An agent can misread a page. A quick spot-check is yours to do.
You reached the end of ChatGPT for Everyday Work
That completes ChatGPT for Everyday Work: emails, meetings, quotes, spreadsheets, SOPs, reports, images, Projects and whole jobs handed to Work. Next, try Claude Jump Start for a careful second assistant, or Better Prompts to sharpen the requests behind every module.
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