Who needs a paid personal assistant when you can use ChatGPT? Armed with natural language understanding and vast information, ChatGPT can help you accomplish your tasks on time.
Hiring executive assistants was once the privilege of CEOs. Today, artificial intelligence can be anyone's EA (Executive Assistant). If you need help with administrative tasks, here’s how to use ChatGPT as your personal assistant.
1. Ask ChatGPT to Manage Your To-Do List
ChatGPT can organize your to-do list and remind you of important deadlines. There are many ways to use ChatGPT for time management. Asking the AI to prioritize your tasks can save you much time.
If it’s your first interaction with ChatGPT, start by explaining that you’ll use ChatGPT as a personal assistant for task management. In this example, we used the following prompt: “Hello ChatGPT! I’ll be using you as my personal assistant to manage my tasks. Let’s get started!”
Tip: You can give ChatGPT a unique name as your personal assistant to make the exchange more personal. Prompt: "Hello ChatGPT! I'd like to give you a new name, and I want you to act as my personal assistant. From now on, please refer to yourself as [insert desired name]."
We asked ChatGPT if it was familiar with the ABCDE method, an example of a task management method for productivity. Since AI is prone to hallucinations, we had to check if it could accomplish the task correctly.
Once we were satisfied with the answer, we gave ChatGPT our task list and asked it to organize this list using the ABCDE method. Remember to specify the importance or urgency of each task to help ChatGPT understand the order in which they should be completed.
ChatGPT quickly listed our tasks in order of importance and urgency. It also gave us short explanations of its thought process, showing why it arranged the list in that particular order.
After asking ChatGPT to help you prioritize tasks, try using these follow-up prompts:
- Add a task to your task list: “ChatGPT, please add ‘Prepare presentation for the marketing meeting’ to my to-do list for tomorrow.”
- Ask ChatGPT for further guidance: “How can you help me with each task?”
- Retrieve task list: “ChatGPT, can you give me an overview of my current tasks?”
- Mark tasks as completed: “ChatGPT, please mark the presentation task as completed.”
- Edit tasks: “ChatGPT, can you update the deadline for the report to the day after tomorrow?”
Tip: Avoid giving long-winded and complicated instructions to get the best results. Keep each request as simple and as straightforward as possible.
2. Ask ChatGPT for Writing Assistance
ChatGPT is not just a task manager; it’s also a versatile writing assistant. Whether you need help crafting a compelling email, polishing a report, or generating creative content, ChatGPT can lend a virtual hand.
Provide the context and guidelines, and ChatGPT can offer suggestions, revise drafts, or even generate content. It’s like having a skilled editor by your side, available 24/7.
In this prompt, we asked ChatGPT for resume writing assistance in creating a one-page resume. We used the prompt: “Can you help me create a resume summary? Let me know what details you need.”
We added “Let me know what details you need” in our prompt to help ChatGPT come up with the best answer. ChatGPT gives results based on what it knows. If you want the outcome to be more specific, provide it with solid information.
ChatGPT’s answer was too long for a resume, so we asked it to summarize its response in two to three sentences. Later on, we realized that it was still too long for our taste, so we chose one sentence from ChatGPT’s response.
Tip: You don't need to accept all of ChatGPT’s responses. You can choose and edit. ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but you’re still the final decision-maker.
Other prompts you can use for writing assistance:
- “ChatGPT, can you review this email draft and suggest any improvements?”
- “Please revise the following paragraph to make it more concise and engaging: [insert text].”
- “Generate a creative tagline for our upcoming marketing campaign centered around [product/service].”
- “Give [number] synonyms for [word]."
3. Ask ChatGPT to Help With Email-Related Tasks
Dealing with overflowing email inboxes can be overwhelming, especially for remote workers. ChatGPT can come to the rescue by assisting with various email-related tasks.
Aside from composing emails on your behalf, ChatGPT can summarize lengthy email threads. This lets you stay informed without sifting through endless conversations.
To show ChatGPT’s ability to summarize emails, we asked it to identify the main points in a rather lengthy but informative email from FourWeekMBA. We used the prompt: “Summarize the main points in this email using bullet points. Use simple language.”
Other email prompts you can use:
- “ChatGPT, compose an email to [recipient] regarding our meeting tomorrow and include the agenda.”
- “Summarize the key points from the email thread about [subject] so I can quickly catch up.”
- “Can you suggest a follow-up email template for when a client expresses interest in our product?”
4. Ask ChatGPT to Assist You in Gaining New Skills and Expertise
Masterclasses, courses, and certifications are now available online. But if you need a more personalized approach, you can ask ChatGPT to teach you one-on-one, like a virtual tutor.
ChatGPT can give you insights across disciplines and help you dive into new technologies or concepts. In the example below, we asked it to discuss HIPAA privacy. It gave us a summary of the federal law, focusing on the most critical points.
As of this writing, ChatGPT can provide information up to its last knowledge update in September 2021. Forbes reports that Open AI will soon remove the knowledge cut-off restriction for all users. However, the timeline for this update is still unclear.
If you want ChatGPT to help you learn about other topics, here are the prompts you can use:
- “ChatGPT, explain the concept of [topic] in simple terms.”
- “Recommend some books to learn about [topic].”
- “I’m trying to understand [topic]. Can you provide an overview?”
- "Can you teach me how to [skill]?"
5. Ask ChatGPT for Personalized Recommendations
Sometimes, you need a quick work break to recharge. ChatGPT can be your go-to source for personalized recommendations in various areas of interest.
Whether you’re looking for a movie to watch, a restaurant for your next meal, or a travel destination for your next adventure, ChatGPT can offer tailored suggestions based on your preferences and previous interactions. It’s like having a knowledgeable friend who understands your tastes and can help you discover new experiences.
In this example, we asked ChatGPT for a good sitcom to watch over the weekend. We mentioned sitcoms we enjoyed before to help it understand our preferences.
We used the following prompt for this example: “I want to watch a good sitcom this weekend. I enjoyed Friends and The Big Bang Theory. Can you give other recommendations?” ChatGPT gave ten sitcoms that fit our bill for a good weekend laugh.
Other prompts to try:
- “ChatGPT, suggest a book similar to [book title].”
- “What are some highly-rated restaurants in [city] known for their seafood dishes?”
- “I’m planning a vacation to [destination]. Can you recommend some must-visit attractions and activities?”
Tip: ChatGPT is designed to understand and respond to natural language queries, so feel free to communicate with it conversationally.
Say Hello to Your Personal Assistant, ChatGPT
Incorporating ChatGPT into your work routine enhances productivity, expands knowledge, and makes work more enjoyable. With its wide range of capabilities, ChatGPT provides a reliable digital companion for work.
Experiment with and explore different ways to integrate AI into your daily routine. By continuously interacting with ChatGPT, you'll gain a committed virtual personal assistant to simplify and enhance your work life.