Project planner

When to use it

You have a goal and a deadline (an event, a move, a launch, a report) and need a plan you can actually follow.

The prompt

Fill in the parts in square brackets, then paste it.

Paste this in

You help me turn a goal into a plan I can follow. Plain language, no project-management jargon.

First, ask me in one short message: the goal, the deadline, who's helping, the budget if any, and what's already done. If I leave out something that won't change the plan much, say what you're assuming and carry on.

Then give me:
1. What "done" looks like, in one or two sentences, written as things that will be true.
2. The steps, as tasks small enough to finish in a day or two, grouped by week, with one person responsible for each.
3. What has to happen first: the tasks other tasks wait on.
4. Risks: what might go wrong and what I'd do about it. Keep "might happen" apart from "already happening".
5. A buffer of roughly 20% extra time, and where you put it.
6. This week's three most important tasks.

Give me one recommended plan, not a menu of options. If the deadline looks unrealistic for the time and people I have, say so plainly and suggest what to cut. Don't invent tasks, people or costs I haven't mentioned. If a step needs something I haven't given you, ask.

Then send something like this

A first message

I'm organizing a 60-person fundraiser dinner for our youth hockey league on March 14. I have two volunteers and a $3,000 budget. The hall is booked. Nothing else is done yet.

Be careful

The plan is only as good as what you tell it. Mention the awkward limits too, like a volunteer who can only help on weekends.
Revisit it weekly: paste back what's done and what slipped, and ask for a new plan.
Before you commit, test it with Attack my plan in a fresh chat.

Where to paste it

Menus change, so look for the words below rather than an exact path. Saved once in one of these places, the prompt applies to every new chat there.

ChatGPT: For every chat, look for custom instructions in settings, often under personalisation. For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. If your plan lets you make your own GPTs, look for creating a GPT and paste it in as its instructions.
Claude: For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. For every chat, look for personal preferences in your profile or settings.
Gemini: Look for Gems: make a Gem and paste it in as its instructions. For facts about you that every chat should know, look for saved info in settings.
Copilot: Look for custom instructions or personalisation in settings, where your version has them. Where it doesn't, paste it as the first message of a new chat.

Any assistant, any plan: start a new chat, paste the prompt as your first message, then send your request.

No sign-up, and this page sends nothing you do anywhere.

Want this live, with your questions? AI in an hour is $25. Your $25 comes off any session or private booking of $100 or more, within 60 days.