AI Guides › Workbench
By Nigel Guy · 8 min read
Most people start with AI the way they start with a gym membership: the app lives on the home screen, they ask it things at random, and a month later they have a long history of chats and no change to their working week. Nothing is wrong with the tool. The default is the problem, because an open-ended chat box rewards curiosity and never produces a habit.
The rule: before you ask it for anything clever, set up three things (privacy, one Project, one weekly output), then run the same three prompts for a week and judge them on time saved.
This kit assumes ChatGPT because that is what is already on your phone. The same method works in any assistant, but the menu names below are ChatGPT's as checked on 4 October 2026. They move often, so if a label differs, look for the nearest match.
Prices are what OpenAI's pricing page showed at time of writing, in USD, with approximate sterling. Check the £ price at checkout, as it varies with exchange rate and tax.
| Piece | What it does | Cost at time of writing | Best for | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data controls toggle | Stops new chats being used to train models | Free on every plan | Anyone using a personal account | On by default for personal Free, Plus and Pro accounts (the Go plan is listed as opt-out too) |
| Project | Keeps chats, files and instructions for one job together | Included on all plans; 5 files on Free, 25 on Go and Plus | Recurring work with the same context | File limits are small on Free |
| Temporary chat | A chat kept out of history and not used for training while it stays temporary | Free | One-off sensitive questions | Saving it turns it into a normal chat |
| Scheduled task | Runs a prompt at a set time and notifies you | Free allows once a day with loose time windows; exact times need a paid plan | The weekly report | Active-task caps (3 on Free and Go, 5 on Plus); tasks made in a Project cannot see that Project's files |
| Paid plan | More messages, uploads, memory | Free £0; Go $8 (about £6); Plus $20 (about £15); Pro from $100 (about £75) | Only after the free week | Go may include ads; limits apply |
Take ten minutes with a notepad, not the app. Write down three tasks you repeat every week that are mostly reading, sorting or drafting: tidying meeting notes, turning a pile of emails into a reply list, writing a weekly update. Pick one of the three as your pilot. If you cannot name a repeating task, you are not ready to automate anything; spend the week noticing instead.
Then decide your boundary. If you use ChatGPT on a personal account, anything you paste there is outside your employer's systems. Check your employer's AI policy first. Use dummy names and figures for anything confidential, and ask your employer for an approved tool if the work needs real data.
Use this for the Project instructions, replacing the brackets.
You are my drafting assistant for [MY_ROLE] at [TYPE_OF_ORGANISATION].
Goal: help me produce a clear weekly update for [AUDIENCE] in British English.
A good result is under [WORD_LIMIT] words, plain, and ordered by what the reader must act on first.
Rules: never invent facts, figures or names. If something is missing, ask me before drafting.
Mark any claim you are unsure of with [CHECK].
Before you answer, check that every number and name in your draft appears in what I gave you.
Fill in your role, audience and length. Do not put real client names or passwords in instructions.
Run these three in the Project, in this order. Each is a different job: sorting, planning, reporting.
Run 1: Turn messy notes into actions.
Role: you are a careful note-taker for [MY_ROLE].
Task: below are my raw notes from [MEETING_OR_DAY]. Turn them into a list of decisions made, actions (owner, task, due date) and open questions.
Constraints: use only what is in my notes. Where an owner or date is missing, write "not stated" and list those at the end as questions for me. Do not guess.
Format: three headed sections, bullets, nothing else.
Self-check: before answering, confirm every action traces to a line in my notes.
Notes: [PASTE_NOTES_WITH_NAMES_CHANGED_IF_SENSITIVE]
Run 2: Turn a pile of messages into a reply plan.
Role: you are my inbox triage assistant.
Task: sort the messages below into "reply today", "reply this week" and "no reply needed", with one line on why for each.
Then draft a two-sentence reply for each "reply today" item in my voice: [DESCRIBE_YOUR_TONE, e.g. brisk and friendly].
Ask me for missing context instead of assuming it. Do not promise anything on my behalf.
Messages: [PASTE_MESSAGES]
Run 3: Turn a week of facts into the report.
Role: you are drafting my weekly update for [AUDIENCE].
Inputs: what I got done [DONE_LIST]; what is blocked [BLOCKED_LIST]; what I need from others [ASKS]; next week's top three [NEXT_THREE].
Output, in this order: one-sentence summary; progress (max 5 bullets); blockers with the specific help needed; next week.
Constraints: stay under [WORD_LIMIT] words, no filler, no figures I have not given you.
If any input is vague, ask up to three questions first.
Self-check: confirm the draft contains nothing outside my inputs.
The report is the output a manager actually sees, so treat it like one. After Run 3, read it once as the recipient and cut anything that does not change what they do. Then, if you want it to prompt you every Friday, go to Scheduled (or ask ChatGPT in chat to remind you at a set time) and create a task that asks for your inputs. OpenAI's help page says scheduled tasks are on Free, Go, Plus and Pro. Free is limited to one-time tasks or one recurring task a day with flexible windows; hourly schedules and exact times need a paid plan. Manage alerts under Settings, then Notifications. A task made in a Project cannot read that Project's files, so keep it as a reminder to feed in your facts, not a way to skip doing so.
| Trap | How it shows | Climb out |
|---|---|---|
| Confident invention | A figure or name you never supplied appears | Keep the "ask, never guess" rule; re-run with "list every claim not in my inputs" |
| Memory drift | It repeats an old detail in a new job | Settings, Personalization, Memory: correct or delete; use Project-only memory |
| Pasting the real thing | Client names or personal data in a personal account | Change names first, or use Temporary chat; check your policy |
| Tool-hopping | A new app every week | Stay on one Project for a full week before comparing |
| Paying early | A subscription before you know the task | Use Free for week one; upgrade only if you hit a limit you can name |
Temporary chat (select Temporary in a new chat) is for the sensitive one-offs. OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety, and saving the chat makes it a normal chat again.
Stay on Free if your pilot task fits inside five Project files and you only run it a few times a week. Consider Go at about £6 a month if file uploads or memory limits bite; note that OpenAI says Go may include ads. Consider Plus (about £15 at time of writing) only if you use it daily and want expanded limits. Pro is not a starter decision.
You have one Project with instructions you have edited at least once, three prompts you have actually used, one weekly report you could send, and a rough note of minutes saved against doing it by hand. If the saving is under a few minutes, change the task, not the tool.