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Useful Prompts for Day-to-Day Use

A curated collection of ready-to-use prompts for productivity, analysis, communication, and more.

Table of Contents

Email & Communication

Find Action Items (Last 2 Weeks in Outlook)

Review recent emails and surface all outstanding tasks, deadlines, and follow-ups in priority order.

Review my Outlook emails from the past 14 days (including Inbox and Sent Items). 
Identify all work items, action items, deliverables, follow-ups, approvals, or tasks 
that require my attention — including:

- Emails directly addressed to me (To: field)
- Emails where I am CC'd in threads with fewer than 10 participants
- Threads where I am asked to review, approve, provide input, submit documents, 
  complete tasks, or follow up

For each identified work item:
- Clearly summarize the task in one sentence
- Identify the requester
- Extract and highlight any mentioned deadlines, due dates, meetings, or key dates
- Note whether the deadline is explicit or implied
- Indicate whether the item appears completed (based on my reply) or still pending

Then:
- Remove duplicate tasks from long threads
- Group related items together
- Flag any overdue items
- Flag any items due within the next 7 days

Finally, prioritize all pending items from highest to lowest priority using the 
following logic:

1. Urgent deadline (within 3 days or overdue)
2. High business impact or blocking others
3. Requested by leadership or multiple stakeholders
4. Medium priority (due within 1–2 weeks)
5. Low priority (no deadline or informational follow-up)

Present the final output in this format:

**High Priority**
- Task:
- Requested by:
- Deadline:
- Status:
- Context:

**Medium Priority** (same format)

**Low Priority** (same format)

At the end, provide:
- A short executive summary (3–5 bullets)
- A recommended "Top 5 Things to Do Today"

Catch Up After Vacation

Get a full briefing on everything missed — emails, messages, and outstanding actions.

Give me a complete catch up on everything I have missed. Summarise my key unread 
emails, Teams messages and any outstanding actions across all threads. Prioritise 
anything from my manager /[name]. Highlight every @mention, list anything that needs 
my response, and flag items that are overdue or time sensitive. For each email or 
thread, give me a clear one line summary, the key decisions or updates, and the next 
step I need to take. Present everything as sharp, scannable bullet points so I can 
see my priorities at a glance.

Follow Up on Unanswered Requests

Find every email you sent that hasn't received a reply in the last 3 business days.

Identify every email request I have sent in Outlook that has not received a reply 
in the past three business days. For each one, list the subject line, who I emailed, 
and when it was sent. Add one or two sentences of context so I can remember what I 
asked for, then present the key details and required follow up in sharp bullet points 
so I can review and act quickly.

Sound Like Yourself (Writing Style Guide)

Analyse your sent emails to build a personalised style guide.

I want you to analyze my writing style by looking at my sent emails in Outlook and 
my messages in Microsoft Teams. Go through as many as you can access and identify 
patterns in how I write — things like my tone, sentence length, how formal or casual 
I am, punctuation habits, common phrases I use, how I open and close messages, and 
anything else that makes my writing sound like me.

Once you've done that, summarize the style you've identified so I can confirm it 
sounds right. From that point on, whenever I ask you to draft a reply or write a 
message for me, use MY style — not a generic AI tone. It should sound like I wrote 
it myself.

CoPilot Style Guide Generator

Extract what makes your writing unique so CoPilot can replicate it.

Analyse my recent emails to identify my distinct writing style and communication 
voice. Create a short copy style guide CoPilot can follow so future emails sound 
like me, covering tone, formality, cadence, language preferences, and how human 
or conversational my writing is.

Summarise this as clear, reusable instructions that preserve my natural voice rather 
than sounding generic or automated.

Analysis & Strategy

Extract Strategic Insights

Analyse content like a strategy consultant and surface actionable opportunities.

Analyze this text like a strategy consultant.
Identify the key ideas, missed opportunities, 
and strategic implications I should act on immediately.

Extract What Others Overlook

Surface hidden assumptions, biases, and blind spots experts would notice.

Read this text and point out the hidden assumptions, biases or unspoken perceptions 
that most readers would overlook — but experts would notice.

Read this like an expert. Expose the assumptions, blind spots, or hidden gems that 
most people would miss.

Compare Competing Ideas

Contrast an argument with opposing views — where they align, clash, and why it matters.

Contrast this argument with opposing views in the same field.
Show where they align, where they clash, and why it matters.

War Room — Unstick a Problem

Get a structured breakdown of a complex situation with honest tradeoffs and a recommended path.

I'm stuck and it's costing me time. Here's the situation: [paste full context 
including what you tried]

War-room this with me:

1. What am I not seeing? (blind spots, assumptions, missing data)
2. Give me 3 approaches: Fast/Dirty, Balanced, Perfect — with honest tradeoffs
3. Which approach would YOU bet on and why? (Don't be diplomatic, pick one)
4. What's the likely failure point of your recommended approach and how do I prevent it?
5. If this still doesn't work, what's Plan B?

Think like a consultant who gets fired if I fail.

Strategic Download — Master a Topic Fast

Get a rapid expert-level briefing on any topic, structured for decision-making.

I need to master [topic] fast enough to make decisions about it by the end of the 
week. Don't just explain it, download it into my brain. Give me:

- The 3 mental models experts use to think about this (with examples from my industry)
- The one metric that matters most and why
- The common mistake that destroys 80% of projects in this area
- A decision framework: [Situation A] = [do this], [Situation B] = [do that]
- Three questions to ask that make me sound expert-level in meetings

Make this tactical, not theoretical.

Crystal Ball — Pre-Meeting Intelligence Briefing

Walk into any meeting looking like you've been paying perfect attention.

I've got [meeting type] with [person name] tomorrow and I need to walk in looking 
psychic. Intelligence briefing required:

1. Scan ALL our interactions (emails, chats, shared docs, meeting notes) from the 
   last 60 days
2. What are the top 5 things on their mind right now? (Show me evidence — quote 
   the emails/messages)
3. What 3 things will they ask me about? (based on their patterns and our 
   outstanding items)
4. What's the ONE thing they're worried about but haven't said directly? 
   (Read between the lines)
5. Draft 3 pre-emptive responses I can have ready

Make me look like I've been paying perfect attention.

Writing & Content

Summarize Text

Get the most important points from any long text, fast.

Here is a long text: [paste]. Summarize it in seconds, keeping only the most 
important and useful points.

Executive Summary

Convert a report into a sharp, under-200-word summary with recommendations.

As a project manager, summarize the key findings of this report in under 200 words, 
including at least three practical recommendations.

Brief Summary

Get a list-style summary of objectives, strategies, and challenges in under 100 words.

Provide a list-style summary of the following document, outlining the main objectives, 
proposed strategies, and potential challenges in under 100 words.

Fix Writing Style

Clean up and polish any text — clearer, smoother, and stronger.

Here's my text: [paste]. Make it clearer, smoother, and stronger. Show me exactly 
what to change and why. Make the text clear, concise, and easy to read. Keep the 
original meaning, remove any confusion, and make the sentences flow naturally. 
Only return the polished final version.

Rewrite for Persuasion

Transform content with a stronger hook, emotional storytelling, and a clear call to action.

Rewrite this content using persuasive copywriting techniques: stronger hook, 
emotional storytelling, and clear calls to action.

Turn Ideas into Action

Convert any material into a concrete, actionable step-by-step plan.

Turn this material into a step-by-step action plan I can apply in my business 
or workflow today.

Problem Solver

Get a direct, expert-guided walkthrough of any problem.

You're an expert in [field]. Walk me through how to solve [problem] with a direct, 
step-by-step approach.

Prompt Generator

Generate a ready-to-use, powerful prompt for any specific goal.

Create a ready-to-use prompt that helps me achieve [specific goal]. Make it short, 
powerful, and actionable.

Meetings & Planning

Get Ready for a Meeting in Seconds

Get a full briefing on a person before your next meeting.

Prepare me for my upcoming meeting with /[Name]. Pull together everything relevant, 
including recent emails, Teams messages and shared documents between us. Summarise 
the key discussions, decisions, open issues and risks. Highlight every action item 
linked to this relationship, including what I owe, what they owe, and anything 
overdue or time sensitive. Give me a tight, scannable briefing with clear bullet 
points so I walk in knowing the history, the context and the next steps.

CoPilot Executive Assistant

Set up CoPilot to act as a senior executive assistant across all your tools.

You are my executive assistant with more than ten years of experience supporting 
senior leaders. Use the information available from Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and 
any relevant internal files. Help me stay organised and focused by reviewing 
everything on my plate and identifying what matters most. Pull out my priorities, 
action items, deadlines, risks, and anything that needs a follow up. Structure it 
clearly so I know exactly what to do next and what needs my attention today.

Execution Engine

Turn a goal and a deadline into a clear execution plan — with tasks you can delegate, automate, or do yourself.

I need to [specific goal] by [deadline]. Here's the mess I'm dealing with: 
[paste and attach everything]

Give me:
1. Step-by-step execution plan with time estimates for each step
2. Which steps YOU can do right now (drafting, analysis, research)
3. Which steps I should delegate or automate (name the specific tools)
4. Which steps only I can do (decisions, relationships, approvals)
5. The 3 biggest risks that will derail this and how to prevent them

Then execute step 1 for me immediately.

Data & Reporting

Excel — Find the Story in the Numbers

Analyse a spreadsheet like a consultant briefing a busy executive.

Analyse this Excel file as if you're explaining it to a busy executive who has 
5 minutes. I need you to identify:

1. The three strongest patterns or trends you see in the data. Tell me what they 
   are, where you found them, and why they matter.
2. The three biggest risks or warning signs. Explain what could go wrong and how 
   urgent each risk is.
3. Any data points that look unusual or out of place. Distinguish between actual 
   errors and genuine outliers that need investigation.

Present your findings in plain English with no jargon. For each pattern, risk, or 
anomaly, include the specific location in the spreadsheet (sheet name, column/row 
numbers) and actual figures as evidence. End with 2–3 concrete recommendations for 
what I should do next based on what you found.

Create the Summary an Exec Actually Wants

Turn a spreadsheet into a one-page, decision-ready executive summary.

Turn this spreadsheet into a one-page executive summary that fits the following 
structure:

- Start with one headline sentence capturing the most important finding
- Top 3 trends (what's happening, whether it's improving or declining, and why 
  it matters)
- Top 3 outliers or unusual data points (what's off, how significant, and your 
  best guess why)
- Performance snapshot: what's doing best, what's doing worst, and what changed 
  the most

End with three prioritized actions:
- One thing to do immediately this week
- One thing to do this month
- One thing that needs further investigation before we can act

Keep the entire summary under 400 words, avoid jargon, and make sure every figure 
has context (e.g. "down 15% compared to last quarter" instead of just "15% down"). 
If you are not confident about something, say so clearly.

Technical Documentation

Executive Briefing for Leadership

Convert messy context into a concise, executive-ready leadership briefing.

Act as a senior program manager preparing an executive-level briefing for senior 
leadership.

Your task is to convert the information I provide into a concise, executive-ready 
summary suitable for managers and directors.

Follow these strict guidelines:
- Be concise and factual
- Use clear executive language with no technical jargon unless necessary
- Focus on impact, timeline, and decisions required
- Avoid unnecessary background details
- Use short sections and bullet points
- The tone should be calm, confident, and solution-oriented

Structure the response exactly as follows:

**1. Executive Summary**
2–3 sentence overview explaining the situation and why leadership should be aware.

**2. Current Situation**
What has changed and why (1–3 bullet points).

**3. Impact**
Business or delivery impact (timeline, dependencies, stakeholders).

**4. Proposed Path Forward**
Clear action steps being taken to address the situation.

**5. Leadership Awareness / Decision (if applicable)**
State whether leadership action, approval, or simply awareness is required.

Keep the entire response under 200 words. Prioritize clarity and executive 
readability.

Here is the context:
[PASTE CONTEXT HERE]

UiPath CoE Deployment Documentation

Generate complete Confluence-ready deployment documentation for a UiPath Center of Excellence.

Act as a senior DevOps architect and technical documentation expert responsible for 
creating onboarding documentation for a UiPath Center of Excellence (CoE).

Your task is to generate a clear and visually structured deployment process for 
UiPath automations moving from Development to Production.

The output should be formatted as a Confluence documentation page that includes:

1. A high-level deployment flowchart
2. A clear breakdown of each stage in the pipeline
3. Approval gates and responsible roles
4. Environment progression
5. Link placeholders for documentation, pipelines, and approvals
6. Expandable sections for deeper explanations
7. A diagram structure that can easily be recreated using draw.io inside Confluence

Structure the output as follows:

**SECTION 1 — Executive Overview**
Short explanation of how UiPath deployments work and the purpose of the pipeline.

**SECTION 2 — Deployment Flow Diagram**
Full lifecycle flowchart including:
- Development Environment → Code Review → Package Creation → Orchestrator 
  Deployment → UAT → Business Approval → Production Release
- Decision points, approval gates, feedback loops, and responsible roles

Also provide a Mermaid diagram version.

**SECTION 3 — Detailed Phase Breakdown**
For each stage: Stage Name, Purpose, Responsible Role, Inputs, Actions, Approval 
Required, Outputs / Deliverables.

**SECTION 4 — Approval Workflow**
Table showing: Stage | Approver | Approval Tool | Validation Criteria.

**SECTION 5 — Environment Promotion Model**
DEV → TEST/UAT → PROD with promotion rules for each environment.

**SECTION 6 — Expandable Operational Details**
- Developer Deployment Steps
- UAT Validation Process
- Production Deployment Checklist
- Rollback Process

**SECTION 7 — Quick Visual Summary**
Simplified step-by-step reference for new engineers.

After this prompt I will provide the exact deployment steps, approvals, and tools 
used in our organization.

UiPath Deployment Flowchart (draw.io)

Generate a structured deployment flowchart blueprint ready for draw.io / Confluence.

Act as a senior DevOps architect designing a UiPath deployment flowchart for draw.io.

The diagram must include:

ENVIRONMENTS: Development | Code Repository | CI Build | Test/UAT | Production

ROLES: UiPath Developer | Code Reviewer | DevOps Team | Business UAT Tester | 
Release Manager

APPROVAL GATES: Code Review | QA/Testing | Business UAT | Production Release

Output three sections:

**SECTION 1 — Diagram Layout Blueprint**
Structured blueprint with shape types, text, arrow directions, swimlanes, 
environment boundaries, and feedback loops for failed testing.

Example format:
START → Developer completes automation in DEV
↓
Decision → Code review approved?
→ YES → Build package
→ NO → Return to developer

**SECTION 2 — Mermaid Diagram**

flowchart TD
DEV[Developer Builds Automation]
COMMIT[Commit to Repo]
REVIEW{Code Review Approved?}
...

**SECTION 3 — Diagram Styling Recommendations**
- Environment grouping boxes: DEV | UAT | PROD
- Colors: Development = Blue | Testing = Yellow | Production = Green | 
  Approval Gates = Orange
- Flow direction: left → right

**SECTION 4 — Suggested Clickable Link Nodes**
Placeholder nodes for: Deployment runbook, Release checklist, UiPath packaging 
guide, Rollback process, Production approval workflow.

After this prompt I will provide the exact deployment process, approvals, 
environments, and tools used in our organization.

Personal Productivity

Self Review — Brutal Work Pattern Audit

Get an honest 30-day audit of your calendar, email, and work patterns.

Audit my work patterns for the last 30 days. Be brutally honest — I want the 
truth, not comfort. Analyse:

1. My calendar + emails: calculate exact hours on strategic work, meetings, 
   email, admin, and firefighting
2. Pattern analysis: what keeps showing up that I say I'll fix but don't? 
   (meetings I complain about but keep attending, commitments I make but delay)
3. Relationship Audit: who am I neglecting? (people I haven't followed up with, 
   stakeholders going cold)
4. Energy Drains: what am I doing that someone else should be doing? 
   (be specific with names/tasks)
5. The invisible work: what important stuff am I NOT doing because I'm busy 
   being busy?

Give me a performance review. Then prescribe 3 immediate changes.

Knowledge Management

Personal Knowledge Assistant (Second Brain)

Set up a structured knowledge assistant that searches across all your tools and surfaces exact information.

You are a personal knowledge assistant with access to the following data sources:
- Microsoft Outlook emails
- OneNote notebooks
- OneDrive/Desktop files
- Microsoft Teams messages and channels

Your role is to act as a highly organized second brain. When the user asks a 
question, you must:

RETRIEVAL BEHAVIOR:
1. Search across ALL connected sources simultaneously before responding
2. Prioritize OneNote notes as the primary source of truth
3. Cross-reference emails, Teams messages, and files to add supporting context
4. Always surface the EXACT piece of information requested — not a summary of 
   where to find it

RESPONSE FORMAT:
Structure every response using this exact template:

**Answer:**
[Direct answer to the question in 1–3 sentences]

**Supporting Evidence:**
- Source: [OneNote / Email / Teams / File]
- Date: [date of note/message/email]
- Reference: [Ticket number / Link / File name if available]
- Excerpt: [Exact relevant quote or data point from the source]

**Related Context:**
[Additional details from other sources that add useful context]

**Action Items / Follow-ups (if applicable):**
- [ ] [Any outstanding tasks, deadlines, or people to follow up with]

RULES:
- Never fabricate ticket numbers, links, dates, or names
- If information is found in multiple places, show ALL instances and note 
  discrepancies
- If nothing is found, say: "No matching records found across your connected 
  sources for: [query]" — do NOT guess
- Preserve exact ticket numbers, reference codes, URLs, and names as they 
  appear in the source
- When dates are relevant, always sort chronologically with most recent first
- If a question is vague, ask one clarifying question before searching

Last updated: 2025