Prompts that already work
Pick one, change the bits that are yours, copy it into ChatGPT or Claude. You don't have to know anything about prompting.
Cooking
What to eat and how to make it
A week of dinners, with one shopping list
Seven dinners that share ingredients, so nothing rots in the drawer.
CookingAdapt a recipe to what you can eat
Paste any recipe. Get it back without the thing you can't have.
CookingCook for a guest with a restriction
Someone's coming who can't eat something. Get a meal that isn't a compromise.
CookingDinner from what's in my fridge
List what you've got. Get three dinners you can make tonight.
CookingUse something up before it goes off
Half a tub of cream, a wilting bunch of herbs. Get three ways to use it tonight.
CookingWork out when to start each dish
Tell it what you're making and when you're eating. Get a countdown so everything lands hot.
CookingStories & manga
Continue, recap and explore what you love
Catch me up before the new season
You watched it two years ago. Get the plot back in five minutes, no spoilers past where you stopped.
Stories & mangaContinue a manga that never finished
Berserk, HxH, Vagabond. Get the next arc mapped out, in the tone it earned.
Stories & mangaExplain an ending that confused you
What happened, what it meant, and which bits genuinely have no answer.
Stories & mangaFind the next thing based on what you actually loved
Not more of the same genre. More of the specific thing that got you.
Stories & mangaGet up to speed on a series everyone else already watches
Joining partway. Everything you need to follow tonight's episode, nothing past it.
Stories & mangaMake sense of a character you can't figure out
The case for them, the case against, and which one the story actually backs.
Stories & mangaRun a book club without doing the homework
Questions that start an argument, and something for the person who didn't finish it.
Stories & mangaWhat if one decision in the story went the other way
Change one moment. See how far it ripples, and where the story pulls back to shape.
Stories & mangaWork out the reading order for a sprawling franchise
Where to start, what order, and what you can skip without losing anything.
Stories & mangaWriting & memos
Say the hard thing, shorter
Chase money someone owes me
The message to send today, and what to do when they ignore it.
Writing & memosCut this in half without losing the point
Shorter, and a list of everything that went, so you can put back what mattered.
Writing & memosRewrite an email I shouldn't send angry
Keep every point. Lose the heat. Find out which line would have cost you.
Writing & memosSay no without wrecking the relationship
A decline that's kind, short, and doesn't leave the door half open.
Writing & memosTell me what this long document actually says
Twenty pages in, five bullets out, including what it carefully doesn't mention.
Writing & memosTell someone bad news
Says it straight in the first line, then answers the question they'll ask back.
Writing & memosTurn my meeting notes into a memo
Paste the mess you typed in the meeting. Get back something people will read.
Writing & memosTurn my rambling into something I can send
Talk at it for a paragraph. Get back the point you were circling.
Writing & memosLearning
Understand it and remember it
A study plan for the time I've actually got
Works backwards from the date, and tells you what to drop when you fall behind.
LearningExplain a contract I'm out of my depth in
Plain English, clause by clause, and the questions to take to someone qualified.
LearningExplain it at the level I'm actually at
Not the textbook version. The one that starts from what you already know.
LearningFind the exact bit I've misunderstood
It asks you questions until it finds the broken piece, then fixes only that.
LearningPractise a language by actually talking
A conversation at your level, with corrections tucked underneath so the talking never stops.
LearningQuiz me on something I paste in
One question at a time, waits for your answer, and remembers what you keep getting wrong.
LearningTurn my notes into flashcards
One fact per card, short enough to answer in your head, ready to paste into Anki.
LearningUnderstand a letter from the hospital
Every term in plain words, and what's worth asking at the next appointment.
LearningPlanning
Trips, weeks, projects and gifts
A present for someone you actually know
Tell it what they're really like. Get ideas that aren't a gift guide for their demographic.
PlanningBreak a project into a first step you can do today
A vague thing you've been avoiding, turned into one job you can finish tonight.
PlanningDecide between options you keep going round on
Lay out the choice, get the case for each, and find out what would settle it.
PlanningPlan a trip that isn't exhausting
A day-by-day plan with travel time built in, and the thing to drop when you're tired.
PlanningPlan a week when there's too much on
Everything you're carrying, laid out across the days, with what slips to next week.
PlanningPlan an event without forgetting something
A countdown from the day backwards, and a list of what usually goes wrong.
PlanningWork out what a trip will really cost
A line-by-line estimate with a low and a high, and the numbers most likely to be wrong.
PlanningWork
The bits of a job nobody enjoys
A cover letter that doesn't sound like everyone else's
Paste the ad and your background. Get a short letter that points at real things you've done.
WorkExplain a decision to people who weren't in the room
One page that leads with the answer, admits the trade-off, and survives the obvious question.
WorkGive someone feedback without wrecking the relationship
What to say, in what order, and what to do when they get defensive.
WorkPrepare for a hard conversation with your manager
What you're asking for, what they'll push back with, and what you're willing to trade.
WorkPrepare for an interview, starting with the question you're dreading
The hard question first, then the rest, with an answer spine you can say out loud.
WorkSay no to extra work without sounding difficult
A short message that turns something down and doesn't apologise four times.
WorkWrite your own review from a year you barely remember
Dump what you can recall. Get it grouped, sharpened, and flagged where you need to check.
WorkNothing matches that. Try a shorter word.