5 Types of Useful AI Prompts for Everyday Work

We’re in the midst of a revolution when it comes to productivity.

Thanks to large language models like ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, desk workers (for lack of a better term) can now outsource mind-numbing, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks for little-to-no cost.

With the functionality of AI-powered work assistants like Bloks, employees can draft emails, write blog posts, create speaking notes, summarize meetings, research competition, and get organized for their day—all in a fraction of the time.

But, like any emerging technology, understanding how (and when) to use it can be difficult, especially when you’re just starting out.‍

→ Read More: A Beginner’s Guide to Engineering Prompts

So, rather than force you to scan through hundreds of articles, Tweet storms, and Reddit threads trying to find the best AI prompts, we’ve done the hard work for you.

Here are five types of AI prompts that will help you be 10X more productive at work 🚀

‍1. Prompts for Understanding Complex Topics

Try treating AI assistants like they’re your tutor.

Say you’re a salesperson trying to pitch your software to someone whose business builds hydrogen fuel cell systems for use in electric cars, but you have no idea what that involves and don’t want to seem clueless the next time you meet.

Well, you could write a prompt like this:

Prompt: Explain how hydrogen fuel cell systems that replace conventional batteries in equipment and vehicles powered by electricity work

And you’ll get something like this:

Still confused? Add the words “at a high school level,” “at a middle school level,” or “at a grade school level” to your prompt, and you’ll get increasingly easy-to-understand explanations.

And you don’t have to stick with topics. You can also summarize books, academic papers, and articles, making them easy to scan and understand.

Prompt: Summarize the key concepts found in the article [insert title] written by [insert title]

For this example, I wanted to get a basic understanding of “Language Models are Few-Shot Learners,” written by T. B. Brown.

Here’s what I got:

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2. Prompts for Condensing Information

One of the most powerful abilities of AI tools like ChatGPT is their ability to condense large amounts of information.

Bloks, for instance, can take an hour-long meeting and condense it into a summary with all the key points.

(Pro Tip: You can do the same with podcasts, webinars, and YouTube videos.)

Bloks can also condense written information.

Take a few bullet points or paragraphs of text and shorten them into easy-to-read sentences by using…

Prompt: Write a newspaper-style paragraph out of the following:

Prompt: Condense the following [bullet points/sentences/paragraphs] into a few sentences:

This is super handy if you’re doing an update, like an investor report or newsletter.

Here’s what happened when I got Bloks to condense one of Apple’s recent quarterly reports:

Now, it’s much easier to read and scan through.

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3. Prompts for Editing

Chances are you probably use a built-in spell checker or editing tool like Grammarly to quickly copyedit anything you write—even if it’s a quick email or text.

But you can use AI to help you correct more than typos or basic grammar mistakes.

Here’s a little trick I gleaned from The New York Times’s Kevin Roose:

Ask the AI to provide suggestions for editing text based on the main principles of a popular writing guide.

‍Prompt: Using the principles of Strunk and White’s ‘The Elements of Style,’ suggest edits to the following text:

I used this prompt to edit the intro to this blog post, and although I don’t agree with all the suggestions it made, many of them were helpful (especially the ones that helped make the copy shorter and clearer).

You can also use the same prompt but with different references to make your writing more engaging and personal.

Here’s an example:

Prompt: Using the principles of Ann Handley's book 'Everybody Writes,' suggest edits to the text:

Try it to spruce up everything from slide decks to tweets.

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4. Prompts for Role-playing and Practice

Depending on your role, you may have to interact with a lot of people.

Conversational AI tools like ChatGPT can be used to prepare for tons of different (and difficult) scenarios you may encounter in your day-to-day role.

For a startup founder, you could make it pretend to be a VC, so you can practice answering hard questions from investors after a pitch.

Or, if you’re in HR, you could role-play a tough conversation, like letting someone go at the end of their three-month probation.

Or, if you’re looking to switch organizations, you could practice for a job interview.

The opportunities are endless (you could even practice convincing your co-workers that pineapple is the #GOAT of pizza toppings).

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5. Prompts for Maintaining Momentum at Work

Sometimes you hit a roadblock—you don’t know what to do, how to do it, or have the motivation to complete it.

AI can be helpful when you need a hand filling in the gaps.

If you’re a marketer, you can start writing a blog post and get it to fill in the rest or provide suggestions for an outline.

Prompt: I'm writing a blog post on [insert subject]. Suggest an outline for additional sections to include based on the following intro I've written for the blog post:

Or, if you don’t know where to start, get it to suggest some headlines based on a certain topic.

Have a complex task you need to complete, but don’t know how to do it? Use AI to flesh out a game plan.

Prompt: Provide me with a step-by-step plan for getting my startup certified as SOC 2 compliant

Or provide advice on the pros and cons of doing it.

Prompt: What are some pros and cons of getting SOC 2 certification?

If you’re hiring, you could get ideas to help onboard people remotely.

Prompt: Give me ten fun ideas for Virtual Social Events that I could do for recent hires

With AI, the opportunities, as always, are endless.

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Want to learn more about the best ways to engineer prompts? Read this blog. And, if you still need to sign up to try Bloks, *get early access***.

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Sources and Inspiration:

Much of this blog post was inspired by a no-nonsense article on using AI chatbots, written by Kevin Roose
I first started experimenting with using ChatGPT and Bloks to condense information after reading this article in The Atlantic
Fast Company’s 15 useful ChatGPT prompts for startups is, IMO, too surface level, but worth a read if you’re new to this

Whether you’re a sales superstar, in-demand consultant, busy recruiter, or someone who simply needs to schedule a lot of meetings, one thing’s for sure—you’ve probably booked a lot of them over the past two years.

Hybrid work has forced the majority of our meetings online, and while we appreciate being able to wear sweatpants during normal work hours, the time-consuming ballet that is sharing your availability, finding a time to meet, and adding it to your calendar isn’t quite as enjoyable.

Speaking with everyone from solopreneurs to seasoned professionals, it seems like a lot of people find meeting scheduling software either costly, impersonal, or just plain boring. And Calendly and other alternatives don’t always cut it.

We hear you.

Everyone is different, and so is how they work. Making good first impressions is important, and you shouldn’t have to pay a premium for them or basic customizations and integrations with your meeting booking system.

Nook Calendar’s meeting proposal feature is already used by tons of high-performing teams for selecting and proposing meeting times outside of their organization.

Now, we’re making things even easier by letting you build personal pages with shareable calendar-booking links, right in Nook Calendar. Add them to your LinkedIn profile, email signature, website, or messages when finding a time to meet.

We think it’s the best meeting scheduling software out there, and we’re excited for you to give it a try, so let’s get started.

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Here’s How to Set Up a Personal Booking Page in Nook Calendar

First off, if you’re new to Nook Calendar—hello! (If you’re already a Nook user, you can skip ahead.)

You’re going to start by syncing your calendar—either from Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook—and entering your work email address.

Once you approve any necessary permissions, you’ll set up your People Bar. Search for any connections and add the people you interact with the most when scheduling meetings.

From there, you can add any additional calendars you want to see (add your personal one, if you like, to further prevent any overlaps when scheduling meetings), integrate with Zoom (so you can launch calls straight from your calendar), and choose your preferred display setting—select Match OS, Light Mode, or Dark Mode.

Launch Nook Calendar, and you’re ready to set up your online meeting scheduler.

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Now, the fun begins

You’re going to start by claiming your unique URL for sharing your meeting availability page.

Your first name appears by default, but really, it can be anything. We recommend using your full name (e.g., /john-smith).

(You can always change your URL in the future, as long as it’s still available.)

From there, you want to complete your profile.

Your profile pic is automatically pulled in from your Microsoft or GCal account.

But you can add your name, job title, welcome message, and links to social media profiles or professional website, so guests know a bit more about you when booking a meeting.

Then, you can start setting your weekly availability.

Nook Calendar defaults to traditional time blocks—9–12 a.m. and 1–5 p.m. These are the hours someone can book a meeting from your personal page. Adjust them based on your availability.

Your timezone is automatically set to your local time, but you can change it if you primarily work with people in a different timezone and it’s better to visualize that when setting your availability.

Choose which calendar you want to accept meetings in—it can only be booked in one, but Nook Calendar will automatically reference your availability in other calendars you’ve synced to prevent double-bookings when someone schedules a meeting.

Now, it’s time to set up some paramaters.

You can set up your preferred meeting duration in either 15, 30, 45-minute or one-hour increments (or a custom time).

You can also add buffer time to give yourself a break between meetings, or set a lead time of up to 24 hours, so no one can book any last-minute meetings.

And you’re all set! You can preview what the page will look like, then share it with contacts or add it to your LinkedIn profile (we suggest adding it as a secondary URL), email signature, and anywhere else you do business.

Once someone books time in your calendar, you’ll receive an email and get a notification in the Pulse.

If you ever need to make any changes, you can access your personal meeting page in the bottom of the Magic Panel and make any adjustments—either to your weekly availability or personal information.

You can also remove your availability by simply creating events in Nook Calendar and marking them as Busy to block off time and prevent any bookings.

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5 Types of Useful AI Prompts for Everyday Work

Here are five types of AI prompts that will help you be 10X more productive at work 🚀