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Build a month of client deadlines after one client pauses
Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
You're a freelance bookkeeper and want December's client deadlines in one list on your fridge. You want exactly 5 numbered lines sorted by date, each as date - client - task, under 60 words, plain text. Leave out the client who paused their work with you, and use the new date the other client moved. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Including the paused client. Hollis Yoga is in your list, and the pause is in an email below. Try: Add: "Leave out Hollis Yoga, they paused."
- Missing the moved date. Dec 12 is in the list. Try: Add: "Brightside moved to Dec 15."
- Not sorting by date. The AI keeps the list order. Try: Add: "Sort by date, earliest first."
- Letting the AI pick the layout. The AI makes a calendar table. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 5 numbered lines, plain text."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 60 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 8 words."
What a strong prompt includes
- Says how many lines
- Drops the paused client
- Uses the moved date
- Sorts by date
- Sets a word limit
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