Plan a newsletter's production steps back from a new send date

About this exercise

You produce your company's monthly customer newsletter, and the send date just moved. You want exactly 5 numbered lines in date order, each as date - step - owner, under 50 words, plain text. Count each step back from the new send date using the lead times in your notes, and leave out the ideas that weren't approved. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Using the old send date. Feb 12 is at the top. Try: Add: "The send date is now Tue Feb 10. Count back from that."
• Rounding the dates. The AI writes 'late January' instead of exact dates. Try: Add: "Give the exact date for each step."
• Including unapproved ideas. The AI adds the recipe contest as a step. Try: Add: "Only the production steps."
• Letting the AI pick the layout. The AI makes a table. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 5 numbered lines like '1. Jan 27 - Lock topics - Jen'. Plain text."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 50 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
• Uses the new send date
• Counts back
• Skips unapproved ideas
• Sets a word limit

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