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Split school pickups during the grandparents' visit week
Practice: Setting limits and rules. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
Your parents are visiting and offered to help with school pickups next week. You want exactly 5 numbered lines, Monday to Friday, each as day - pickup time - who picks up, under 50 words, plain text. Follow the limits in your notes (Grandpa doesn't drive after dark, and you have late meetings some days), and use the early dismissal day from the school's email. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Missing the early dismissal. The normal 3:15 time is at the top, so the AI uses it all week. Try: Add: "Wednesday is early dismissal at 12:30, no after-care."
- Not stating the limits. The AI gives Grandpa Tuesday or schedules Grandma to drive. Try: Add: "Grandpa: no driving after 4:30, busy Tue 2-4. Grandma doesn't drive."
- Not giving the line shape. The AI writes a paragraph or table. Try: Add: "Each line: day - pickup time - who."
- Letting the AI add extras. The AI adds piano and the cereal. Try: Add: "Only school pickups. Plain text, numbered."
- 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 early dismissal
- States the limits
- Shows the line shape
- Sets a word limit
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