Your first AI shortcut, in five steps

Give it a week. If it goes well, one weekly task takes a lot less time than it used to. Here’s the checklist I’d hand someone starting out.

1. Pick the task that bugs you

Not the biggest problem at work. The one that annoys you every week. Copying numbers between two spreadsheets. Writing the same kind of email. Pulling a report nobody enjoys pulling.

If you have to think hard about what to pick, pick something smaller.

2. Write down what “done” looks like

One or two sentences. “A summary of last week’s jobs, in this format, ready for me to read.” If you can’t describe the finished thing, the tool can’t either.

3. Build the smallest version

That might be a saved prompt in a chat tool, a custom AI assistant with a few clear instructions, or a short script for a spreadsheet. Start with whatever you can get working today.

Most of the automation scripts I’ve written started tiny. The ones that stuck got bigger later. I didn’t plan any of them big.

4. Test it on a task you’ve already finished

Use a tool your workplace allows, and only information you’re allowed to put in it. Run it on something you did last week and compare its result with yours. Look for what’s wrong, not just what’s right.

The tool drafts, you read, you decide.

5. Write one paragraph about it

What it does, how to run it, what to double-check. Put it somewhere your team can find it.

This feels optional. It isn’t. That paragraph is what lets someone else pick it up.

A quick gut check

• Did it actually save time this week?
• Would you notice if it got something wrong?
• Could a teammate run it from your paragraph alone?

Three yeses and you’re done. Fewer than that, go back to step 3.