Friday Five: 5 Things I Did With AI This Week

Planning my life, one prompt at a time...

So many of you loved AI Made Me Hotter that I decided to start a mini series sharing how I’m using AI in my everyday life.

Welcome to Friday Five: five things I did with AI this week, plus the prompts (so you can steal them, xo).

These are personal use cases, but I’m also using AI a TON to set up my new business right now…I left that out because it’s obviously a little more niche (think: positioning, calendar mapping, proofing my website, building a CRM database, getting me through a small business checklist…etc etc). BUT if you want to hear about that side of it too, let me know in the comments!

Okay, here’s what I outsourced to the bots lately:

1. Figured out what we actually need for a camping trip

We’re taking the kids to Yosemite and staying in a cabin/tent situation next weekend (with like a hundred families from their school…buckle up). I am not a camper (repeat: not a camper) and was sent a giant packing list that immediately made me want to hide my head in the sand/cancel the trip/book a luxury resort in St. Tropez.

SO instead of dealing, I gave the entire list to AI, told it what we already owned, what food I planned to bring, and asked it to divide everything into must bring / nice to have / absolutely do not need to buy.

Then I had it check the weather forecast and adjust accordingly. I also had it link specific products that will be delivered in the next week so I could just click and buy.

The biggest win: people kept telling me we needed heated blankets, which felt like an expensive thing I would buy, use once and then store in my house for the next 17 years. AI confirmed we could skip them, but that we did need warmer sleeping bags.

THE PROMPT:

I’m going to [PLACE] from [DATES] with [WHO YOU’RE TRAVELING WITH]. Here is the packing list I was given: [PASTE LIST]. Here’s what we already own: [LIST]. Check the expected weather and divide this into: MUST BRING, NICE TO HAVE and SKIP. Tell me exactly what I need to buy ahead of time and what I absolutely do not need.

2. Found the least-painful time for a family reunion

I wanted to plan a trip to see my husband’s family in Florida, but had to deal with a psychotic mess in my head involving school calendars, airfare (spoiler alert, holiday flights are ridiculously expensive), number of nights, nonstop flights, two possible airports, weather in Florida, and the Florida family’s work schedules.

Instead of opening 47 browser tabs, I gave AI all the parameters and had it compare multiple weekends and airports.

We ended up narrowing it down to specific dates and actual flight options, including the total cost for all four of us.

THE PROMPT:

I want to plan a family trip from [HOME AIRPORT] to [DESTINATION]. We need at least [X] nights. Compare these possible dates: [DATES]. We’re traveling with [NUMBER/AGES OF KIDS]. Prioritize nonstop flights, reasonable departure times and keeping the total cost down. Compare nearby airports if relevant. Give me the 3 best options and explain the tradeoffs of each.

This is especially good if you’re trying to work around random teacher workdays, three-day weekends or school breaks (which we were).

3. Told it to fix the cord hell happening under my desk

There was a nest of cords on, under, and behind my desk that had been making me slightly furious every time I looked at it.

I took a photo and said: Tell me exactly what to buy to make this not look like this anymore.

It assessed what was actually going on, told me what types of organizers I needed and helped me figure out how to hide everything instead of just buying another cute basket and shoving cords into it. Then it hyperlinked to the exact products so I could have them arrive in two days.

THE PROMPT:

[UPLOAD PHOTO] This area is driving me crazy. I want it to look streamlined and uncluttered without doing a major project. Assess exactly what is creating the visual clutter, then give me the simplest solution and a shopping list of exactly what I need to fix it.

I feel like this method could be used on basically every horrifying corner of my house. I’ve already used it on junk drawers, kitchen cabinets, bathroom drawers stuffed with haircare products, you get it.

4. Found acting classes for my daughter (without me spending an hour Googling)

I wanted to find an acting class for my 7-year-old, but I had some pretty specific requirements: after school or weekends, close to home, age appropriate and ideally not musical theater (singing is a hard pass for her).

I had AI research options, narrow them down to five and compare them. Then, because one of the websites looked like the information might be outdated, I made it go back and verify everything again.

THE PROMPT:

Find the 5 best [CLASS/ACTIVITY] options for a [AGE]-year-old within a [X]-minute drive of [NEIGHBORHOOD/CITY]. I need [DAYS/TIMES], and I prefer [SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS]. Prioritize programs with strong parent reviews. Verify that the classes are currently being offered and include age range, schedule, price and registration link.

I will never manually research kids’ activities the old way again.

5. Figured out exactly what time to take our family photos

This is my favorite category of AI use: extremely minor decisions that somehow take up way too much space in my brain.

We have family photos scheduled in San Francisco in November and I had to choose between 3:00, 3:30, 4:00 or 5:30.

Normally I would Google sunset time, start doing mental math about golden hour, wonder how quickly it gets dark, think about how long my children will tolerate smiling at a stranger...

Instead, I asked AI. (Also because last year I waited to book until the last minute and we got a shoot time at 12:30 on a super-sunny day…aka worst lighting imaginable, so this year I want to get it right).

It checked sunset and twilight times, factored in a 30-minute shoot with two kids and told me 3:30 was the sweet spot.

Done, decision made, brain space returned to me.

THE PROMPT:

I’m taking family photos on [DATE] at [LOCATION]. My available start times are [TIMES], and the shoot will last approximately [LENGTH]. Check sunset and golden-hour timing and tell me which time gives us the best light without risking it getting too dark. Factor in that we’ll have [NUMBER/AGES OF KIDS].

And that concludes this week’s edition of things I made AI think about so I didn’t have to.

I want to hear about what you used AI for this week! Drop your tips below. And if you think any of these are helpful to your Substack people, please share.

See you next Friday. 👋