Productivity & Work Prompts

Templates for meeting prep, project management, communication, and getting work done faster.

Prepare Me for a Meeting

When to use it: You have a meeting coming up and want to walk in prepared, not winging it.

Prepare me for an upcoming meeting about: [TOPIC/PURPOSE OF THE MEETING]

Attendees: [WHO WILL BE THERE AND THEIR ROLES]
Duration: [HOW LONG]
My goal in this meeting: [WHAT I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH OR DECIDE]

Give me:
1. The 3-5 most important things to know or have ready before I walk in
2. Key questions I should be prepared to answer
3. Questions I should ask
4. The most likely points of friction and how to handle them

!!! example “Filled-in example” Prepare me for an upcoming meeting about: budget approval for a new software tool

Attendees: My manager, the CFO, and IT director
Duration: 30 minutes
My goal in this meeting: Get approval to purchase a $12k/year SaaS tool for my team

Give me:
1. The 3-5 most important things to know or have ready before I walk in
2. Key questions I should be prepared to answer
3. Questions I should ask
4. The most likely points of friction and how to handle them

!!! tip If you have relevant context (past meeting notes, the vendor’s proposal, your team’s pain points), paste it in. The more specific Claude can be, the more useful the prep.

Turn Meeting Notes into Action Items

When to use it: You have rough notes from a meeting and need clean, assigned action items to share with the team.

I have rough notes from a meeting. Extract and organize the action items.

For each action item:
- What needs to be done (clear, specific)
- Who is responsible (if mentioned)
- Deadline (if mentioned)
- Priority (high/medium/low based on context)

Then give me a one-paragraph summary of what the meeting decided.

Meeting notes:
[PASTE YOUR NOTES HERE]

!!! tip Even messy, incomplete notes work fine. Claude is good at inferring what was decided and what was just discussed.

Break a Project into Tasks

When to use it: You have a project in your head and need to turn it into a concrete, sequenced plan.

Break the following project into manageable tasks.

Project: [DESCRIBE THE PROJECT]
Goal: [WHAT DONE LOOKS LIKE]
Timeline: [HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE]
My constraints: [BANDWIDTH, DEPENDENCIES, THINGS YOU CAN'T CONTROL]

Give me:
1. A sequenced task list (what to do in what order)
2. Which tasks are blockers (everything else waits on these)
3. A realistic estimate of effort for each task (hours or days)
4. The first thing I should do tomorrow

!!! tip Ask for the “minimum viable” version first if the project is large: “What’s the smallest version of this that’s still useful?” — then expand from there.

Draft a Project Proposal

When to use it: You need to get buy-in for a project and want a clear, structured document to share.

Write a project proposal for the following initiative.

Project name: [NAME]
Problem it solves: [WHAT PAIN POINT OR OPPORTUNITY THIS ADDRESSES]
Proposed solution: [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING]
Expected outcomes: [WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE]
Resources needed: [TIME, BUDGET, PEOPLE]
Timeline: [ROUGH SCHEDULE]
Audience: [WHO WILL READ THIS AND WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT]

Format: [1-page summary / full proposal with sections / executive brief]

!!! tip If you’re proposing something controversial, add “Include a section addressing the most likely objections.” It shows you’ve thought it through and preempts pushback.

Write a Status Update

When to use it: You need to communicate project status to a team, manager, or stakeholder and want it to be clear and professional.

Write a project status update email.

Project: [PROJECT NAME]
Audience: [WHO RECEIVES THIS — manager, team, stakeholders, client]
Period covered: [TIMEFRAME]

Status: [on track / at risk / blocked / completed]
What was accomplished: [LIST KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS]
What's next: [UPCOMING MILESTONES OR TASKS]
Blockers or issues: [ANYTHING THAT NEEDS ATTENTION OR DECISIONS]

Tone: [brief and factual / reassuring / urgent]
Length: [3-5 sentences / short paragraph per section / full update]

!!! tip For regular recurring updates, save a filled-in version of this template with the standard fields pre-populated. Then you only need to update the accomplishments and next steps each time.

Create a Meeting Agenda

When to use it: You’re running a meeting and want a clear agenda to keep it on track.

Create an agenda for a [LENGTH]-minute meeting about: [TOPIC/PURPOSE]

Attendees: [WHO'S IN THE ROOM AND THEIR ROLES]
Goal: [WHAT THE MEETING NEEDS TO DECIDE OR ACCOMPLISH]
Known topics to cover:
- [TOPIC 1]
- [TOPIC 2]
- [TOPIC 3]

Format each agenda item with: topic, owner, time allocation, and whether it's for decision / discussion / information.
Include a 2-3 minute buffer for wrap-up and next steps.

!!! tip Share the agenda with attendees 24 hours before the meeting. A brief sentence on the goal at the top (“By the end of this meeting, we need to decide X”) reduces confusion and keeps discussion focused.

Structured Brainstorm

When to use it: You need ideas and want more than just a list — you want them organized, prioritized, and actionable.

Run a structured brainstorm for: [TOPIC OR CHALLENGE]

Context: [BRIEF BACKGROUND — constraints, goals, what you've already considered]

Generate ideas in three categories:
1. Quick wins — things that can be done with low effort and fast
2. High-impact bets — bigger ideas worth serious consideration
3. Wild cards — unconventional ideas you probably haven't thought of

For each idea, include one sentence on why it might work. Don't filter — give me volume first. I'll evaluate them.

!!! example “Filled-in example” Run a structured brainstorm for: ways to reduce time spent on weekly reporting

Context: Our team spends about 3 hours per week assembling status reports. The data is already in our tools, but pulling it together is manual.

Generate ideas in three categories:
1. Quick wins
2. High-impact bets
3. Wild cards

!!! tip After getting the list, follow up with: “Rank the top 5 by highest impact-to-effort ratio.” Gives you a prioritized shortlist without having to evaluate everything yourself.

Summarize a Thread or Conversation

When to use it: You have a long email chain, Slack thread, or meeting transcript and need to know what was said and decided.

Summarize the following conversation/thread.

Give me:
1. What was discussed (2-3 sentences)
2. Key decisions made (if any)
3. Outstanding questions or unresolved issues
4. Action items (who needs to do what)

Conversation:
[PASTE THE THREAD, EMAIL CHAIN, OR TRANSCRIPT HERE]

!!! tip Works well for Slack threads you’ve been away from, long email chains you’ve been CC’d on, and meeting transcripts from calls you attended but barely paid attention to.