Most people start using AI at work the same way: they sign up for three tools, try a few clever prompts, get mixed results, and drift back to doing things by hand. The problem is not the tools. It is starting with everything at once.
This plan does one thing a day for five days, in one tool. By Friday you will have habits that stick.
Before Monday: pick one tool
Use whatever your employer approves: Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. If nothing is approved, ask before using work content anywhere. One tool, work account, done.
Day 1: email
Every email over three paragraphs that you receive today, ask for a summary: what is being asked of me, and by when. Every reply that makes you sigh, ask for a first draft and edit it.
Summarise this email: what is being asked of me, by when, and
any decision I need to make. Then draft a reply that [position].
Under 100 words.Day 2: meetings
Before a meeting, ask for three questions to raise. After it, paste your notes or the transcript and ask for decisions, actions with owners, and open questions.
From these notes, list decisions made, actions with owner and
date, and open questions. If an action has no owner, say so.
[notes]Day 3: tell it who you are
Two days of use will have shown you what annoys you. Put it in the tool's personalisation settings: your role, your audience, how you want answers, and a short never list. Our custom instructions template takes ten minutes.
Day 4: one project for your most repeated task
Pick the thing you produce every week: a report, an update, a proposal. Create a project, Gem or agent for it with the instructions and two good past examples. From now on, that task starts there.
Day 5: a checking habit
AI is confident when it is wrong. Build one routine: before anything goes out, ask it what in its answer it is least sure of, and check those parts yourself. Numbers, names and dates first.
Which parts of your answer are you least confident about, and
what would I need to check?Week two
Keep the five habits. Add a second project only when you notice yourself retyping the same context. That is the signal, not a list of use cases from the internet.
Three rules throughout
- Nothing confidential in unapproved tools. Follow your company's AI policy.
- You own what you send. Read it before it goes out.
- Edit, do not accept. The first draft is a draft.
Questions people ask
What is the easiest way to start using AI at work?
Email summaries and replies. They are low-risk, frequent, and you see the time saved immediately.
Will using AI at work get me in trouble?
Not if you use approved tools and keep restricted data out. Ask your manager or IT what is allowed if there is no policy yet.
How much time does it save?
It varies by role, but most people notice it first in email and meeting follow-ups. Track one task for a week and see.
Where to take this next
For the full setup, see how to build a personalized AI assistant. The Pack skips the setup work: instructions and eight task files built from your LinkedIn profile.
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