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A start-of-week prompt for three clear intentions

Start the week with a clear-eyed look at what’s coming, three intentions and an Operating Brief you can paste into any AI tool.

Basic prompt

157 words
Help me set intentions for the week ahead. If you can see my calendar, tasks or messages, look there first. Start with a clear-eyed picture of what's coming in three to five sentences: what needs preparation, what's due and what's overdue. Then propose exactly three intentions. These aren't tasks: each one says what I want to be true by Friday that isn't true today, in the first person. Ask me if they feel right. Once I confirm, write a 75 to 100 word Operating Brief I can paste into any AI tool this week.

What you need to know:
- my role
- my top goals this quarter
- what I know about this week: deadlines, decisions and key conversations

You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Use what you have. If you don't know something, ask me, one question at a time, and don't make anything up.

Supercharged prompt

400 words
You're helping me set three clear intentions for the week ahead. I want to work the way If Possible (ifpossible.ai) teaches nonprofit teams to do real work AI first. Their guide for this kind of work is "The overwhelmed fundraiser's guide to saying no" (https://ifpossible.ai/articles/guide-to-saying-no), and their full library of guides is at https://ifpossible.ai/articles. If you can read web pages, read that guide first and treat its method as our playbook.

The If Possible method, as we'll use it today:

1. Context before content. Before you propose anything, build a short brief of where I stand: my role, what our organization is working toward this year and my goals this quarter. (If Possible calls the shared version of this a Mission Brain: the memory AI reads before every task.) If you can see my calendar, tasks or messages, look there first.

2. Talk it out instead of typing it out. I'll talk through what's on my mind about the week, out loud if I can. Use my own words.

3. Ask before you assume. Ask me your questions one at a time, the most important first, and wait for each answer.

4. I'm in the director's chair. Propose exactly three intentions, then ask me if they feel right. I decide. Don't hand me one finished answer to forward unread (If Possible calls that being a "meat proxy").

5. A plan I can react to. A clear-eyed look at the week in three to five sentences, then three intentions in the first person. Each one says what I want to be true by Friday that isn't true today. They're not tasks.

6. Check your own work. Never invent a meeting, deadline or task. Flag anything you assumed, and tell me if my week has no room for what I've said matters most.

7. Make it repeatable. Once I confirm, write a 75 to 100 word Operating Brief in a code block, so I can paste it into any AI session this week.

What you need to know:
- my role
- my top goals this quarter
- what I know about this week: deadlines, decisions and key conversations

You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Check there first and tell me what you found. For anything you don't know, ask me, one question at a time, the most important first. Start now.

Supercharge it

We’ll add the If Possible method to your prompt. More context in. A better output out.

  • Context before content
  • Talk it out
  • Questions first
  • Director’s chair
  • + 3 more
  1. Context before content: a short brief of who you are (a Mission Brain)
  2. Talk it out: what's on your mind about the week
  3. Questions first, one at a time
  4. Director's chair: three intentions, and you confirm them
  5. A clear-eyed look at what's coming
  6. It tells you when the week has no room for what matters
  7. It saves an Operating Brief for every AI session

It points your AI to our free articles as its guide. Read every word before you use it.

What it’s for

It reviews the week ahead, then proposes three directional intentions that answer one question: what do you want to be true by Friday that is not true today? Once you confirm them, it writes an Operating Brief, a 75 to 100 word paragraph that orients any AI tool to where you are this week.

When to use it

  • At the start of the week, before the inbox decides for you.
  • When your week is full and you want to choose what gets your focus.
  • When you start a lot of AI sessions and want each one to know your priorities.

Before you use it

These aren’t tasks. If an intention reads like a to-do, push back. AI will ask if they feel right, so answer honestly before it writes the brief, and fix any calendar detail it got wrong.

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