The public shelf

Help me plan a project.

Project: {{project}}
What "done" looks like: {{definition_of_done}}
Deadline: {{deadline:flexible}}
Who is working on it and how much time they have: {{team:just me, part-time}}
Budget or other limits: {{constraints:none}}

Produce:

1. Scope: what is included and, just as important, what is not. List any assumptions you are making.

2. Milestones: 3 to 6 points where something real is finished and can be shown or checked. Each one needs a clear test for "this is done".

3. Tasks under each milestone:
   - Concrete and small enough to finish in a day or two.
   - An estimate for each, in hours or days.
   - What it depends on.
   - Who does it, if there is more than one person.

4. Timeline: put the milestones on a calendar, working from the estimates and the time available. Identify the critical path, meaning the tasks where a delay moves the end date.

5. Risks: the 5 things most likely to delay or sink this. For each: how likely, how bad, the early warning sign, and what to do now to reduce it.

6. First week: exactly what to do in the first five working days.

7. Decisions needed: anything that has to be decided or found out before work can properly start.

Rules:
- Be realistic. Estimates should include testing, review, and waiting on other people. Add a buffer and say how big it is.
- If the deadline is not achievable with the time and people available, say so, and show what would need to change: scope, deadline, or resources.
- Put the riskiest or most uncertain work early, so problems show up while there is still time.
- If there is something I need to tell you before you can plan this properly, ask me first.

Help me prepare for a conversation I am not looking forward to.

Who I need to talk to, and our relationship: {{person}}
What it is about: {{situation}}
What I want to come out of it: {{outcome}}
What I am worried might happen: {{worry}}

Help me think it through:

1. The real issue. Separate what happened (facts both of us would agree on) from my interpretation of it and how I feel about it. Tell me if I seem to be mixing these up.

2. Their side. What might this look like from their position? What pressures or concerns might they have that I am not seeing? Give me the most generous reasonable reading, not an excuse for them.

3. My goal. Is the outcome I named realistic, and is it within their power to give? If not, suggest a better one. Help me set: what I ideally want, what I would accept, and where I would stop.

4. The opening. Write the first two or three sentences I could say. They should state the topic directly, describe the specific situation without blame, and invite their view. No long warm-up and no "we need to talk".

5. Likely responses. List the three most likely ways they react, such as defensive, dismissive, upset, or counter-accusing. For each, give me a calm way to respond that keeps the conversation on the issue.

6. Phrases to avoid. Point out wording that would probably make it worse ("you always", "you never", telling them what their intentions were), and give me alternatives.

7. Ending it. How to close with a clear next step, including if we do not agree.

Rules:
- Be honest with me. If I appear to be partly in the wrong, or my expectations are unreasonable, say so kindly.
- Keep the wording natural, something I would actually say out loud, not a script from a training manual.
- Do not assume bad intent from the other person without evidence.
- If what I describe involves harassment, discrimination, threats, or a safety risk, say so, and point me towards the right kind of formal support instead of a conversation.

Turn the meeting notes or transcript below into a clear record.

Meeting: {{meeting:not specified}}
Date: {{date:not specified}}

Produce these sections:

1. Summary: three sentences at most. What the meeting was for and what came out of it.

2. Decisions: each thing that was actually decided. For each: the decision, who made it or agreed to it, and the reasoning if it was given.

3. Action items, as a table: task, owner, due date. Phrase each task so it starts with a verb and is specific enough that someone who missed the meeting knows what "done" means.

4. Open questions: things raised and not resolved, and who needs to resolve them.

5. Discussed but not decided: topics talked about with no conclusion. Keep these apart from the decisions.

6. For next time: anything deferred to a later meeting.

Rules:
- Use only what is in the notes. If an action has no owner or no due date, write "not assigned" or "no date set". Do not guess, and do not assign it to whoever spoke last.
- A suggestion is not a decision. Record something as decided only if the notes show agreement.
- Keep names, numbers, and dates exactly as they were given.
- Leave out small talk and repetition.
- If the notes are ambiguous about something that matters, list it under "Needs confirming".

Then write a follow-up message I can send to the attendees: 120 words at most, starting with the decisions, followed by the action items.

Notes:
{{notes}}

Help me plan my week. Below is everything on my mind, unsorted.

My most important goal right now: {{main_goal}}
Fixed commitments this week (meetings, appointments, deadlines): {{commitments:none listed}}
Hours of focused work I realistically get per day: {{focus_hours:4}}
When my energy is best: {{best_time:mornings}}

Step 1. Tidy the list. Merge duplicates. Rewrite vague items as a concrete next action. "Website" becomes "Draft the copy for the pricing page".

Step 2. Sort every item into one of these:
- Must do this week: there is a real deadline or a real consequence.
- Important, not urgent: it moves my main goal forward.
- Quick: under 10 minutes. Batch these together.
- Delegate or ask someone: say who, or what to ask.
- Not this week: move it to a later list.
- Drop: say why it is probably not worth doing.

Step 3. Estimate the time for each item that is staying, and add it up. If the total is more than the focus hours I have, tell me plainly and help me cut until it fits. Do not hand me a plan that needs more hours than exist.

Step 4. Lay out the week, day by day:
- The hardest and most important work goes in my best-energy time.
- At most three significant tasks per day.
- Group similar small tasks together.
- Leave about 20% of each day unplanned for things that come up.
- Work back from each deadline so nothing lands on its final day.

Step 5. Tell me:
- The one thing that, if I do only that, makes the week a success.
- What I am saying no to this week, so I can let it go.
- Anything on my list that looks like avoidance: something small I keep doing in place of something important.

My list:
{{tasks}}