The Curious Companion: Ep. 16 – Automate Repetitive Work with ChatGPT

Curious Reader!

Welcome to this week’s Curious Companion newsletter.

What you came for is below, and you can CLICK HERE to listen to the episode if you decide you prefer earbuds to eyeballs.

Happy reading!

This episode breaks down how to use ChatGPT to handle repetitive computer tasks and free up more time to do the things that actually matter. From bolding text and summarizing writing to creating podcast show notes and automating client responses, I outline a practical five-step process for turning your ChatGPT Projects into reliable digital assistants. Let the robots do the work!

Let the Robots Do the Work

Repetitive tasks is an area where ChatGPT, and AI in general, really shines. Let the robots do the work. Of note: this is also an area where ChatGPT can improve, but in general, repetitive tasks are phenomenal to outsource to AI.

I’ve spoken about this in other episodes, but I figured it would be helpful to do a single, specific episode dedicated to ChatGPT for repetitive tasks. So let’s dive in.

AI as Assistant, Not Replacement

We’re talking about automating computer-related tasks today. Yes, it’d be amazing if it could do your laundry and the dishes a la Rosie Jetson, but today we’re talking digital.

Like I’ve said before: AI works best as an assistant, not a replacement. You’re still going to have to check its work and maybe do some editing, but it should cut down your work time.

It’s important to mention, like I state on the homepage of chatgptcurious.com (which I worked super hard to build so go check it out if you haven’t already), I’m here to promote AI usage as a way to create more time for you to be more human. More time to do the shit you love with the people you want to be around. I’m not here to promote productivity for the sake of productivity.

Examples of Repetitive Tasks I Offload to ChatGPT

Because I know it can be helpful to have examples, below I’ve listed a few repetitive tasks that ChatGPT helps me with:

• Bolding: I write a lot of emails and hate deciding what to bold for emphasis and clarity. Left to my own devices I’d bold everything, so I let ChatGPT do it.
• Creating show notes and this newsletter for the ChatGPT Curious podcast.
• Coming up with titles and preview text for my paid blog, Maestro Musings.
• Summarizing my writing to make sure I actually made the point I was trying to make.
  • This one’s meta because it started as a repetitive ChatGPT task
• Answering the same client questions over and over again

What your repetitive tasks are, I have no idea, but hopefully that list gave you some ideas.

If It’s the Same Every Time, Consider Automating It

Anytime you have a task you do exactly the same way over and over, it’s worth investigating whether or not some automation exists that could help you out, be it ChatGPT, some other tech/AI, or whatever.

We love when a company is wise and does this for us. The best example: Zoom partnering with Vimeo so your recordings automatically upload to Vimeo. Immediately yes.

Five Simple Steps

1. Identify the repetitive task.
   • This is awareness. Name the loop you keep running.
2. Identify your process and desired outcome.
   • When you break down the process you may realize you can’t automate the whole thing, but you can automate a single part. Still helpful!
   • Most important here: Have clear examples of the starting point and the finalized outcome.
3. Create a new Project in ChatGPT for that specific task.
   • I’ve spoken about Projects in previous episodes and they are hands down my favorite feature of ChatGPT.
   • Think of Projects like folders to separate and organize what you’re working on. The best part: you can save instructions for each of them.
   • Recently, ChatGPT introduced Project-only memory, which is great if you want to wall off a workflow so it doesn’t bleed into the rest of your account. A feature that is especially useful for client work.
   • To create a Project: Use the sidebar on the left → above your chats it says “Projects” → click “New Project.” Name it, and don’t worry about instructions yet. We’re going to use the Project to create them. (You can also create instructions in a regular chat; this is just my preferred way.)
4. Have ChatGPT help you create the instructions, then paste them into the Project.
   • Literally have ChatGPT talk you through it. Tell it what you want it to do and ask it to write instructions you can paste into the Project so you can reliably get the same outcome.
   • This is where examples of your starting point and perfect final product come in.
   • Your creativity is the limit when it comes to instructions—you can make it so that simply inputting the starting text is enough to trigger the task.
   • Example instruction: “Whenever I upload text, your job is to go through it and add bold formatting where it will improve readability, highlight key ideas, and create excitement.”
   • You can also name tasks to create shortcuts:
     1. “Podcastify this” → create show notes
     2. “Companion this” → generate the Curious Companion newsletter
5. Test and refine.
   • Try out your Project. If you like the results, you’re set. If not, change the instructions. Again, have ChatGPT help you rewrite them: Tell it what you don’t like and ask what to change.

Drift Is Real

Over time you may notice “drift”—the outputs looking different than they used to. This can be caused by model updates, but also just as a reality of the technology: it’s a probabilistic model, not deterministic.

My soft suggestion is to update the instructions rather than spamming it with some version of “This is trash! Do it again!”

And yes, updating instructions can be annoying. Speaking as someone who begrudgingly updated the instructions for how my Curious Companion gets generated, it’s annoying AF, but a necessary evil.

Custom GPTs for Client-Facing FAQs

Earlier I mentioned using ChatGPT to answer the questions that clients always ask. The solution here is a Custom GPT.

I’m not gonna dive into the nuances here because I did an entire episode about it:

• Listen to Ep. 11: WTF is a Custom GPT?
• Read The Curious Companion Ep. 11: WTF is a Custom GPT?

Short version: If you want an outward-face solution (aka someone else can use it) to a repetitive task, build a Custom GPT. It’s definitely more work, but I built one for my Instagram Intensive and the folks love it. Double bonus, I’m not getting the same questions I used to answer a zillion times.

Quick Claude Note

I know this is ChatGPT Curious, but Anthropic recently released “Skills” for Claude, which are basically Project-style instructions that don’t require Projects. Claude knows when to use what, and I liken it to driving an automatic car vs manual transmission. Admittedly I haven’t tried it (I don’t use Claude), but I read a ton of AI stuff and figured it was absolutely worth mentioning for anyone who might be using Claude.

How I Used ChatGPT This Week

Each episode I include a section where I briefly discuss how I used ChatGPT that week.

This week I used ChatGPT to navigate the horrendous world of health insurance.

First off, fuck Donald Trump and fuck that whole administration.

Second, I’m including this usage example to remind y’all that ChatGPT can search the web. (Which, in my opinion, makes their Atlas browser—I reviewed it last week—largely unnecessary.)

No, chatting with ChatGPT doesn’t replace calling and talking to someone, but 1) Miss me with a phone call, and 2) if it’s on the website somewhere, ChatGPT will find it.

All I cared about was telehealth access, and the lowest premium because I never use it and would rather pay OOP for a quality provider. ChatGPT could absolutely help me with that.

Wrap-Up

And there you have how to use ChatGPT for repetitive tasks. Five steps, leaning heavily on my favorite feature: Projects.

Let the robots do the work, y’all.

That’s all for today. If you found this helpful, consider forwarding it to someone who’s curious about ChatGPT and could use help with repetitive tasks.

As always, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you.

Catch you next Thursday.

Maestro out.

AI Disclaimer: In the spirit of transparency (if only we could get that from these tech companies), this email was generated with a very solid alley-oop from ChatGPT. I write super detailed outlines for every podcast episode (proof here), and then use ChatGPT to turn those into succinct, readable recaps that I lightly edit to produce these Curious Companions. Could I “write” it all by hand? Sure. Do I want to? Absolutely not. So instead, I let the robot do the work, so I can focus on the stuff that I actually enjoy doing and you get the content delivered to your digital doorstep, no AirPods required. High fives all around.

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