5 ChatGPT prompts I use to build a productivity routine that actually sticks

I've tested plenty of prompts that turn ChatGPT into more than just a search engine, but some of the most useful have helped me build better daily routines.

From creating focused morning workflows to helping me switch off at the end of the day, I've used ChatGPT to design productivity routines that genuinely make me work smarter, not harder. Along the way, I also experimented with prompts specifically designed to generate those routines.

After testing 10 of them, five became part of my regular workflow. These are the prompts I keep coming back to — and why they're worth trying yourself.

Productivity prompts that work for me and you

Productivity routines work best when they’re custom-tailored for the following professionals:

• Entrepreneurs
• Freelancers
• Work-From-Home/Hybrid Workers
• Company founders
• Business executives
• Creatives (authors, artists, designers, etc.)
• Athletes/Bodybuilders
• Healthcare Professionals

In my case, I’ve applied ChatGPT’s productivity routine prompts to my daily schedule as a journalist. The first one in particular, which the chatbot labeled as the “Productivity Architect” prompt, does an amazing job of helping me wade through all the noise and renew my focus on what needs to be done:

Act as a productivity coach and systems designer. Interview me one question at a time to understand: My goals, my work schedule, my energy levels throughout the day, my biggest distractions, my responsibilities, my preferred working style, and my current productivity struggles

Once you've gathered enough information, create a personalized daily productivity system that includes: a morning routine, work blocks, a break structure, deep work periods, admin tasks, learning time, and an evening shutdown routine.

Then explain why each part of the routine fits my personality and circumstances.

That prompt supplied me with a productive routine that gave me set objectives to focus on every day, such as taking the time to write out all my objectives first thing in the morning, setting aside hour-long blocks to ideate & produce articles, going fully analog during my breaks and summarizing my day in the form of a document once the sun goes down.

These four other prompts are ready-made for anyone who wants to tell ChatGPT all about themselves and leave with a custom productivity routine that’ll fine-tune your daily process:

• The Energy-Based Productivity Prompt: I want to build my schedule around my energy instead of the clock. Help me identify: when I do my best thinking, when I should do creative work, when I should handle meetings, when I should do routine tasks, and when I should rest. Ask me questions about my daily energy patterns and then build a productivity system optimized around them.
• The Anti-Procrastination Routine Builder: Act as a behavioral psychologist and productivity strategist. Ask me questions to identify why I procrastinate. Determine whether my procrastination is caused by: perfectionism, a fear of failure, feeling overwhelmed, a lack of clarity, low energy, or poor planning. Then design a productivity routine specifically engineered to reduce those triggers.
• The Blind Spot Finder Prompt: Analyze my current routine and identify: productivity bottlenecks, hidden time drains, inefficient habits, activities with low return on investment, and tasks I should automate, delegate, or eliminate. Ask follow-up questions until you have enough information, then recommend improvements ranked by impact.
• The Future Self Prompt: Imagine you are my future self five years from now. You successfully achieved my goals while maintaining good health, relationships, and work-life balance. Interview me about my current life. Then explain: what habits I adopted, what habits I eliminated, what my daily routine looks like, what I was doing wrong today, and what changes created the biggest results.

Final thoughts

My constant meetings with ChatGPT have led me to come across the best productivity routines that compel me to work smarter (not harder) to tackle my personal and professional duties. For those of you reading this who are looking to turn the chatbot into your own personal productivity planner and behavior analyst, take one or all of these prompts with you into your next ChatGPT consultation.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I used ChatGPT to audit my subscriptions — these prompts helped me find nearly $2,000 a year in recurring charges
• A Reddit user gave an AI agent 6 months and $50,000 to find him a wife — and it reveals where AI is headed next
• OpenAI just made its biggest move against Nvidia — and it could make ChatGPT cheaper to run