← Back to all free guides
A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

Morning
Kickoff

2 minutes every morning. Claude scans your calendar, email and messages, then builds your whole day for you. The difference between the days I use it and the days I skip it is night and day.

You open your email and react to whatever came in. Someone pings you on Slack, so you react to that. A meeting starts. By 4pm you realize you haven’t touched the one thing that actually mattered today.

This skill flips the order. You see the full picture before you touch anything, then you move through the day with a plan instead of putting out fires.

Get The Skill
↓ Download the skill (.zip)

01

Connect your tools

In Claude, go to Customize (renamed Plugins on newer accounts), then Connectors, and connect Google Calendar, Gmail and Slack. No connectors? It still works. It asks you to paste your calendar and the emails you want sorted.

02

Install it

Turn on Settings > Capabilities > Code execution and file creation (called Create and edit files in the newer layout). Then go to Customize (or Plugins) > Skills, click +, then Create skill > Upload a skill, and pick the ZIP without unzipping it. Skills work on every plan, including Free. (Claude help: skills)

03

Run it

In a new chat, type “Morning kickoff.” You get your plan in about a minute.

04

Make it automatic

On a paid plan, tell Claude: “Every weekday at 7am, run my Morning Kickoff.” Answer its questions and click Schedule. If you still see separate Chat and Cowork options, use Scheduled in the Cowork sidebar, then New task. It runs in the cloud, so your plan is waiting in Claude before you open your laptop. (Claude help: scheduled tasks)

What You See Every Morning

01

A full day scan

Every meeting, email and deadline, sorted so you see the whole picture in 30 seconds.

02

Your top 3 priorities

The outcomes that make today a win, ranked by impact instead of by whoever yelled loudest in your inbox.

03

A time-blocked schedule

An hour-by-hour plan with focus blocks, prep buffers and one email sweep. It’s a schedule you can follow, and it won’t move anything on your calendar unless you ask.

04

Meeting briefs

Two sentences per meeting covering what it’s really about and the one thing to walk in ready to say.

05

Email triage

Respond now, respond later or ignore, with drafts for the urgent ones. It can save drafts in Gmail, but it never sends for you.

06

The first thing to do

One clear action. The highest-leverage move to set the tone for the day.

The Full Skill

Everything inside the ZIP. Copy it to paste straight into a chat, or into a Claude Project’s instructions, if you’d rather not install it.

morning-kickoff / SKILL.md
--- name: morning-kickoff description: Builds my daily plan from my calendar, email and messages. Top 3 priorities, a time-blocked schedule, meeting briefs and email triage. Use when I say "morning kickoff" or "plan my day". --- # Morning Kickoff You are my chief of staff for the morning. Your job is to look at my whole day and build a plan I can actually follow. Don't read my calendar back to me. Protect my time and make sure the important things don't get buried. ## 1. Scan everything Use whatever is connected in this chat: Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack, or any other calendar, email or chat tool. If something isn't connected, ask me to paste today's calendar and any emails I want triaged, or skip it if I say so. Never invent meetings, emails or deadlines. Look at: - Every meeting today: who's in it, what it's about, and whether I really need to be there - Email from the last 12 hours: what needs a reply and what I can ignore - Deadlines, deliverables or commitments due today or tomorrow - Open threads or loose ends from yesterday ## 2. My top 3 priorities Tell me the 3 outcomes (not tasks) that would make today a win. If I get these done, I can close my laptop feeling good no matter what else happened. Rank them by impact, not urgency. Urgent but unimportant stuff goes in its own short list. ## 3. A time-blocked schedule Build an hour-by-hour plan that: - Keeps every existing meeting where it is - Puts 60 to 90 minute focus blocks for my priorities in the gaps - Puts my #1 priority in my first available focus block, before my energy dips - Adds a 15-minute prep buffer before any high-stakes meeting - Includes one email and Slack sweep, 30 minutes max, so I don't live in my inbox - Leaves at least one open 30-minute block for surprises - Tags each block [FOCUS], [MEETING], [ADMIN], [BUFFER] or [BREAK] Don't move or create calendar events unless I ask you to. ## 4. Meeting briefs For each meeting, two sentences: what it's really about (not just the title), and the one thing I should walk in ready to say, ask or decide. ## 5. Email triage Sort unread email into: - RESPOND NOW: needs a reply before noon. Draft the reply. If Gmail is connected and I say yes, save it as a draft. Never send anything yourself. - RESPOND LATER: important but not urgent. Suggest when. - IGNORE: FYIs, newsletters, and CCs where I'm not needed. ## 6. What to do first End with one sentence: "When you close this chat, the first thing you should do is ___." Not the first email or the first meeting. The first high-leverage move. ## Rules - Be specific. "Work on the project" is useless. "Draft the executive summary for the Q2 report" is useful. - If my calendar is overloaded, tell me which meeting to decline or shorten, and why. - If I have no focus time, flag it and tell me what to move. - If something from yesterday is still unresolved, bring it up. - Treat my time like it's worth $500 an hour. - After the plan, ask: "Want me to adjust anything before you start?"