10 Things to Automate With Claude or ChatGPT This Weekend | Free Setup Guide

The setup order, the exact prompts, and the honest limits of each tool. Claude and ChatGPT both run scheduled tasks on their own servers now, so most of these keep firing with your laptop shut.

What Changed Since This Guide First Shipped

Claude’s new scheduled tasks run in the cloud (since October 6). Both tools can now edit Google Docs and Sheets you already have. Local folders still need your computer awake with the desktop app open.

01

In Claude

Any paid plan (Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, Enterprise). Describe the task and how often in a chat, review what Claude proposes, and click Schedule. Or open Scheduled in the left sidebar, then New task. (Claude’s scheduling help)

Connect Gmail, Calendar, Drive and Slack from your connectors page (under Customize, which is being renamed Plugins). Add the Google Docs and Sheets connectors too if you want Claude editing files you already keep. The setting people miss is Code execution and file creation in Settings > Capabilities. Without it Claude can’t save new files to your Drive. (Google Workspace in Claude)

02

In ChatGPT

Ask for the task in a chat and say when it should run, or manage everything under Scheduled in the sidebar. Connect Gmail, Google Drive and Calendar as apps. ChatGPT can edit native Google Docs and Sheets once those apps are connected, and asks you to approve the change. (How ChatGPT scheduled tasks work, editing Google files)

Active tasks are capped by plan: 5 on Plus and 15 on Pro as of OpenAI’s June update (IT Brief). Tasks run at most once an hour.

03

Which tool for which job

Claude schedules hourly, daily, weekdays or weekly. ChatGPT also takes custom schedules like monthly, so monthly jobs go there. Everything else runs in either.

Run it by hand once before you schedule it. Fix what comes back wrong, then schedule the corrected version.
Every task needs a silence rule. Nothing worth saying, it says nothing. Otherwise you stop opening it by Thursday.
Scheduled tasks start fresh. Each run is its own session with no memory of the last one, so a prompt can never say "continue from yesterday." That’s why these name their sources.
Set a kill date. Haven’t opened a task’s output in five runs? Delete it and free the slot.

Saturday morning, set up 1 to 3, the daily ones with the biggest payoff (45 min). Saturday afternoon, add 4 and 5 for meeting prep (30 min).

01

Daily 7am inbox triage

Daily 7am · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. Inbox sorted, replies drafted in Gmail waiting on your send, and a 60-second summary of what actually needs you.

Prompt

Triage every unread email in my Gmail from the last 24 hours. STEP 1: SORT Put each one in exactly one bucket: URGENT (needs a reply today) / NEEDS REPLY (2-3 days) / FYI (read only) / NOISE (newsletter, promo, receipt). Judge urgency by what happens if I don't reply today, not by whether the sender used the word "urgent." STEP 2: DRAFT For every URGENT and NEEDS REPLY item, write a reply in my voice (concise, warm, gets to the point in the first line) and save it as a Gmail draft. Never send anything. Do NOT draft a reply if the email involves money I'd owe, a contract, a legal matter, a hiring or firing decision, or a hard no to someone. For those, write one line telling me what the decision is and leave the drafting to me. STEP 3: REPORT Give me this, and keep the whole thing readable in 60 seconds: URGENT TODAY - [Sender] | [subject] | [why it's actually urgent] | draft ready: yes/no NEEDS REPLY - [Sender] | [subject] | draft ready: yes/no WAITING ON ME Threads where I'm the bottleneck, oldest first, with how many days it's been. This section matters more than the rest. BY THE NUMBERS Total unread, urgent, needs reply, noise. RULES - If nothing is urgent and nothing needs a reply, respond with only: "Inbox is clear. [X] items of noise." Nothing else. - Never invent context you don't have. If you can't tell why something matters, say "unclear, flagging." - Before you deliver, reread your URGENT list and remove anything that would still be fine if I got to it tomorrow. Be strict. A list of eight urgent things is a list of zero urgent things.

02

Daily 6pm work log

Weekdays 6pm · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. A dated record of what you actually shipped. Six months of these and you walk into your review holding receipts.

It appends to one running doc if it can, or writes a new dated file. The prompt handles both.

Prompt

Build my work log entry for today. WHERE TO PUT IT If you can append to an existing file, append to "Work Log/[YYYY-MM] Work Log". If you can only create new files, create "Work Log/[YYYY-MM-DD] Work Log" instead. Never overwrite a previous day. PULL FROM - Calendar: meetings I actually attended today (skip declined and cancelled) - Gmail: threads I sent on or drove today - Slack: what I posted in DMs and channels, topics only - Drive: files I created or changed today WRITE THIS [YYYY-MM-DD] | [Day] WHAT I SHIPPED 3 to 5 bullets. Specific, past tense, with the thing named. "Sent the Q3 proposal to Acme" not "worked on Acme stuff." If you can't name the deliverable, it doesn't go in this section. WHERE MY TIME WENT Meeting hours vs focused work hours vs reactive time. One line. Don't editorialize. STILL IN PROGRESS Half-finished things still on my plate. BLOCKED, AND ON WHO Only things where someone else owes me something. Name them and how long it's been. TOMORROW'S TOP 3 The three things to attack first. Be opinionated, don't just list what's on the calendar. WORTH REMEMBERING One decision, quote, insight or moment from today. The thing I'd want when I write my year in review. Skip it if today genuinely didn't have one. RULES - Quiet day, short entry. Do not pad. A three-line entry is a correct entry on a quiet day. - Never invent an accomplishment. If the data doesn't show it, it didn't happen. - Before delivering, check every bullet in WHAT I SHIPPED against real evidence from calendar, email, Slack or Drive. Cut any bullet you can't point to a source for.

03

Daily 8am Slack digest

Daily 8am · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. What got decided while you weren’t reading, what’s aimed at you, and what’s quietly falling apart. Thirty seconds instead of twenty minutes of scrollback.

Prompt

Read every Slack thread from the last 24 hours that I'm in, tagged in, or following, and that has 5 or more messages. LEAD WITH THIS AIMED AT ME Every commitment I made or that someone assigned me, with who asked, what exactly, and the deadline if one was said out loud. If I committed to something without a deadline, say so. That's the stuff that rots. THEN THE THREADS For each one: [#channel] | [what it's about in one line] - DECIDED: the actual decision, or "nothing decided" - STILL OPEN: questions raised and never answered - TEMPERATURE: aligned / debating / frustrated / blocked / drifting THEN ABOUT TO FALL THROUGH Threads where someone asked a direct question two or more days ago and nobody answered, a deadline got mentioned and then dropped, or the same disagreement resurfaced without resolution. Name the thread and say what's rotting. Be specific. SAFE TO IGNORE One line listing threads I can skip entirely. RULES - If nothing needs me and nothing is rotting, respond with only: "Nothing needs you today." Do not write a digest just to have written one. - Skip banter, reactions, GIFs and social threads entirely. - Never guess at what someone meant. If a thread is ambiguous, say "ambiguous" and quote the line. - Whole digest readable in 90 seconds. If it's longer, you included things that didn't matter.

04

Nightly meeting briefs

Daily 6pm · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. A one-page brief per meeting. Who’s in the room, what you last promised them, what they’ll push back on, what you want to walk out with.

Prompt

Look at tomorrow's calendar. Write a brief for every external meeting and every internal meeting with 4 or more people. Skip recurring 1:1s and standups. Save each as its own file: "Meeting Briefs/[YYYY-MM-DD] [Meeting Name]". EACH BRIEF THE MEETING Title, time, length, who called it. WHAT THIS IS ACTUALLY ABOUT One sentence on the real goal. If the invite doesn't make it clear, say: "Goal unclear from invite, ask for an agenda before this starts." Do not guess a goal and present it as fact. WHO'S IN THE ROOM For each attendee other than me: name, role, company, and one line on what they probably want out of this. Use web search for external people. If you find nothing credible, write "no public info found". Never fill the gap with a plausible-sounding guess. WHERE WE LEFT OFF The most recent email thread with these people. What was discussed, what's still open, and specifically what I promised and haven't delivered. This section is the whole reason the brief exists, so dig. THREE QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING Specific to these people and this topic. Not "what are your goals." Questions that only make sense in this room. WHAT THEY'LL PUSH BACK ON Two or three likely objections, each with a one-line response. Base these on what they've actually said before where you can. WHAT I WANT OUT OF IT The outcome worth having. If you genuinely can't tell, leave it blank for me. RULES - If tomorrow has no qualifying meetings, respond with only: "No briefs needed tomorrow." - More than four qualifying meetings? Brief the external ones properly and give the rest three lines each. - Anything you inferred rather than found, mark it "(inferred)". I need to know which parts are real. - One page each. If it doesn't change how I show up, cut it.

05

Last-minute client research

Hourly · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. A brief on the person you’re about to talk to and what’s changed in their world this month.

Hourly burns usage if every run does real work, so the first line is a hard exit. Most runs cost almost nothing.

Prompt

EXIT CHECK: DO THIS FIRST, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE Check my calendar for a meeting with someone outside my company starting in the next 30 to 90 minutes. If there isn't one, reply with exactly "none" and stop. Do not research, do not summarize, do not explain. Stop. If a brief already exists in "Client Research/" for that meeting today, reply "already briefed" and stop. OTHERWISE, RESEARCH IT Save to "Client Research/[Meeting Name] [YYYY-MM-DD]". WHO I'M MEETING Role, company, how long they've been there, what they did before. WHAT THEIR COMPANY IS DEALING WITH What the company does in one line, then anything real from the last 60 days: funding, launches, leadership changes, layoffs, a pivot, a bad quarter. Recent and specific only. "They're a leader in their space" is worthless, cut it. WHAT THEY'RE PROBABLY WORRIED ABOUT Given their role and what just happened at their company, what's actually on this person's mind this week? OUR HISTORY Every past email or doc with this person. What's open, what I promised, what they're still waiting on. If I owe them something, put it at the top in bold. THE ONE QUESTION A single question tied to something specific and recent in their world. It should be impossible to ask without having done the reading. DON'T BRING UP Anything sensitive given recent news. Layoffs, a public stumble, a departure. RULES - Every claim about them or their company needs a source link. No link, no claim. - Found nothing? Write "no useful public information" and say so plainly. A short honest brief beats a padded one, and inventing a detail here is worse than showing up cold. - Readable in two minutes standing up.

Sunday morning, set up 6 to 8 (40 min). Sunday afternoon, the content pair, 9 and 10 (30 min).

06

Friday desktop cleanup

Friday 5pm · Claude or ChatGPT desktop app

What lands. Downloads sorted, receipts filed, a clean desktop to walk into Monday.

It touches your own folders, so it only runs while your computer is awake and the desktop app is open. Pick Downloads as the working folder. It never deletes anything, it hands you a list to approve.

Prompt

Clean up my Downloads folder. STEP 1: LOOK List everything in Downloads with name, type, size and age. Don't move anything yet. STEP 2: FILE IT Move files to: - Images → Pictures/Inbox/ - PDFs that are receipts, invoices or bills → Documents/Receipts/[YYYY]/ - Other PDFs and work docs → Documents/Work/Inbox/ - Spreadsheets → Documents/Sheets/ - Video → Movies/Inbox/ - Audio → Music/Inbox/ - Zips → Documents/Zips/ - Anything older than 60 days that didn't match above → Archive/Downloads-[YYYY-MM]/ STEP 3: PROPOSE, DON'T DELETE Write a file called DELETE-CANDIDATES.md listing what I could safely remove and why: - Installers (.dmg, .exe, .pkg) older than 14 days - Screenshots older than 30 days - Files that look like duplicates, same name or near-identical size List them with sizes and a running total of space I'd get back. Do not delete a single one. I'll read the list and decide. STEP 4: LOG IT Write a short log: what moved and where, what got archived, what's waiting in DELETE-CANDIDATES, total space recoverable. HARD RULES: DO NOT BREAK THESE - Never delete anything. Ever. Moving and archiving only. - Never touch a file created or modified in the last 48 hours. - Never touch a folder with "keep", "save", "active" or "working" in the name. - Unsure what a file is? Leave it exactly where it is and list it under "left alone, unclear." - If Downloads has fewer than 5 files, reply "Downloads is already clean" and stop.

07

Monthly expense roundup

1st of the month · ChatGPT for monthly, Claude weekly

What lands. Last month’s receipts read, categorized and totalled, so tax season is a download instead of a weekend.

In Claude, run it weekly instead.

Prompt

Process every receipt sitting in "Receipts/Inbox/" (PDFs, images, screenshots, forwarded emails). STEP 1: READ EACH ONE Pull out: vendor, date, total, tax, payment method, and category (Software / Travel / Food / Office / Contractors / Advertising / Utilities / Other). Can't read one clearly? Do not guess the amount. List it under NEEDS MY EYES with the filename and what you couldn't make out. STEP 2: RECORD IT If you can update an existing spreadsheet, add rows to "Receipts/[YYYY] Expenses". If you can only create new files, make "Receipts/[YYYY-MM] Expenses" fresh. Columns: Date | Vendor | Amount | Tax | Category | Payment | Business or Personal | Receipt filename STEP 3: TELL ME WHAT I'M LOOKING AT TOTAL: $X across [N] receipts BY CATEGORY Each category with amount and percentage, biggest first. WHAT CHANGED Any category up or down more than 20% versus the month before. This is the section I actually read. WORTH A SECOND LOOK - Anything over $500 - Vendors that never appeared before - Two charges from the same vendor that look like a duplicate - Subscriptions that went up in price - Subscriptions I'm paying for twice in different tools NEEDS MY EYES Receipts you couldn't read, and anything you weren't sure how to categorize. RULES - Never delete or move a receipt out of Inbox until it's recorded in the sheet. - Never invent an amount. An unreadable receipt goes on the list, it does not get a best guess. - Don't tell me what's tax deductible. Flag likely business expenses as "possible business" and leave the call to me and my accountant. - Nothing in Inbox? Reply "No receipts to process" and stop.

08

Monday 7:30am planning brief

Monday 7:30am · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. The week framed before you open a single app. The three things that matter, where the real free time is, and what’s about to fall through.

Prompt

Build my Monday planning brief. Save as "Weekly Briefs/[YYYY-MM-DD] Monday Brief". PULL FROM - Calendar, Monday through Friday - Gmail: threads from the last 14 days where I owe the next move - Slack: anything from the last 7 days I said I'd do - My work log files from last week if they exist WRITE THIS THE WEEK One line per day: meeting count, total hours, the one that matters. Then total meeting hours for the week and every free block longer than 90 minutes, with the day and time. THE THREE THINGS The three highest-leverage things on my plate this week. Be opinionated and rank them. For each: what it is, why it's top three, which specific free block to do it in, and what it costs me if it slips. Do not give me five. Three. I'M THE BOTTLENECK Threads where someone is waiting on me. Who, what, and how many days. Oldest first. DECISIONS SITTING ON ME Anything waiting on a call from me, with the actual options laid out so I can decide from this doc. ABOUT TO FALL THROUGH Commitments with deadlines this week that have had no movement. Say what happens if each one slips. WHAT I SHOULD DROP At least one thing on this week's calendar or list that isn't worth the time. Say which and why. If you can't find one, say "nothing obvious to cut", but look properly first. RULES - Readable in three minutes. Specific beats comprehensive every time. - Don't restate my calendar back at me. I can see my calendar. Tell me what it means. - The three things should be a real ranking you'd defend, not the three nearest deadlines.

09

Sunday content repurposing

Sunday 4pm · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. Your one big piece of the week turned into a full week of posts.

Voice makes or breaks this. Paste three things you wrote into the samples slot at the bottom, or it all sounds like a press release.

Prompt

Find the long-form piece I put in "Content/This Week/": article, transcript, newsletter, or long post. If there are several, use the most recent. If the folder is empty, reply "Nothing to repurpose this week" and stop. Write everything below in my voice. Match the writing samples at the bottom of this prompt. Every piece should be final and postable. No "consider adding" and no bracketed placeholders. 8 SHORT POSTS (X, Threads) - 3 with one sharp claim, no hedging, under 200 characters - 2 as a numbered list, 5 items max - 1 "I used to think X, now I think Y" - 1 question that's genuinely hard to scroll past - 1 thread opener: two lines that promise something specific 2 LINKEDIN POSTS - Long, around 250 words: hook in line one, the point by line four, ends on a real question - Short, around 80 words: one observation, no hashtags 3 INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS - A list caption, 5 to 7 items - A story caption, around 150 words - A three-line punch 1 NEWSLETTER TEASER Subject line, preview text under 90 characters, three short paragraphs. Save each platform as its own file in "Content/Repurposed/[YYYY-MM-DD]/". RULES - Every claim has to already exist in the source. Do not add a statistic, a story, or an example that isn't in there. If a hook needs a fact I didn't write, drop the hook. - Don't copy sentences straight across. Rewrite for the platform, keep the idea. - Before you finish, read the three strongest posts out loud in your head. Anything that sounds like a brand account instead of a person, rewrite it. - Then flag the two you'd bet on and say why in one line each. MY WRITING SAMPLES [Paste 3 things you wrote that sound like you: a post, an email, a caption]

10

Sunday newsletter draft

Sunday 5pm · Claude or ChatGPT

What lands. A real draft built from what you did this week. It needs automation 2 running, since that’s where the raw material comes from.

Prompt

Draft next week's newsletter. Save to "Newsletter/Drafts/[YYYY-MM-DD]". READ FIRST - My work log entries from the last 7 days - Anything I shipped this week in "Content/" - Email threads or Slack discussions where I made an actual argument about something Then pick ONE thing to build the issue around. The most specific, most concrete thing from the week. A real decision, a real mistake, a real number, a real change of mind. Not a theme. Not a roundup. Write it in my voice. Match the writing samples at the bottom of this prompt. THE DRAFT SUBJECT LINES Three options. Each one has to make a specific promise. Nothing that could sit on top of any newsletter ever written. PREVIEW TEXT Under 90 characters. Adds to the subject line, doesn't repeat it. OPENING Two or three lines that earn the next paragraph. Start inside the story, not with context. THE MAIN THING (300 to 500 words) The one thing, told properly. What happened, what I thought, what I got wrong, what I'd do now. Use the specifics from my work log: real names, real numbers, real dates. Specifics are the whole reason anyone reads this. QUICK HITS Three to five one-liners from the week. Link where it makes sense. ONE THING TO TRY Something a reader can actually do this week. Concrete enough to do on Monday. SIGN OFF Short. Sounds like me. RULES - Do not fabricate. If the week was quiet, write a shorter newsletter about one small real thing. A short honest issue beats a padded one, and readers can always tell. - Mark the weakest section [REVIEW] so I know where to spend my edit. - Then tell me in one line what this issue is actually about. If you can't say it in one line, the draft doesn't have a point yet and you should restructure it. MY WRITING SAMPLES [Paste 3 things you wrote that sound like you, ideally past newsletters]

Ten at once is how this fails. Set up 1, 2 and 8 this weekend (inbox triage, work log, Monday brief). Live with those for a week, then add the ones that fit how your week actually went. On ChatGPT Plus with 5 slots, add 4 and 10 next.

Four or five you actually read beats ten you stopped opening.

10 Things toAutomateThis Weekend

10 Things to
Automate
This Weekend