I've never bought into the idea that AI can magically transform society or that it represents a new age of human experience. Contrary to the hyperbolic declarations of some AI companies, I was immediately intrigued by the idea that AI chatbots and tools could take care of some of the boring, tedious aspects of life and free up my time and energy for more of the bits I like.
Life is full of small, boring decisions and tasks. They're not hard, just relentless. I like gardening, but would struggle to plan one from scratch. I like going on walks with a dog and a baby, but making checklists beforehand isn't the reason.
I've found ChatGPT to be a great help in streamlining a lot of the annoying everyday chores and organizational aspects of activities I do enjoy. The reduced friction and extra free time are something I'd point to as a reason to at least try out ChatGPT and AI chatbots.
Here are a few of the more frequent and favorite ways I use the AI to save time.
Leftovers to dinner
When I'm on my own for dinner or just want to clear out the fridge, I've found that figuring out what to make is far more time-consuming than actually making the meal. Not that I don’t want to cook; it's just that envisioning the meal from what I see in front of me isn't my favorite part.
Happily, ChatGPT can suggest ideas for meals based on what you describe as available ingredients. In fact, recent updates have made it even better than that. I can just take a photo of the inside of the fridge, answer some questions about unlabeled Tupperware, and get a complete meal guide in a few seconds.
If I have a specific hankering or don't like the first idea, ChatGPT will offer plenty more. Two minutes of description and photo-taking is all it takes to get a recipe for something I want to make. Dinner happens without the extra half hour of stres,s and I use up ingredients before having to worry they're going bad.
Weekend plans
Like dinner, planning a weekend without specific events baked in can be tough, especially if I'm on my own for a couple of days. I flip between trying to do too much and not doing anything at all. I'd like to have more weekends where I do things but don't completely exhaust myself. When I don't know what to do for the weekend, I now ask ChatGPT to help me schedule things out, asking it to "make me a weekend plan that includes light chores like tidying up and laundry, plus restful stuff like reading and taking a walk?"
I've received variations on useful schedules where I spend Saturday morning doing laundry, followed by a midday walk, an afternoon to read, and even a reminder to call a friend I’ve been meaning to check in with. Sunday had time blocked for food prep and cleaning, but also some suggested audiobooks to enjoy with a coffee during the late morning. Seeing the balance written out somehow made it easier to follow through, and it set a template for future weekends. I've enjoyed it a great deal.
Gardening on time
I enjoy gardening, as I mentioned above, but figuring out a good schedule for the watering and lawnmowing, sorting out what my wife and I have planted and what's a weed, and the other details can be as exhausting as actually pushing the mower in the heat for an hour.
Winging it has usually been fine, but watering when things looked thirsty and mowing when I worry about losing my dog in the grass isn't the most organized system. ChatGPT has become a great unofficial garden manager.
I said, “Can you help me build a simple lawn and garden care routine for summer?" I then described the garden, took some pictures of it, and also captured some of my yard. It gave me a weekly plan that felt doable, including when to mow and water based on the rain, and how to make sure I only pull actual weeds. If I'm unsure, I can always take a photo and ask, with so far 100% accuracy.
Morning plans
Having a young child means I'm usually up quite early. That doesn't mean I'm able to get everything I want done before noon, however. I've vacillated between feeling like I'm failing before breakfast and going so hard I need an afternoon nap. But even at my most frenzied, I was wasting a lot of time just figuring out what I needed to do to start the day at my best.
When I first asked ChatGPT for help, I was pretty vague, but I soon refined a prompt that has served me well. I ask ChatGPT to “build me a realistic morning routine that starts at 6 a.m. that helps me ease into the day.” What came back was refreshingly humane: wake up, stretch a bit, have a good, healthy breakfast, and check on any personal matters before getting down to work by 8:30 a.m., doing email and other admin before starting real work. It's not revolutionary, but it has done wonders for my focus, making me less distracted by what I might have forgotten to do before starting work.
Organizing electronics
There’s a drawer that most people have packed with devices and wires I don't use but still have "just in case," including some I don't even recognize anymore. Every time I go through it, I end up getting rid of a lot, but somehow the drawer mysteriously never empties.
ChatGPT solved that annoyance for me. I pulled out a handful of cords and devices at a time and asked ChatGPT, “Can you help me figure out what these are and whether I still need them?” It walked me through each one, explaining what it was for, whether I might still have a use for it, and even how to recycle them correctly. After twenty minutes, I finally got rid of stuff I’ve been avoiding for years. I did keep the iPod Shuffle, just for nostalgia's sake.
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