I tried the ‘AI leverage’ prompt — it exposed how much time I’m losing every week

I use AI every day for work, but I realized that thanks to tools like ChatGPT Agent and Claude Cowork with Dispatch, I could lean into AI even more. Not for the actual stuff that matters like writing and critical thinking, but for the busy work. You know, the stuff that feels productive in the moment but doesn't actually move anything forward.

So I decided to try something different. Instead of asking ChatGPT for answers, I asked it to audit how I spend my time — and tell me exactly where I’m losing it. What it came back with was, well, a little hard to ignore.

The prompt that changed how I see my time

Here’s the exact prompt I used: “Act as a productivity strategist. Analyze how I spend my time each week and identify what I should eliminate, automate, or delegate. Be direct — flag anything that doesn’t meaningfully contribute to my goals. Then suggest a simple plan to free up at least 10 hours per week.”

Before it even gave advice, it asked me a few questions:

• What does a typical workday look like?
• What tasks repeat daily or weekly?
• What feels urgent vs. actually important?
• What do I do that only I can do?

That alone was eye-opening. As a perfectionist with ADHD, everything feels urgent and extraordinarily important. But when I answered the questions ChatGPT asked, I cold already see the problem. And it flagged my responses immediately.

After I gave it my answers, ChatGPT grouped my time into three buckets:

• High-value work (keep): This was the stuff only I can do which included writing, story ideation, testing AI tools, big-picture thinking. Honestly, no surprises here.
• Necessary but low-leverage (optimize): This one felt obvious, but once I took a good look and noticed it included things such as formatting drafts, organizing notes and research rabbit holes (huge!). Individually these all feel harmless, but collectively they are eating hours of my week.
• Time traps (eliminate or automate): ChatGPT flagged a lot here such as over-checking emails, over-checking stats and Google, starting tasks without a clear outcome, jumping between tabs instead of finishing one thing and other really bad habits that feel important at the moment but are "wasted time" that ultimately adds up.

There was one suggestion that really stuck with me. Out of everything ChatGPT said, one particular idea changed how I work almost immediately:

“Batch anything that doesn’t require original thinking.”

Boom. It sounds simple, but I wasn’t doing it. Instead, I was constantly switching between creative work, quick fixes and admin work. That context switching was costing me way more time than I realized.

What I changed (and what actually worked)

As an over-checker of all things that I cannot control, I'll be honest about how the suggestions from ChatGPT didn't overhaul my entire workflow overnight. The bad habits were persistant until I made three small changes.

I now batch low-leverage tasks. Instead of doing them all day, i group them into one block. The result is fewer interruptions and faster completion. I'll often save those until the very end of the day when the more important stuff is done.

I also now let AI handle the smaller tasks like highlighting the most important emails to respond to first, setting reminders and creating spreadsheets. The results have saved me hours. Setting a clear “finish line” before starting anything and not letting myself get so easily interrupted by less important tasks because I save them for the end of the day or when I actually have a free moment.

Bottom line

Most people use AI to get answers faster, but that's only a fraction of what it can do. Because using it to analyze how you work and even take tasks off your plate can be pretty powerful.

You'll get time back while also giving more time to what actually matters. Take it from me, once you see those hidden gaps, you don’t just work faster — you work smarter.

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