The most common reason AI disappoints is that every conversation starts from nothing. It does not know your job, your clients or what you did yesterday, so it gives you the answer it would give anyone. A routine fixes that, and it takes about two minutes a day.
Step 1: write a briefing document
One or two pages, kept in your own files:
- what your role is and who you answer to
- the people and clients you deal with most
- what you are responsible for right now
- how you like things written
- what you want to see first thing each morning
It will be wrong in places. That is fine. You will correct it.
Step 2: open every day the same way
Start a new chat and ask for the same thing each morning: read my briefing, then give me my day. With your calendar and inbox connected, that means today’s meetings, what arrived overnight that needs you, and whatever else you asked for in the briefing.
It is the same request every day, so save it. After a week it is a habit.
Step 3: close the day with a note
A chat has no real ending, so the simplest version is this: the next morning, the routine first drafts a short note of what you worked on yesterday and what the assistant did. You read it, fix it and file it, one note per day.
Keep the notes plain. What was worked on and what was done. No copied conversations, no customer personal details, nothing about staff matters.
Why the notes matter
They are how the assistant builds a picture of your work over time. After a few weeks it can look back and say: you have asked for the same report by hand three times, shall I add it to your morning? You say yes or no. The briefing gets better, and you approved every change.
What to expect
The first week feels slower than not bothering. You are going backwards a little to go forwards. By the third week most people would not give it up, because the assistant has stopped being a stranger.