# Your AI Director

> You direct. AI does the work. Short AI guides for everyday people at work, school, and home. No coding. You give the direction and check the work. By Joe Rangel.

Every workflow is a free, step-by-step guide with copy-paste prompts for mainstream AI assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Meta AI) and a Director check for verifying the output. Each guide uses question headings, and a one or two sentence answer sits under each heading. The date on each line is the last update. School workflows teach the reader. They do not do graded work, and they say to follow the school's AI policy. Created by Joe Rangel. Contact: hello@youraidirector.com.

Full text of every workflow: https://youraidirector.com/llms-full.txt

## Category hubs

- [Work workflows](https://youraidirector.com/work): Email, notes, reports, and spreadsheets.
- [School workflows](https://youraidirector.com/school): Study help. It does not do your homework.
- [Life workflows](https://youraidirector.com/life): Meals, trips, budgets, and plans at home.

## Start here

- [Your first 7 days with AI](https://youraidirector.com/start-here): A beginner plan, one small win a day.
- [Become an AI Director](https://youraidirector.com/director): Ask for a plan, approve it, let the chat work in phases, and check each phase. The seven everyday moves are on the same page.
- [Ask for a plan before the work](https://youraidirector.com/director/plan-first): To direct a big job, ask for a plan and a checklist first. Read that plan. Do not let the chat do the work until you say the plan is the one you want.
- [Approve the plan before it continues](https://youraidirector.com/director/approval-gates): To approve a plan, read it, change what is wrong, and say exactly what the chat may do next. That stop is an approval gate. 'Looks good' is not one.
- [Check each phase before the next one](https://youraidirector.com/director/inspect-in-phases): To keep a long AI job honest, inspect each phase before the next one starts. A checkpoint is that pause. You keep what is good, fix what is wrong, or stop.
- [Stop generic AI answers](https://youraidirector.com/director/stop-generic-answers): To stop a generic AI answer, put your facts, your reader, and one real example in the message. Then tell the chat to use those and nothing else.
- [Catch facts the AI made up](https://youraidirector.com/director/catch-made-up-facts): To catch a made-up fact, ask the chat to mark what came from you, what it is unsure about, and what you must check. Then you check the names, dates, and numbers before you use them.
- [Stop the yes-man reply](https://youraidirector.com/director/stop-the-yes-man): To stop a yes-man reply, ask the chat what is weak, what it would refuse, and what you might be wrong about. Agreement is not a review.
- [Break a big job into phases](https://youraidirector.com/director/big-jobs-in-steps): To keep a big AI job together, split it into phases first. A phase is one finished piece. You approve the order, then you let the chat do one phase and stop.
- [Ask for options and tradeoffs before you decide](https://youraidirector.com/director/options-and-tradeoffs): To decide with AI, ask for two or three options with the tradeoff, the cost, and what you might be wrong about. Do not ask what you should do. You choose.
- [All workflows](https://youraidirector.com/workflows): The full library.
- [Prompt fixer](https://youraidirector.com/tools/prompt-fixer): Free AI prompt generator and ChatGPT prompt improver. Turns a vague ask into a director-style prompt with role, goal, context, constraints, plan-first, approval, and a check. Runs in the browser. No login. No API key.
- [Guides by tool](https://youraidirector.com/tools): [ChatGPT](https://youraidirector.com/tools/chatgpt), [Claude](https://youraidirector.com/tools/claude), [Gemini](https://youraidirector.com/tools/gemini), [Copilot](https://youraidirector.com/tools/copilot), [Meta AI](https://youraidirector.com/tools/meta-ai). A page exists only when at least one guide names that tool.
- [Guides by topic](https://youraidirector.com/topics): [Email](https://youraidirector.com/topics/email), [Job search](https://youraidirector.com/topics/job-search), [Spreadsheets](https://youraidirector.com/topics/spreadsheets), [Meetings](https://youraidirector.com/topics/meetings), [Presentations](https://youraidirector.com/topics/presentations), [Essays](https://youraidirector.com/topics/essays), [Studying](https://youraidirector.com/topics/studying), [Meals](https://youraidirector.com/topics/meals), [Travel](https://youraidirector.com/topics/travel), [Budgets](https://youraidirector.com/topics/budgets), [Home projects](https://youraidirector.com/topics/home-projects), [Letters](https://youraidirector.com/topics/letters), [Research](https://youraidirector.com/topics/research), [Prompts](https://youraidirector.com/topics/prompts), [Audience](https://youraidirector.com/topics/audience). A page exists only when at least one guide title matches that topic.
- [New guides](https://youraidirector.com/new): Grouped by the day each guide was last updated. Newest first.
- [RSS feed](https://youraidirector.com/feed.xml): The same guides, for a reader.
- [Submit a use case](https://youraidirector.com/submit): The form emails hello@youraidirector.com. A person reviews it. It is not published on its own.

## Work

- [Turn meeting notes into action items](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/meeting-notes-to-action-items): To turn meeting notes into action items with AI, paste your notes and ask for decisions, owners, and due dates. Check the names against your memory before you share the list. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Write a difficult work email without the stress](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/write-a-difficult-email): To write a difficult email with AI, give it the situation and the outcome you want, then edit the draft until it sounds like you. You decide what gets sent. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Get the right Excel or Google Sheets formula by describing what you want](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/excel-formulas-with-ai): To get an Excel formula with AI, describe the spreadsheet in plain English and paste the formula it returns. Test it on a row whose answer you already know before you trust it. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Summarize a long report without missing the point](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/summarize-a-long-report): To summarize a long report with AI, ask for a short brief tied to the decision you need, with each fact traced back to the report. Check every number against the original before you send it. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Build a PowerPoint outline before you design a single slide](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/build-a-powerpoint-outline): To build a PowerPoint outline with AI, start from the decision the room needs to make and get a slide-by-slide outline in plain sentences. You build the slides yourself. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Prep for a job interview with a mock, not a script](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/prep-for-a-job-interview): To prep for a job interview with AI, turn the job post into practice questions and answer in your own words. Use the gaps it finds. Do not memorize a script. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Write a weekly status update your manager will actually read](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/write-a-weekly-status-update): To write a weekly status update with AI, paste your notes and ask for what moved, what is stuck, and what you need. Correct anything that is not true before you send it. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Update your resume with AI without inventing a career](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/update-your-resume-with-ai): To update your resume with AI, paste your real resume and one job post, then ask for gaps and rewritten bullets. You check every claim. It must not invent experience. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Write a cover letter that sounds like you](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/cover-letter-with-ai): To write a cover letter with AI, give it the job post, your resume, and two stories that really happened. Pick one short draft and edit it yourself so it sounds like you. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Run a job search with a weekly plan, not a tab pile](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/job-search-with-ai): To run a job search with AI, turn your background into target job titles, search words, and a weekly plan. You check the listings and send the applications yourself. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Use AI at work as a beginner, safely](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/use-ai-at-work): To use AI at work as a beginner, start with email, summaries, and outlines you can check. Do not paste private or customer data. Follow your job's AI rules. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Reply to work emails faster without sending a robot](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/reply-to-emails-with-ai): To reply to work emails with AI, paste the message you got and a few bullets about what you want to say. Edit the draft so it sounds like you, then send it yourself. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Use Copilot in Excel on a clean table](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/copilot-in-excel): To use Copilot in Excel, open it from the Copilot button in the workbook, with the file saved and the data in a clean table. Check the formulas yourself. The free Copilot chat site is not this button. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Use Copilot in Word and PowerPoint when the button is there](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/copilot-in-word-and-powerpoint): To use Copilot in Word and PowerPoint, open the Copilot button in the file and ask for a draft, a rewrite, or a short deck from a document you provide. Check every fact. If the button is missing, your account does not include it. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Research a topic with AI without trusting made-up facts](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/research-with-ai): To research with AI, ask for a sourced brief, open every link yourself, and have the chat mark what it is unsure about. Do not treat a confident answer as a fact until you check it. Last updated 2026-10-15.
- [Use Copilot in Outlook and Teams for email and meetings](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/copilot-in-outlook-and-teams): To use Copilot in Outlook and Teams, open the Copilot control inside that app and ask for one thing: a thread summary, a reply from your bullets, or what a meeting decided. Check the result against the mail or the transcript. If the button is missing, your plan or your admin has not turned it on. Last updated 2026-10-15.
- [Write prompts that get useful work (not vague answers)](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/write-prompts-that-get-useful-work): To get useful work from a prompt, name the goal, the facts only you know, the shape of the reply, and what the chat must not invent. Ask for one task, then change one thing and ask again. Last updated 2026-10-15.
- [Make ChatGPT remember your project](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/make-chatgpt-remember-your-project): To make ChatGPT remember a project, put the facts in a Project or in a short brief you paste every time. Saved memory, when your settings show it, keeps some details, not every word of every chat. End each session with a handoff note for the next one. Last updated 2026-10-15.
- [Rewrite your LinkedIn profile with AI without inventing a career](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/linkedin-profile-with-ai): To rewrite a LinkedIn profile with AI, paste the headline, About, and experience you already have and let the chat edit only those facts. You check every claim before you publish. Last updated 2026-10-15.
- [Rewrite something for a different audience (same facts)](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/rewrite-for-a-different-audience): To rewrite for a new audience, paste the original, name who it is for now and who it is for next, and mark the facts that must stay. The chat changes the words. You keep the facts. Last updated 2026-10-15.
- [Pressure-test a decision with AI before you commit](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/pressure-test-a-decision): To pressure-test a decision with AI, paste the plan and the facts you already have, ask for options and tradeoffs, then ask it to argue against the plan. You decide. The chat does not pick for you. Last updated 2026-10-16.
- [Turn a messy goal into a project plan with AI](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/project-plan-with-ai): To make a project plan with AI, paste the goal and the facts you have, let the chat ask questions, then set milestones before tasks. You supply every date and every name. The chat does not invent them. Last updated 2026-10-16.

## School

- [Study for an exam without AI doing it for you](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/study-for-an-exam-with-ai): To study for an exam with AI, let it quiz you and explain what you miss. Follow your school's rules. Do not turn in answers the tool wrote. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Turn a long practice quiz into the core concepts you need to learn](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/mock-quiz-to-core-concepts): To learn from a long practice test with AI, ask it to group the questions into a few ideas. Then study those ideas yourself. Follow your school's rules. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Get honest feedback on your essay (without AI writing it)](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/get-feedback-on-your-essay): To get feedback on your essay with AI, ask it to review your draft against the grading sheet and ask you questions. You do the rewrite. Follow your school's rules. Do not hand in text the tool wrote. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Make a study schedule for midterms](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/make-a-study-schedule): To make a study schedule with AI, give it your real exam dates and the topics you are shaky on. The plan tells you what to practice. Follow your school's AI policy. It does not study for you. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Turn lecture notes into flashcards you can actually answer](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/turn-lecture-notes-into-flashcards): To turn lecture notes into flashcards with AI, make questions from your own notes and practice from memory. The cards are a study tool, not something to hand in. Follow your school's AI policy. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Understand a hard reading before you discuss it](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/understand-a-hard-reading): To understand a hard reading with AI, work through it in small pieces and write the one-sentence version yourself. Follow your school's AI policy. Do not submit a response the tool wrote. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Practice a presentation out loud before you give it](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/practice-for-a-presentation): To practice a presentation with AI, use it as a practice audience for a talk you already outlined. It asks questions. You keep your own words. Follow your school's AI policy. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Use AI for school the right way](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/use-ai-for-school-the-right-way): To use AI for school without cheating, use it as a tutor that quizzes you and explains ideas. Follow your class rules. Do not turn in words or answers the tool wrote, and do not try to hide that you used it. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Build a weekly ChatGPT study routine](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/chatgpt-study-routine): To study with ChatGPT on a weekly routine, explain the topic, answer quiz questions yourself, and review only what you missed. Follow your school's AI policy. The chat does not do your homework. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Practice a language with AI at your level](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/learn-a-language-with-ai): To learn a language with AI, hold a short conversation at your level and ask for a correction after each reply. Review words you used. If a voice button is there, you can speak. If it is not, type. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Turn lecture notes into a study guide that shows the gaps](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/turn-lecture-notes-into-study-guide): To turn lecture notes into a study guide with AI, have it organize notes you took and point out gaps. You fill the gaps from class. Follow your school's AI policy. This is not a paper to hand in. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Learn math with an AI tutor, one hint at a time](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/learn-math-with-ai-tutor): To learn math with AI, study a worked example one hint at a time and try each step yourself. Follow your school's AI policy. Do not have the tool solve the homework you will turn in. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Brainstorm and outline an essay without the tool writing it](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/brainstorm-and-outline-essay-with-ai): To brainstorm an essay with AI, ask it to question your main idea. You write every sentence. Follow your school's rules. Do not turn in an outline the tool wrote. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Learn anything with AI, then take the quiz](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/learn-anything-with-ai): To learn anything with AI, explain the idea back in your own words and let the chat quiz you on what you got wrong. You write the notes. Follow your school's AI policy. The chat does not think for you. Last updated 2026-10-16.
- [Plan a school project with AI, then research it](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/plan-a-school-project-with-ai): To plan a school project with AI, paste the rubric and your due dates, then ask for a timeline and research questions. You read the sources and write the work. Follow your school's AI policy. The chat does not write what you turn in. Last updated 2026-10-16.

## Life

- [Plan a week of meals from what's already in your fridge](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/meal-plan-from-your-fridge): To make a meal plan with AI, list the food you have, your budget, and any foods you do not eat. Check that the plan fits your week before you shop. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Find a restaurant with Meta AI right inside Instagram or WhatsApp](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/find-restaurants-with-meta-ai): To find a restaurant with AI, ask Meta AI in an app you already use. Check the hours and the menu before you go. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Plan a trip itinerary and budget with AI](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/plan-a-trip-with-ai): To plan a trip with AI, give your dates, your budget, and what you like. Check the places before you book anything. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Make a monthly budget from the numbers you already have](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/make-a-monthly-budget): To make a monthly budget with AI, enter the income and bills you already know and ask it to sort them. You supply the amounts. It does not know your rent. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Compare two products before you buy either one](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/compare-two-products-before-buying): To compare two products with AI, paste facts from their pages and what you need the product to do. Decide from that comparison, and check the pages yourself. The guide does not invent prices. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Plan a kid's birthday party without the 40-tab spiral](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/plan-a-kids-birthday-party): To plan a kid's birthday party with AI, give the age, the headcount, the place, and a budget you chose. You get a simple schedule. You still book the place and buy the food. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Write a polite complaint letter that asks for one clear thing](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/write-a-polite-complaint-letter): To write a polite complaint letter with AI, give the facts, the date, and the one result you want. Send a short letter that does not invent order numbers or damages. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [ChatGPT for beginners, the first ten things to try](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/chatgpt-for-beginners): To use ChatGPT as a beginner, sign up and ask for one real task. Say who it should act as, what you want, your facts, and how the answer should look. Then check the answer. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Redesign a room with AI using a photo and a real budget](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/redesign-a-room-with-ai): To redesign a room with AI, share a photo of the room plus your style and a budget you chose. Ask for a plan and a shopping list. Check every price yourself before you buy. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Design your yard with a photo, your zone, and the sun](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/design-your-yard-with-ai): To design a yard with AI, share a photo plus the climate zone and sun you looked up yourself. Ask for a planting plan and a seasonal list. Check the plants at a garden center before you buy. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Run a monthly budget check-in with numbers you type](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/build-a-budget-with-ai): To keep a monthly budget with AI, bring this month's real income and spending and ask for a check-in against the plan you already made. You type every amount. It does not know your bills. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Make a four-week workout plan you can actually repeat](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/workout-plan-with-ai): To make a workout plan with AI, share your goal, your days, your equipment, and any injury, then follow a four-week plan you can repeat. Stop for pain. This does not replace a doctor. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Plan cheap-flight options and a road trip, then check the prices](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/cheap-flights-and-road-trips-with-ai): To look for cheap flights or a road trip with AI, ask for date ranges, nearby airports, and a driving route. Confirm every price on an airline or map site. The chat does not know today's fare unless you are looking at a search. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Write a letter with AI that asks for one real thing](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/write-a-letter-with-ai): To write a letter with AI, give the facts and the one result you want, then send a short letter in your words. Do not let it invent a law, a dollar amount, or a case number. Last updated 2026-10-14.
- [Make a flyer or poster with AI](https://youraidirector.com/workflows/make-a-flyer-with-ai): To make a flyer with AI, write the facts yourself, ask for a headline and a few lines, then place those words in a layout you can edit. If a picture tool draws the letters, read every word. Image tools often misspell dates and names. Last updated 2026-10-15.

## Optional

- [Newsletter](https://youraidirector.com/newsletter): One practical AI workflow by email every morning.
- [About Joe Rangel](https://youraidirector.com/about)
- [Privacy](https://youraidirector.com/privacy)
- [Advertise](https://youraidirector.com/advertise): Founding sponsor, $99 per week, for a logo and link in the labeled Sponsored bar plus a clearly labeled newsletter mention. The page does not list visitor counts.