Organising with GenAI

Time management

GenAI can suggest ways to manage your time, but it’s your judgement that turns its suggestions into realistic and effective plans.

By providing clear instructions, you can use these tools to reflect on your time management skills and refine short-term and long-term plans.  

Here are some ways to manage your time with GenAI, plus example prompts:

• Exploring time management strategies
  • Prompt: “I want to improve how I manage my time as a university student. Ask me questions about my routines and challenges, then suggest strategies that align with my strengths and goals.”
• Auditing your daily schedule
  • Prompt: "I want to review how I spend my time. Here is my daily schedule: [insert details]. Identify opportunities to optimise my day for better productivity and time management.”
• Establishing a study plan for the semester
  • Prompt: "I have the following assessments and exams due this semester [insert key details and dates]. Create a step-by-step plan to balance my workload and ensure I meet all deadlines.”
• Structure a study session using the Pomodoro Technique
  • Prompt: “Act as my study coach and guide me through a productive study session using the Pomodoro Technique. Here’s my goal for this session: [goal].”

Task management

Balancing coursework, assignments and personal responsibilities is crucial to succeeding at university. GenAI can help you evaluate your workflow, suggest improvements and reduce the cognitive load of managing multiple priorities.  It can help you explore new ways to approach your workflow, but it is up to you to decide what works best and put in the work.

Here are three ways GenAI can help you manage your tasks, plus example prompts:

• Exploring ways to optimise your workflow
  • Prompt: “I’m looking to improve my assignment workflow. I have to complete [type of assessment] in [amount of time]. Ask me about my usual approach to completing similar tasks and identify opportunities to enhance my process."
• Using GenAI as a sounding board to prioritise competing tasks
  • Prompt: “I have multiple tasks due this month: [list tasks and deadlines]. Using the Eisenhower Matrix, ask me questions to sort these tasks by importance and urgency.”
• Breaking complex tasks into manageable steps
  • Prompt: “Help me break this assignment down into manageable steps with clear deadlines and actions. [Insert assessment type and stages if any].”

Overcoming procrastination

While effective task management can help you stay on top of your workload, procrastination can still get in the way.

Here are some ways GenAI can help you overcome procrastination, plus example prompts:

• Reflecting on procrastination
  • Prompt: “I keep procrastinating on my assignment on [topic]. Ask me questions to help figure out why I’m avoiding it and suggest a plan to get started.”
• Motivating yourself through gamification
  • Prompt: “Motivate me to work on my project about [topic] for the next hour. Turn it into a challenge or give me a reward system I can use.”
• Setting effective goals
  • Prompt: “My objective for today is [insert goal]. Using the SMART framework, ask me questions to ensure my goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.”
• Identifying quick wins
  • Prompt: “Help me start my project on [topic] by suggesting the smallest, easiest step I can take right now.”

Final tip

GenAI can provide structure, but success in managing your time and tasks will come from consistent effort and reflection. Start small, experiment with these strategies and build habits that work for you.