How I Turned 3 Months of Work Into 2 Days: AI Prompting for High-Leverage Productivity

Ever stared down a massive project so intimidating that you put it off until it became an emergency?

Yeah, I’ve been there. 

Recently, I had to design and document strategic systems, SOPs, and org-wide roles—including for positions that didn’t even exist yet—for an entire company. The kind of work that usually takes an entire quarter to complete. Strategic, complex, layered.

And I delayed. Not because I’m lazy—but because I knew exactly how much time, mental energy, and attention to detail it would take. I knew it would require full focus, and that’s hard to come by when you’re juggling multiple initiatives.

But here’s the twist: I finished it in two days. 

With clarity. With confidence. With peace. 

And AI made it possible.

I’m about to break down exactly how I:

• Used AI to collapse months of work into two days
• Applied the "prompt the prompt" method for better results
• Delegated strategically to my VA using AI-generated tasks
• Discovered where I add the most value in a human-AI collaboration
• Developed a repeatable, scalable workflow for high-leverage results

Let’s get into it.

Step 1: Recognize When You’re Procrastinating for a Reason

I wasn’t putting this project off out of laziness. I was overwhelmed by the scale of it:

• Define roles that had never existed before
• Build SOPs from scratch
• Create strategic infrastructure that touches every part of the business
• Deliver it in a way that sets the department up for long-term success

This isn’t checklist work—it’s high-stakes, high-impact thinking. I knew I needed time and space I didn’t have.

So I reframed the problem: What if AI could hold the initial weight of the thinking?

Step 2: Start Prompting Early — Even Before You Feel Ready

When the deadline hit, I had no more room to delay. So I started prompting.

And here’s the key: I didn’t just dive into one big prompt. I used what I call the "prompt the prompt" method:

Prompt #1: "Help me design the best prompt for creating a comprehensive SOP for a role that doesn't exist yet."

That meta-prompt gave me a thoughtful, detailed structure I could refine. Then I ran that new prompt in Claude, and later in ChatGPT, to test output variety and depth.

If you really struggle with prompts - check out this trove of starter ChatGPT prompts from Semrush.

Step 3: Delegate the Middle — Not the Thinking

The magic wasn’t just in prompting. It was in how I layered my workflow.

1. I used Claude to run deep prompts and generate thoughtful draft content.
2. I asked my VA to copy and paste output from specific chats into structured Google Docs.
3. I woke up with the drafts in place, reviewed them with fresh eyes, and made high-level refinements.

The result? I saved hours. Literal hours. 

And the final documents were better than if I had white-knuckled my way through every step.

Here’s why:

• AI gave me a first draft to react to
• My VA handled the formatting and collation
• I stayed in my zone of genius: editing, sense-making, guiding

This was a huge shift in how I see my role in human-AI collaboration.

Step 4: Prompt Your Way to Peace

The deeper lesson here? 

Prompting isn’t just about productivity. It’s about peace.

By prompting first, I:

• Clarified the problem
• Identified the architecture of the solution
• Created a clear draft for others to work from

This allowed me to relax, trust the process, and even enjoy my day. While my 30-minute prompt ran in the background, I was eating kimchi pickles with my husband and tweaking my Formula 1 fantasy team. That’s a long way from bloodshot eyes glaring into a blank screen at 2 am. 

Step 5: Lean Into Your Kolbe Instincts

This experience reminded me where I personally add the most value.

• Fact Finder/Follow Thru (6/6): I structure and clarify well
• Quick Start (Kolbe 8): I’m great at initiating
• Low Implementor (2): I shouldn’t be the one formatting or manually compiling

Half my AI use this week involved starting something and handing it off:

• I prompted the big idea
• I shaped the output
• I passed it to someone else for refinement or completion

That’s high-leverage work. Where human creativity, natural strengths, and role alignment meets scalable systems.

Step 6: Build Your Own High-Leverage Prompting Workflow

Here’s a version of my repeatable process that you can adapt:

1. Define the Outcome – What exactly do you want to produce?
2. Prompt the Prompt – Ask the AI to help you create the best possible prompt
3. Run Initial Drafts – Use multiple tools (e.g. Claude, ChatGPT) to cross-reference quality
4. Delegate Collation – Assign your VA or team to format, organize, or extract the best parts
5. Refine With Fresh Eyes – Review in a high-energy state, make strategic decisions, and finalize
6. Systematize – Save your best prompts, refine your process, and build a template bank

This is the Future of Work: AI + Human Collaboration

If you’re a founder, strategist, or leader doing deep knowledge work, AI isn’t just a productivity hack—it’s a thought partner. A collaborative force multiplier.

That’s what I mean by prompt your way to peace.

And that’s how I turned a project I dreaded into something I actually enjoyed building.

If you’d like to chat about how to design a new workflow that gives you hours and energy back, book a free call with me. Let’s get started!

P.S. Read this next if you want to dive deeper on my take on prompts that actually work.