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.

Tip: Always start by asking your AI to help you think before you ask it to write.

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.

I used Claude to run deep prompts and generate thoughtful draft content.
I asked my VA to copy and paste output from specific chats into structured Google Docs.
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.

I used to feel constant pressure when facing complex strategic work—like I was the only one who could carry the whole thing. Now, I see prompting as a way to initiate the heavy lifting, and then partner with technology and my team to bring it to completion.

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.

💡

Use my affiliate link to find your Kolbe here

💡

Use my affiliate link for Clifton Strengths here.

Step 6: Build Your Own High-Leverage Prompting Workflow

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

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

Build Your AI Prompting Workflow

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.

Your job isn’t to do everything. Your job is to start the right thing, build the right frame, and empower the right systems (human and machine) to deliver results.

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.