Four prompts that stop the endless rewrites

Sort what's in my head

Everything I said out loud, sorted into decisions, tasks, messages to draft and things to drop.

Ask me first

Up to three questions before it starts. The one habit that stops most of the rewriting.

Hand it over

A short summary for a fresh chat: what we decided, what's left, which files we used. This one saves me the most time.

Read it as my most sceptical client

What's unclear, what's untrue, what would they cut. It points at the problems and leaves the rewriting to me.

Sort what's in my head

Paste it, then talk or type underneath. The full walk routine, with the dictation set-up, is the Walk + Talk Setup.

Below is everything in my head right now. It will be messy: repeats, half-sentences, changes of mind. Sort it for me.

Put every item in one of four piles:
1. Decisions I need to make. Write each as a question, with the deadline if I mentioned one.
2. Tasks. Give each one a first step small enough to do in ten minutes.
3. Messages to draft. Draft each one, short and in plain words. Never send anything.
4. Things to drop. Anything I have no reason to act on, or that I'm worrying about but can't change. Say why in a few words.

Use only what I said. The first steps are the only thing you add: no new tasks, ideas or advice. If I changed my mind, use what I said last. If one thing is unclear enough to change the sort, ask me that one question first. Keep it under 250 words.

What's in my head:
[talk or type here]

Ask me first

Paste it straight after you describe the task.

Before you start, ask me up to three questions about this task. Ask only what would change what you produce: who it's for, what good looks like, what to leave out, or anything you'd otherwise have to guess.

Ask them all in one message, numbered, and wait for my answers. Don't start the work, write a draft or make assumptions until I've replied.

If you already have everything you need, say "No questions" and tell me in one line what you're about to do. Then wait for me to say go.

Hand it over to a fresh chat

Paste into the long chat, then paste the result into a new one and carry on.

This chat is getting long. Summarise it so I can carry on in a fresh chat.

Use these headings:
→ The goal: what we're working on and who it's for, in one or two lines
→ Decided: what we agreed, with exact wording, numbers and names where they matter
→ Ruled out: ideas we dropped, so they don't come back
→ Still to do: what's left, with the next step first
→ Files: every file or link we used, by name

Under 150 words, unless keeping exact wording means going over. If so, say so.

Use only what's in this chat. Don't add ideas or advice. If you're not sure whether something was decided, put it under Still to do. If you can no longer see the exact wording of something from early in the chat, say so rather than rebuilding it.

Read it as my most sceptical client

Paste it with the draft. Fill in who the reader is: the more specific, the better the notes.

Read the draft in this message, including any subject line, as my most sceptical client would. They are [who reads this, for example: a busy managing director who gets five of these a week and deletes most of them].

Tell me:
→ What's unclear: anything they'd have to read twice
→ What's untrue or unproven: any claim they'd push back on
→ What they'd cut: anything that wastes their time
→ The one question they'd ask after reading it (no quote needed)

For each point, quote the exact words, then give the reason in one line. Put each quote under one heading only. Up to three points under each heading, most important first. If a heading has nothing worth saying, write "Nothing".

Don't rewrite it, don't soften the notes, and don't add praise. Keep it under 200 words.

The draft:
[paste it here]