Stop overthinking and start doing: 5 AI productivity hacks

January 5, 2026

By Kim Komando

Welcome back to reality. The holidays are over, your inbox is a war zone, and that fresh start energy already feels like a distant memory. Here are some ways I use AI that I thought you’d find helpful, too. 

Quick note: When I say AI below, I mean ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or whichever chatbot you prefer. They all work for these tricks.

🗣️ Translate my thoughts

Stop staring at a blank screen. Open your phone’s voice memo app and ramble for 60 seconds about what’s on your mind.

How to get the transcript: On iPhone, open the Voice Memos app, tap your recording, then tap the transcript icon. Copy the text. On Android, use Google Recorder (it auto-transcribes), or upload your audio file directly to ChatGPT.

Prompt: “I just brain dumped my thoughts below. Turn this into a clear, professional [email/report/memo]. Keep my tone, but make it coherent.” Boom. Polished draft in seconds.

⛑️ Email triage

Drowning in a 47-message thread about a contract or meeting? Let AI do the reading. You’ve got work to do.

How to get it into AI: In Gmail or Outlook, open the email thread, click the three dots (more options) and select Print. Instead of actually printing, copy the text from the print preview. Paste it into AI.

Prompt: “Summarize this email thread in 3 bullet points. Then draft a response that addresses the key questions and moves things forward.” Copy, paste, send. You saved 20 minutes.

⏱️ Meeting prep in seconds

Got a meeting in 10 minutes? Upload the doc or paste the details.

Prompt: “I have a meeting about [topic] in 10 minutes. Give me 5 key talking points and 3 smart questions to ask.” You’ll walk in looking like a rock star who actually read the materials.

📚 Research assistant

Stop opening 15 tabs and forgetting what you were looking for. We’ve all been there. You started researching quarterly reports and somehow ended up watching videos of baby goats in pajamas.

Prompt: “Research [topic] and give me a summary with the 5 most important points. Include sources, so I can dig deeper if needed.” Let the bot do the heavy lifting.

😱 Help me

That overwhelming project sitting on your to-do list? It’s paralyzing because it’s too big. Break it down.

Prompt: “I need to [complete project]. Break this into small, actionable steps I can tackle one at a time. Number them in order.” Suddenly, the mountain becomes a checklist. And checking boxes? That’s the dopamine hit we all live for.

Now go forth and be productive. Or at least look productive enough that no one asks questions.

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