This Underused ChatGPT Feature Can Save You Loads of Time at Work
One small feature, one giant leap for your productivity
Most of my colleagues at work use ChatGPT for polishing emails—especially the passive-aggressive masterpieces we feel like sending after a soul-crushing meeting with a demanding client.
But there’s so much more to it than email polishing.
ChatGPT has a whole toolbox of features that can make your workday smoother, faster, and way less soul-crushing. One of the most powerful (and criminally underused) features in my opinion? Tasks.
Today, we're diving into how Tasks can help you tame repetitive work—because nobody has time to prompting the same thing over and over again.
Meet the "Tasks" feature
The Tasks feature (available with GPT-4o on Pro) lets you assign persistent roles and responsibilities to ChatGPT. That means you can tell it things like:
"You're my data analyst. I’ll keep feeding you spreadsheets to summarise and chart."
And just like that, ChatGPT remembers its job.
No re-explaining.
No re-prompting.
No Groundhog Day.
It’s like having a super-reliable, never-on-vacation assistant that knows exactly what to do every time you show up with a task.
How I use tasks at work (and how you can too)
Let me show you how I use this feature as an Account Manager (and part-time Newsletter writer), which you can use as examples for setting up your own tasks.
1. Quarterly business reviews (QBRs)
Let’s be honest: writing follow-up emails after QBRs is no one’s idea of fun. That’s why I offload it to ChatGPT.
My Task Prompt:
You're my Client QBR Assistant. After every QBR, I’ll paste in meeting notes or transcripts. Your job is to:
Summarise the QBR in a professional, friendly tone
Highlight key decisions and next steps
Draft a follow-up email with:
A short recap
A thank-you
Action items
Optional links (e.g., to decks, roadmaps, or shared docs)
ChatGPT turns my chaotic meeting notes into polished client-ready emails in minutes. Chef’s kiss.
2. Charts & visuals for presentations
QBRs also mean decks. Lots of them. And nothing kills a presentation faster than walls of numbers.
My Task Prompt:
You're my Client QBR Assistant. I’ll send you spreadsheets to analyse and you'll:
Create easy-to-understand data visualisations
Extract key insights
Keep the insights short (please follow the 6x6 slide rule)
Suddenly, boring stats become slick visuals with real impact. And I get to look like a data wizard without opening Excel.
Tip: Be careful what kind of data you upload and refrain from adding any PII data (Personally Identifiable Information) or sensitive company information.
3. Newsletter generator
Sometimes I have to explain dense technical stuff or dry legal updates to clients in our newsletters. Not exactly a page-turner… unless ChatGPT rewrites it.
My Task Prompt:
You're my technical writer. I’ll send you engineering notes or legal updates — turn them into client-friendly newsletters in plain English. Keep a formal and friendly tone of voice but make these updates easy to understand.
Seriously, it's like magic. Clear, concise, and does wonder for the opening rates.
4. Ongoing research assistant
One of my colleagues in sales uses this feature to update their battle card. This is a presentation he needs to deliver on a quarterly basis for keeping the sales folks up to date with what competition is doing and what are the latest market trends. Tracking competitors or market trends would be a full time job, so why not let AI do it for you?
Task Prompt:
You’re helping me track competitors. I’ll drop in links and updates — summarise them and update a comparison table.
It’s like building your own AI-powered market tracker that keeps evolving with you.
Tip: This works best with tools such as “Search the web” and “Run Deep Research” so you can have the latest information available.
Why "tasks" are a game-changer
Let’s break it down:
Persistence: No need to start from scratch. ChatGPT remembers the job.
Structure: You get consistent output every time—whether it's emails, summaries, or slides.
Focus: Each Task acts like a dedicated assistant with a specific role so it’s best to keep each task in a separate chat.
Final thought
Whether you're drowning in QBRs, wrangling spreadsheets, or just tired of re-explaining the same prompt 10 times a week, tasks can save your brain energy (and your time).
Try setting one up today. Your email-fatigued, data-burdened future self will thank you for this.
Did you find this helpful?
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You’re not talking about custom GPTs? Just give ChatGPT the task prompt and it remembers?