Five Tasks Worth Taking Five For

Most of us have tasks that seem to take longer than they should.

The email that needs a little extra thought. The meeting you’re preparing for. The spreadsheet that needs organizing. The project you know you need to start, but aren’t quite sure how.

They’re not necessarily difficult tasks. They’re just part of the workday, and they add up.

That’s where our Take 5 approach comes in. If a task is going to take more than five minutes, spend five minutes asking yourself: Could AI help me with this? You might be surprised by how many everyday tasks are worth that little pause. Here are five places to start.

Writing Emails and Communications

We’ve all spent more time than we’d like staring at a blank email.

Maybe you need to explain a complicated situation, respond to a frustrated customer, or communicate a change to your team. Sometimes the hardest part is simply figuring out how to begin.

AI can help you get a first draft on the page.

Try asking it to draft an email based on the points you want to communicate. You can also ask it to adjust the tone, make the message more concise, or organize your thoughts into a clearer explanation.

Try this prompt:

“Help me draft a professional, friendly email explaining [situation]. Include these key points: [list your points]. Keep the tone conversational and make the next steps clear.”

Review the draft, make it sound like you, and make sure it communicates what you intended.

Preparing for Meetings

Meeting preparation doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Between reviewing documents, organizing updates, and thinking through questions, it can take more time than expected.

AI can help you prepare by summarizing approved documents, organizing discussion points, or generating questions to consider before the meeting.

Try this prompt:

“I’m preparing for a meeting about [topic]. Help me organize these notes into key discussion points and suggest five questions we should address.”

You can also ask AI to turn a long document into a short list of takeaways to help you prepare. The goal isn’t to let AI participate in the meeting for you. It’s to help you walk in better prepared.

Making Sense of Long Documents

Reports, proposals, policies, and other lengthy documents can take a while to work through, especially when you only need a few specific pieces of information.

AI can help summarize a document, identify key points, and organize information so it’s easier to review. For example, you might ask it to summarize a report, identify important changes, or pull out the information most relevant to a particular project.

Try this prompt:

“Summarize this document into five key takeaways. Highlight important dates, decisions, and action items. If something is unclear, flag it rather than making an assumption.”

Just remember that a summary isn’t a substitute for reviewing the original document when the details matter. Always verify important information and make sure nothing critical was overlooked.

Getting a Project Started

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to getting something done is knowing where to begin.

You have an idea, a goal, or a problem to solve, but turning it into a plan feels like another project all on its own.AI can help you organize your thoughts, break a larger task into manageable steps, and identify questions you may need to answer.

Try this prompt:

“I need to develop a plan for [project or goal]. Help me break this into manageable steps, identify what information I’ll need, and suggest a reasonable order for completing the work. Ask me questions if you need more context.”

You don’t have to accept every suggestion. Use the response as a starting point, then apply your own knowledge of the people, resources, and priorities involved.

Repetitive Tasks That Keep Coming Back

Some of the best opportunities for AI are hiding in the tasks we do over and over again.

Maybe you regularly transfer information between documents, organize data, create recurring reports, or reformat spreadsheets. These tasks may not be especially complicated, but they can consume a surprising amount of time.

In one of our recent Take 5 examples, a client used Microsoft Copilot to transfer information from a six-page PDF into a blank Excel spreadsheet. After asking Copilot to apply specific formatting, she had a usable spreadsheet in about 30 minutes. The task would normally have taken her a couple of hours.

That’s a meaningful time savings from a relatively simple change in approach.

Try this prompt:

“I regularly need to [describe the repetitive task]. Help me identify which parts of this process you could assist with and what information you would need from me.”

You may discover an opportunity to make a recurring task easier, even if AI can’t handle the entire process.

A Few Things to Remember Before You Start

AI can be helpful, but not every task is a good fit.

Before uploading documents or entering information, make sure you’re using an AI tool approved by your organization. Understand how the tool handles data and follow your company’s policies for confidential and sensitive information.

And don’t skip the human review. AI can make mistakes, misunderstand instructions, or leave out important details. Check the results, verify important information, and use your judgment before putting the work to use.

The goal is to make your work easier, not to trade one problem for another.

Your Take 5 Challenge

Look at your to-do list. Is there an email you’ve been putting off? A report you need to review? A task you’ve done the same way for months?

Pick one. Before you start, take five minutes to ask yourself: Could AI help me with this?

You don’t need a perfect prompt or a complicated plan. Start with what you’re trying to accomplish, see what AI can do, and decide whether the result is useful. You might save a little time. You might find a better way to approach the task. Or you might learn that AI isn’t the right tool for that particular job. That’s all part of the process.

AI adoption doesn’t have to start with a big transformation. It can start with one task, one question, and five minutes.

Take 5. Use AI. Keep your guardrails.

If your organization is exploring AI but isn’t sure where to begin, OneSource can help you think through practical applications, responsible use, and the technology that supports your business.