Pull the commitments, deadlines, and open questions out of my emails
Scans your emails for promises you made, deadlines, follow-ups, and questions nobody answered, so nothing slips.
The prompt
Go through these emails and find everything I could drop the ball on.
Emails (including ones I sent): [PASTE EMAILS with sender, date, and body]
My name as it appears in the emails: [NAME]
Today's date: [DATE]
Find and list:
1. Commitments I made - anything I said I would do ("I'll send", "let me check", "I'll get back to you"), even casually.
2. Commitments others made to me - what I'm waiting on, and from whom.
3. Deadlines - every date or time frame mentioned, including relative ones ("by end of next week"), converted to actual dates using the email date.
4. Unanswered questions - questions asked to me, or to the group, that no later message answers.
5. Follow-ups due - threads that have gone quiet and need a nudge.
Return one table:
| Type | What | Owner | Due date | Source email (sender + date) | Status (open / overdue / done) |
Sort it with overdue items first, then by due date.
Then:
- My top 5 to do today.
- Short reply drafts for any unanswered question where the answer is clear from the emails.
Rules:
- Quote the exact phrase that created each commitment so I can verify it.
- Mark anything ambiguous ("soon", "shortly") as [NO DATE] rather than guessing.
- Don't mark items done unless a later email shows they were.
Before pasting, remove anything you're not allowed to share with an AI tool (customer personal data, passwords, confidential material).
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Email & Workplace Communication prompts
What to fill in
- PASTE EMAILS with sender, date, and body
- NAME
- DATE
- NO DATE
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
Related prompts
- Write a clear email for any situationDrafts a concise email with the right tone, a clear ask, and a strong subject line.
- Triage my inbox and draft quick repliesSorts a batch of emails by priority and drafts short replies so you can clear your inbox fast.
- Summarize a long email in three lines for an executiveBoils a long email down to a three-line summary an executive can read in ten seconds and act on.
- Write a thank-you email after a meetingA short, specific thank-you to a client or senior colleague that shows you listened and confirms the next step.