# Turn a pile of updates into my next 5 actions for today

Picks out what truly needs you today from a stack of updates and turns it into 5 ordered actions that fit your schedule.

- Topic: Productivity & Planning
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Communication, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/turn-a-pile-of-updates-into-my-next-5-actions-for-today

## Prompt

```text
Go through everything below and turn it into a short action plan for today.

**What's in front of me:** [PASTE updates, emails, Teams or Slack messages, reports, task lists]
**My role and current priorities:** [ROLE and the 2-3 things that matter most this period]
**Time I actually have today:** [e.g. "back-to-back meetings until 3pm, then 2 hours free", "travelling, phone only"]
**People I can hand things to:** [NAMES or roles - optional]
**Today's date:** [DATE, so you can spot deadlines]

Steps:
1. **Needs me today** - pick only the items with a deadline today or tomorrow, an escalation, a decision only I can make, or real risk if they wait. One line each on why.
2. **My next 5 actions**, in order. Each starts with a verb and has: estimated time, what "done" looks like, and which item it comes from. The total must fit the time I have; if it doesn't, say what to drop or move.
3. **Hand off** - items someone else can take, with who and a ready-to-send one-line handoff message.
4. **Can wait** - everything else, with a suggested day to look at it (not a full summary).
5. **Looks urgent but isn't** - and anything quiet that could become a problem this week if ignored.

Rules: judge urgency from deadlines, who's asking, and impact - not from exclamation marks or the word "urgent". Don't invent deadlines; if one is unclear, mark it [CHECK DEADLINE]. Never put anything involving money, legal, safety, or a direct request from my manager into "can wait" without flagging it. I make the final call on priorities.
```

## What to fill in

- ROLE and the 2-3 things that matter most this period
- NAMES or roles - optional
- DATE, so you can spot deadlines
- CHECK DEADLINE

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.