Tasks in ChatGPT: Like a Magic Genie, But Without the Three-Wish Limit
AI That Handles Your To-Dos and Reminders? Yes, Please!
AI That Handles Your To-Dos and Reminders?
Ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day? Same. But what if you had an assistant—one that never forgets a task, doesn’t get distracted, and works around the clock? Enter ChatGPT Tasks, your AI-powered way to automate reminders, generate content ideas, and streamline your workflow.
This week, we’re diving into how to set up Tasks to work for you—whether it’s keeping your business organized, boosting your content strategy, or even helping with mindset and motivation. Plus, we’re looking at OpenAI’s new Operator (a real AI agent, not just a tool) and what it means for the future of automation. There’s also a quick look at copyrights, prompts and AI output. And of course, we’ll wrap up with some thoughts on DeepSeek and why I’m sticking with my current AI lineup.
Let’s go!
Getting Started with ChatGPT Tasks
Want to automate reminders, research, or content ideas with ChatGPT? Here’s how you can set up Tasks to work for you.
1 - Choose the Right Model
First, make sure you're using the GPT-4o with scheduled tasks model. You’ll find it in the dropdown menu when starting a new chat.
2 - Create a Task
Tell ChatGPT what you want it to do and when. Just type a prompt that includes a clear task and schedule, like:
"Every weekday morning at 8 AM, remind me to review my top 3 priorities for the day."
3 - Manage Your Tasks & Notifications
Check your scheduled tasks anytime in the Tasks section.
Need to tweak something? You can edit or remove tasks as needed.
Make sure notifications are enabled on your phone and desktop so you actually get your reminders!
Try These Task Ideas
🚀 Business & Productivity
Daily Goal Check-in → "Every morning at 8 AM, remind me to review my top 3 priorities for the day."
Weekly Business Review → "Every Friday at 5 PM, prompt me to reflect on wins, challenges, and next steps for my business."
Networking Reminders → "Every Wednesday at 2 PM, remind me to engage with 5 new connections on LinkedIn."
Invoice & Payment Follow-ups → "Every 1st of the month, remind me to check unpaid invoices and follow up with clients." Imagine this one combined with Operator, you'll be able to tell Operator to handle this for you.
📢 Marketing & Content Strategy
Content Planning → "Every Monday at 10 AM, suggest five blog or video topics based on trending industry discussions."
Newsletter Prep → "Every Wednesday at 1 PM, remind me to draft and schedule my email newsletter."
SEO Check → "Every month on the 15th, remind me to check my website traffic, top-performing pages, and SEO rankings."
PR & Visibility → "Every Tuesday at noon, suggest one publication or podcast I should pitch myself to."
Brand Consistency Check → "Every quarter, remind me to review my website, social media bios, and branding for consistency."
📱 Social Media & Engagement
Trending Topics Research → "Every morning at 7:30 AM, give me a quick rundown of trending topics in my industry."
Post Ideas & Scheduling → "Every Sunday at 5 PM, suggest three LinkedIn post ideas for the week ahead."
Engagement Boost → "Every day at 11 AM, remind me to comment on three relevant posts in my niche."
Hashtag Strategy → "Every Monday at 9 AM, suggest five hashtags relevant to my content this week."
Reel & Video Inspiration → "Every Wednesday at 4 PM, suggest three video hook ideas for Instagram or TikTok."
🛠 Tech & Systems Optimization
Website Maintenance → "Every month, remind me to check my website for broken links and page speed."
Automation Review → "Every quarter, remind me to review and optimize my email sequences and workflows."
Tool Audit → "Every six months, remind me to check if I'm still using all my paid subscriptions and software tools."
Backup & Security Check → "Every month, remind me to back up my website and update security settings."
🧠 Mindset Boosters
Morning Mindset Reset → "Every morning at 7 AM, give me a powerful affirmation or mindset shift to start the day with confidence."
End-of-Day Reflection → "Every night at 5 PM, prompt me to reflect: What went well today? What’s one thing I can improve?"
Imposter Syndrome Check-in → "Every Wednesday at 2 PM, remind me: 'You don’t need to be perfect to be valuable. What’s one thing you can share today that will help someone?'"
Energy Reset Reminder → "Every afternoon at 2 PM, remind me: 'Step away for 5 minutes. Breathe. Move. Reset your energy before diving back in.'"
Play around with these, experiment, and see how Tasks can help streamline your workflow and help you uplevel. And if you don’t like them, tweak them or remove them, it’s all up to you!
Smooth Operator?
Last week we talked about agents and agentic AI, this week I wanted to touch on AI Tools vs. AI Agents. so what is the difference between a Tool and an Agent?
AI Tools – Software that uses AI to help with specific tasks but still needs a good amount of human input. Think of it as a smart assistant rather than a replacement.
AI Agents – Autonomous systems that can perceive, decide, and act with minimal human involvement. They’re more like independent problem-solvers than just tools.
I saw an analogy that I really like:
AI tools are like cruise control—you’re still in the driver’s seat, steering and making decisions, but the tool helps by maintaining your speed. It works with you.
AI agents, on the other hand, are more like a self-driving car. They handle the speed, stay in the lane, and make decisions based on sensors and data. Instead of assisting you, they’re driving for you.
This week, OpenAI announced their Operator which is an AI Agent capable of doing things like making reservations, buying event tickets or even buying groceries. It's only available to Pro users right now but should come to Plus users in the coming weeks.
I watched the announcement video (link well worth the 20 minute watch time) It is fascinating to see the AI navigate a website and make decisions as it went through the process. It's aware of the pixels, sees the screen just like we do.
Operator documents it's steps in a sidebar and you have the ability to take over it's session at any point. It's like a browser in a browser with the AI agent in between. You can provide site login details so it can access your account. I can't wait to try it. Wonder when it will be able to do the dishes?
What do you think you'll try?
Thoughts on DeepSeek
DeepSeek: you've probably heard the news about DeepSeek's newly released model that was trained at a much lower cost compared to models like ChatGPT. The news sent stocks like Nvidia down and caused all sorts of chaos in the market. I'm not planning on using it and here's why.
You know the old saying about if it's free, you're the product? This is applied to social media platforms all the time. I'm not using DeepSeek because I'm not sure I want to be their product. And given the times, (looking at you, TikTok) I am also concerned about building based on something that I might not have continued access to.
I'm sticking to what I already am using and that means ChatGPT with a side of Claude or Gemini.
That said, I am excited to see the innovations and how they'll affect growth of the entirety of the ai ecosystem. it reminds me of the search engine wars back in the day.
The US copyright office ruled prompts aren’t copyrightable.
The U.S. Copyright Office made it clear: prompts aren’t copyrightable. After reviewing thousands of opinions, they ruled that AI can assist, but it doesn’t replace human creativity. Think of AI like an intern—it can help, but you still have to do the actual creative work to claim ownership. Here's the breakdown:
What You Can Copyright: If you create something, it’s yours—even if AI helps. Using AI as a tool for editing, refining, or enhancing doesn’t take away your copyright. You also have rights over any modifications or arrangements you make to AI-generated content, as long as your changes are creative and original. So while AI can assist, the parts you actively shape, edit, or remix are still legally yours.
What You Can’t Copyright: If AI creates something with little or no human involvement, it’s not copyrightable—ownership requires human creativity. A simple prompt, like “Create a sci-fi city,” is just an instruction, not original expression. And since AI can’t be an author, anything it generates isn’t owned by the AI or the person who pressed "generate."
The Gray Area (Maybe Copyrightable?): Some AI-assisted creations fall into a gray area where copyright might apply. If you craft a highly detailed, iterative prompt and refine it over multiple attempts, there could be a case for authorship—especially if the final result closely reflects your specific creative direction. Also, curation and arrangement matter; if you carefully select, combine, and organize AI-generated elements in a unique and intentional way, your creative input could make the final work eligible for copyright protection.
The Bottom Line
Existing copyright laws are largely adequate—no new legislation is currently needed.
Human creativity is the deciding factor—AI can be a tool, but it cannot replace human authorship for copyright eligibility.
Prompts alone do not establish copyright, though detailed, iterative, and heavily guided use of AI may change that and need further legal clarity.
Did you know? You can tell ChatGPT how to treat you...
In the beginning you had to include this information in your prompts. Now you can add custom instructions into your account settings so chat will respond to you the way you want, so you'll get more out of it.
Go to your profile menu and look for Customize ChatGPT.
(if you're on mobile, it's under Personalization > Customize ChatGPT.)
Here's what the options look like now:
And if you expand the Advanced section you can apply these to different ChatGPT capabilities. You can find more details in the documentation here.
What you enter here will apply to all new chats and if you update your custom instructions, you'll need to load a new chat for the changes to take effect.
Next Up—Mastering Prompt Engineering
Now that you know how to automate tasks with ChatGPT, think about what’s next: getting even better responses. AI is only as good as the instructions you give it, which is why prompt engineering is a foundational skill.
Next week, we’ll break down prompt techniques to help you fine-tune ChatGPT’s responses, get hyper-specific answers, and even create prompts that feel like you have a personal AI strategist at your fingertips.
Until then, go set up some Tasks, experiment with automation, and let me know what you’re excited to try first. See you next time!
Lisa