Most data work time goes to the unglamorous middle — the setup, the second draft, the review. The right prompt quietly takes that part off your plate.
Keep a negative list
Treat the first output as a draft, not a verdict. The prompt does the typing; you keep the judgment about what ships.
Generate options, not answers
Treat the first output as a draft, not a verdict. The prompt does the typing; you keep the judgment about what ships.
- Have the model flag what it could not cover
- Ask for three angles, then cut to the one worth shipping
- Keep one ask per prompt — chaining beats cramming
Write down what you never want as explicitly as what you do. The exclusions often do more work than the instructions.