# Break a project into steps: prompt chain Turn a project description into a short list of steps with one job each, put them in an order a person can follow, say how long each takes and who does it, and check the plan against the date. **Made for:** Anyone who runs a small project, such as a coordinator, an assistant, a team lead or a volunteer organizer. ## Before you start Have these ready: - **The project** (required): Paste what you know, in any order. Say what you are making, the date it must be done by, who can help and how many hours you have. **How to use this chain** 1. Open a new chat in any AI assistant. 2. Copy the Step 1 prompt, replace every [PASTE HERE: ...] slot with your material, and send it. 3. Keep each answer: later steps ask you to paste it in. Run each step in the same chat or a new one; a new chat keeps steps from blurring together. 4. After a step that has a check, run the check before you move on. ## Step 1: List the pieces the project needs Write down each thing the description says must exist, be booked, be sent or be ready, with the words it uses. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a careful assistant who reads a project description closely and writes down only what it says. Your task is to list the pieces of work the project below needs, using the description's own words. This step does one job: it lists pieces. It does not make steps. The project: [PASTE HERE: The project] Rules: - Write one row for each thing the description says must be made, booked, sent, told or ready. - In "Piece", name it in a few words as a thing, such as "Room with a projector", not as an action. - In "Quote", copy the words about it from the description, word for word, as short as you can. Do not reword the quote. - If the project needs something the description never mentions, you may add up to two rows for it. Write exactly None found in the Quote cell of those rows. - Do not split a piece into steps yet. Do not add a date, a number or a name the description does not give. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Piece | Quote | ```` **You get back:** A table of the pieces the project needs, each with the description's own words. **Check after Step 1: Every quote is word for word from the description** Check by eye: Every quote in the Quote column appears word for word in the project. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Split each piece into steps of one job Turn every piece into steps that each do one thing, and say how to tell each is done. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a project coordinator who splits work until each part is one thing a person can do in one sitting. Your task is to turn each piece below into steps that each do one job. This step does one job: it splits work. It does not put the steps in order. The pieces: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (List the pieces the project needs)] The project: [PASTE HERE: The project] Rules: - Write each step as a short action that starts with a verb, such as "Test the projector". - Give each step one job. Do not join two jobs with "and" or "then", and do not write a list inside one step. If a step needs two jobs, write two steps. - In "Step", give each step a letter (A, B, C and on). Do not use numbers for steps. - In "Piece", write the piece the step belongs to. Give every piece at least one step. - In "Done when", write something a person could see or count, such as "Hana has replied yes". Do not write a feeling such as "the room is sorted". - Do not put an order, a date or a time on a step yet. Do not add a step that belongs to no piece. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | Step | One job | Piece | Done when | ```` **You get back:** A lettered table of steps, each with one job and a way to see it is done. **Check after Step 2: Every step has a job and a way to see it is done** Check by eye: Every row of the table has something written in "One job" and "Done when" (a blank or a dash does not count). If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Put the steps in order Say which steps must be finished before each one can start, and list them so each comes after the ones it needs. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a scheduler who works out what has to happen before what. Your task is to put the steps below in an order a person can follow from top to bottom, and say what each step needs first. This step does one job: it orders. It does not estimate time. The steps: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Split each piece into steps of one job)] The project: [PASTE HERE: The project] Rules: - In "Needs first", write the letters of the steps that must be finished before this one can start, such as B or A and C. If there are none, write exactly Nothing. - A step needs another only when it cannot start without it. Do not add a need just because one step is listed before another. - Use what the description says about who is free and when, and about what must happen before something else. - List the steps so that each one comes after every step it needs. - Do not change a step's wording. Do not add a step or drop one. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | Step | One job | Needs first | ```` **You get back:** The steps in an order a person can follow, each with what it needs first. **Check after Step 3: Every step says what it needs first** Check by eye: Every row of the table has something written in "Needs first" (a blank or a dash does not count). If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Say how long each step takes and who does it Give each step a time in plain words and a person or role, using only the people the description names. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an experienced planner who estimates honestly and says when something is a guess. Your task is to say how long each step below takes and who does it. This step does one job: it adds time and a person. The ordered steps: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Put the steps in order)] The project: [PASTE HERE: The project] Rules: - In "Time needed", use exactly one of these: under an hour, half a day, a day, a few days, a week or more. Count from starting the step to finishing it, including any wait for someone else. - Do not write a number in the Time needed column. Use the words above. - In "Who (a role)", write a person or role the description names, or You for the person who wrote it. If the description names nobody for the step, write Not decided. Do not make up a name. - Do not change the order or the wording of the steps. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | Step | One job | Needs first | Time needed | Who (a role) | The Time needed column must say exactly under an hour, half a day, a day, a few days or a week or more. ```` **You get back:** The ordered steps with a time in plain words and a person or role on each. **Check after Step 4: Every time is one of the five allowed phrases** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "under an hour", "half a day", "a day", "a few days" or "a week or more" in the Time needed column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 5: Write the plan and check it against the date Put the steps, the times and a plain answer to "does it fit?" on one page a person can follow. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a project coordinator who writes a plan one person can follow alone. Your task is to write the plan from the table below and say whether it fits the date. This step does one job: it writes up what the earlier steps decided. The table: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Say how long each step takes and who does it)] The project: [PASTE HERE: The project] Rules: - Start with one line that begins "Goal:" and says what the project makes and by when, in the description's words. - Under "Steps in order", copy the table with the columns Step, What to do, Needs first, Time needed and Who. Keep each step's letter, order and wording. - Under "Does it fit?", write two or three sentences. Add up the times in words, such as "about two working days", compare that with the hours and the date the description gives, and say whether it fits. If the description gives no hours or no date, say you cannot tell and name what is missing. - Under "Not in the description", write up to three questions about anything the plan needs that the description leaves out, each ending with a question mark. If there are none, write "- None found." - Write a number only as the description writes it. Write any other amount in words, such as "four weeks". Do not add a date, a cost or a number of hours that the description does not give. - End with exactly this line: Check the order and the times with the people who will do the work before you start. Return markdown in this form and nothing else: Goal: (one sentence) ## Steps in order | Step | What to do | Needs first | Time needed | Who | ## Does it fit? (two or three sentences) ## Not in the description (up to three bullets) Check the order and the times with the people who will do the work before you start. ```` **You get back:** A one-page plan with the steps in order, times, people, a fit check and the open questions. **Check after Step 5: The plan ends with the reminder to check it with the people doing the work** Check by eye: The answer includes the words "Check the order and the times with the people who will do the work before you start.". If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks Run these on the finished result. **Final check 1: Every number in the plan is in the description** Check by eye: Every number in the answer also appears in the project. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 2: Each step does one job** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Each step does one job Read the "One job" column in the answer. Does any step name two jobs, joined by "and", "then", a comma or a list? Answer FAIL and quote each step that does. The work to check (the answer from Step 2 (Split each piece into steps of one job)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Split each piece into steps of one job)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 3: No step comes before one it needs** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: No step comes before one it needs Read the table from top to bottom. Does any step come before a step listed in its "Needs first" cell, or name a letter that is not a step in the table? Answer FAIL and name each step that does. The work to check (the answer from Step 3 (Put the steps in order)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Put the steps in order)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 4: The fit check says only what the description supports** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: The fit check says only what the description supports Read the "Does it fit?" section. Does it say a plan fits or does not fit using only the hours and the date in the project description? If the description gives no hours or no date, does it say so instead of guessing? Answer FAIL and quote each claim the description does not support. The project: [PASTE HERE: The project] The work to check (the answer from Step 5 (Write the plan and check it against the date)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 5 (Write the plan and check it against the date)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 5: The person doing the work agrees with the order and the times** Ask yourself: Read the plan with the person who will do the work. Ask whether any step must come earlier or later than shown and whether each time matches how long it takes them. Only they know how long their own work takes. If it does not pass: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## What you end up with - A one-page plan with the steps in order, each with what it needs first, a time and a person. - A plain answer to whether the plan fits the date and the hours. - The questions the description leaves open. ## Changing this chain - The template makes each step do one job, and each of its own steps does one job too. They list the pieces, split them, order them, add time and people, then write the plan. Run the steps one at a time if you want to change one. - Say the date and the hours you have in the description. The plan can only tell you whether it fits when it has both, and it says so when one is missing. - The times are guesses in plain words, not estimates from data. Change any that you know better, then run the last step again. - A number that is only in your head is not in the description, so the number check will not accept it in the plan. Write it in the description if you want it used. - For a big project, run it once for each part and join the tables. - Paste only what you are allowed to share with an AI tool. Change names to roles first if you would rather not share them. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.