TutorialsUnderstand the Basics + One Formula
The 5 core concepts of WorkBuddy, an overview of the 5 high-frequency life scenarios in this course, and the soul of the course — the universal prompt formula 'Goal + Input + Format + Constraint'.
What This Note Is
This is Lesson 1 of 'Live an Easier Life with AI'. Before copying any prompts, we clarify two things:
- Understand the basics: which core concepts of WorkBuddy this course uses, and what AI can actually help with in daily life (5 high-frequency scenarios)
- One formula: the soul of the course — the four-piece prompt kit 'Goal + Input + Format + Constraint'
After reading this lesson, when you copy the 5 prompt sets in Lesson 2, you will know why each part is written that way and how to adapt it to your own home.
Understand the Basics: 5 Core Concepts of WorkBuddy
1. Skills
Pre-installed 'special abilities' for AI. A skill can help you correctly complete a specific task; it can also be a standard workflow or a methodology for getting something done.
2. Experts
AI roles that are especially good at one particular thing — for example the 'Workbench Building Expert' in this course, who can build the first version of your life workbench from a single sentence. Like hiring a specialist who only does this one job.
3. Expert Teams
For complex problems, several experts each cover their own area and analyze together, and the lead expert summarizes the conclusions for you.
4. Inspiration Library Templates
Finished pages built by others. Pick one close to your own situation, duplicate it in one click, then change the content to what you need.
5. Connectors & Automations
Connectors let AI directly reach your external tools — for example the QQ Mail connector, with which AI goes into your mailbox to find bill emails; automations make it run automatically on the 1st of every month, so you don't have to remember.
No need to memorize these 5 concepts — they appear one by one in Lesson 2's cases: Cases 2, 3 and 5 invoke Skills, Case 1 uses Connectors & Automations, and Lesson 3 builds the workbench with Inspiration Library templates.
The 5 High-Frequency Life Scenarios
| Scenario | What the job is | How AI helps |
|---|---|---|
| Case 1 · Family bookkeeping | Archiving scattered spending info into a ledger | Screenshots, voice memos, email bills, bill files in computer folders — all four roads can be auto-organized into the same ledger |
| Case 2 · Medical visit management | Medical records, reports and medication logs in a mess | Organize a health profile + follow-up reminders + a question list before the visit |
| Case 3 · Healthy eating & weekly menus | Deciding 'what to eat' every day is exhausting | Weekly menu recommendations by health goal + calorie estimates + shopping list |
| Case 4 · Shopping comparison | Afraid of overpaying for big purchases | Compare specs, prices and needs, and give rational buying advice |
| Case 5 · Family trip planning | Building an itinerary from scratch every time | Itinerary, budget, booking list and packing list generated in one go |
The main line is Case 1 'family bookkeeping' — from a pile of scattered bills to a continuously updated family ledger; the finale builds a life workbench of your own from an Inspiration Library template.
One Formula: The Soul of the Course
The four-piece prompt kit:
Goal + Input + Format + Constraint
| Goal | Input | Format | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| What to do, and what counts as done well | What materials I give it, or which file/tool it should pull itself | What the output looks like (how many table columns, how many list items) | What it must not do |
Using the in-class family bookkeeping example
| Goal | Input | Format | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organize scattered spending info into a family ledger | Payment screenshots, voice memos, email bills, invoice files on the computer — AI reads them itself via connectors | Table | Mark unclear items as 'to confirm'; never guess |
Read it side by side: the goal is 'organize into a family ledger'; the input is materials from any of the four roads; the format is a 7-column table; the constraint is 'mark unclear items as to-confirm, never guess' — this is exactly what stops AI from confidently making things up.
Two Bonus Techniques
Small tip: add a role setting at the start
To make it feel more like a 'dedicated person', add a role-setting line at the beginning, such as 'You are my family bookkeeping assistant'.
Advanced technique: let it ask before it acts
Add a line at the end — 'If anything is uncertain, ask me questions to confirm the information before you start' — and AI will proactively ask about missing information instead of guessing.
Similar sentences appear in many prompts of this course ('ask me if unsure', 'ask me three questions before starting') — they are all variants of this technique.
Guiding Principle of the Course
AI remembers, organizes and prepares ahead; you judge and decide.
Treat AI as a housekeeper with a perfect memory who never gets tired of it — tell it what to record and what to watch, and you make the final call.
In the next lesson, we run this formula through all 5 life cases — every prompt is written with the four-piece kit, ready to copy as-is or adapt to your own home.
Live an Easier Life with AI
5 high-frequency life cases + build a family life workbench — get your family's money and affairs in order: bookkeeping, medical visits, diet, shopping and travel.
5 Case Walkthroughs: Full Prompt Sets
Family bookkeeping (four roads into one ledger) → medical visit management → healthy eating & weekly menus → shopping comparison → family trip planning (two steps) — the complete prompt for every case, ready to copy.