Have an agent find the unfinished work hiding in your inbox, task list and meeting notes and keep pushing it forward: AI agent prompt
Pending approvals, promised follow-ups and half-done tasks get scattered across email, to-do lists and meeting notes, and the day ends before they're finished. Newer agents can sweep those places, list every open loop, make a plan, and keep working on the routine pieces for hours or days while checking their own progress. eWeek reported on Oct 22, 2026 that ServiceNow made its Arc agent generally available: an employee gives it a goal, and it spots unfinished work from the inbox, task backlog and meeting conversations, including pending approvals and follow-ups, then plans and carries out the steps across work apps within access rules set by IT.
Personal ProductivityUnfinished work sweepintermediateThe prompt
Here is what I have from the last week: my sent and received emails [paste or connect], my task list [paste], and my meeting notes or transcripts [paste]. 1) List every open loop: things I promised to do, things others promised me, approvals waiting on me or on someone else, and questions nobody answered. For each, give who, what, the date it came up, and where you found it. 2) Mark each one as 'I can finish this now' (for example, a reply or a reminder), 'needs my decision', or 'waiting on someone'. 3) Draft the replies and reminders for the first group, ready for me to review and send. 4) For the 'needs my decision' group, write a one-line summary and the options. 5) Give me a short plan for the rest of the week in priority order. Don't send anything or change any records without my OK.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt above.
- Replace every [bracket] with your own details (or fill in the blanks on AgentPlaybook Real Estate, which remembers your answers for the next prompt).
- Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and review the answer before you use it.
Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, ServiceNow, Notion
Real-world example: eweek.com/news/servicenow-nvidia-arc-ai-agent/
Featured in: ChatGPT prompts for business email, replies and follow-ups · AI prompts to summarize meetings, notes, documents and reports
Before you use it: what to check
Already built into this prompt
- Don't send anything or change any records without my OK.
Check yourself
- This prompt works on text other people wrote (emails, reviews, messages or web pages). That text can hide instructions aimed at AI, such as "ignore your rules and…". Paste it as material to work on, and never let the AI act on requests inside it, like paying, sharing logins or changing records. How prompt injection works →
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Read and edit the draft before it reaches a customer or goes public. If you later automate this prompt, start with "draft and notify me", not "send automatically".
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
Using an AI agent? Download this prompt as a SKILL.md agent skill with these checks built in, or get the .zip for Claude.ai. How to install skills.
Want to make this prompt even better? Grade it with the free prompt grader or build your own with the AI prompt generator.
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