---
name: al-240-have-an-agent-find-the-unfinished-work-hiding-in-your-inb
description: "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. Use when the user wants help with unfinished work sweep (personal productivity) for a small business."
---

# Have an agent find the unfinished work hiding in your inbox, task list and meeting notes and keep pushing it forward

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.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- Or connect
- Your own material (text, notes or data)

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

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.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- 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.
- 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.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, ServiceNow, Notion
- Based on this real-world example: https://www.eweek.com/news/servicenow-nvidia-arc-ai-agent/
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-240-have-an-agent-find-the-unfinished-work-hiding-in-your-inbox/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/