The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Minimalism: 5 AI Prompts To Avoid Burnout

When running your own business, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks, decisions, and distractions that come up. A lot of people rely on you, which means you’re constantly juggling multiple projects, clients, and responsibilities. There’s a lot to get finished, but will your to-do list ever end?

Jade Bonacolta is founder of The Quiet Rich, a media company for top performers who view privacy as a new luxury. In less than six months she grew her weekly newsletter to 50,000 subscribers, all of whom want to be “rich” in more than just money; they want to be rich in time. Bonacolta was ranked the #1 LinkedIn creator in the world in Favikon’s productivity category, she grew her social media audience from 1k to 350k in 8 months, and now runs an executive coaching business to help you become a thought leader on LinkedIn. In her full-time role, she leads a marketing team at Google.

Bonacolta is an expert in time management and sees minimalism as a core value of the quietly rich lifestyle. “The key to achieving time freedom is simple: to do fewer things, but better,” she said. “Entrepreneurs need more strategies to reclaim their time, and AI can be a highly effective tool to enjoy a minimalist schedule.” These prompts, appropriate for Bard or any other large language model, will help you identify your true priorities, eliminate distractions, and focus your energy on fewer tasks that will have greater impact. Keep the same chat window open so the context carries through.

How to be more minimalist for success and productivity

Identify your top priority

“By definition, ‘priority’ means one thing,” said Bonacolta, “but when you ask an entrepreneur what they’re focused on, they list ten.” Busyness is sometimes worn as a badge of honor, but Bonacolta sees minimalism as the antidote to busyness. “Minimalism is not about getting the most things done. It’s about getting the right things done. Once you clarify your top priority, you can identify the 20% of tasks that will result in 80% of your success.” Determine which tasks to prioritize with this prompt.

“My objective for the next month is to [goal], and I need to prioritize my time. Here is a list of my current tasks: [paste your list]. Adopt the role of my executive coach. Create a table with three columns. In the first column, identify which of these tasks won’t contribute meaningfully to my goal (and should be postponed). In the second column, identify which of these tasks I can easily outsource or delegate to others (based on their low level of complexity). In the third column, add the remaining tasks that I am uniquely qualified to do, and that will make the most significant impact on achieving my goal. Ask clarifying questions to understand my work before creating the table.”

Bonacolta explains that, “the tasks that remain in that final column fall into your ‘zone of genius.’ Those are the 20% of tasks that result in 80% of your impact.” When you focus on those, you'll produce higher-quality work, feel more satisfied, and achieve greater success.

Avoid energy-drainers

Most people say that time is their most valuable resource. Bonacolta disagrees. “I’d actually say energy is more valuable.” Think about it; if your energy is drained, it’s impossible to use time well. And the best way to increase your energy is to eliminate tasks that steal it. To do that, every quarter Bonacolta completes an energy audit. “I quickly review my calendar to find the things that drain my energy. I literally flip through my daily schedule from the past few weeks and look for unproductive meetings, administrative tasks that should be automated, or distractions like social media.” Her aim is to remove some of these every quarter. Try it for yourself with this prompt.

“I’m trying to increase the amount of energy I have each week. After reviewing my schedule, I’ve identified the following 3 things as the biggest energy-drainers: [explain them here]. Form a hypothesis of why these tasks drain my energy more than others. Then suggest creative ways to eliminate, delegate, or reduce the time I spend on each one.”

Say no more often

Bonacolta knows it can be tempting to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way, but said, “this can quickly lead to overcommitment and burnout.” She advised that you “learn to say no to requests that will distract you from your priorities.” Build that habit now because, “as you become more successful, the types of opportunities you’ll need to decline will probably get better and better. That’s one of the most obvious signs of growth!” But it’s essential that your willpower to say no grows in equal proportion to your success and that you don’t worry about offending people. “One of the reasons people agree to something they’re lukewarm about is because they assume that declining will hurt their relationship with that person,” Bonacolta added. Soften the blow by using this prompt.

“I just received [this request] from [this person]. I want to preserve my relationship with them, but the request doesn’t fit my goals right now. Learn my tone of voice from the following email I wrote in the past: [paste an email]. Now write an email in my tone of voice that politely declines this opportunity, while keeping my relationship with this individual extremely strong and positive.”

Make faster decisions

When you’re running a small team, it’s easy to become a bottleneck by making all the decisions. To avoid unnecessary slowdowns, streamline your processes. Bonacolta advised you first, “hire smart, motivated people to handle the day-to-day tasks of your business,” and then give them full authority to make certain decisions without your input. For example, “If you get 500 emails a day, train your team to sort and respond to them for you based on the rules you provide.” By outsourcing your daily tasks, you'll save time, reduce the need to constantly switch tasks, and improve your overall productivity. Not sure where to start when it comes to delegating? Try this prompt.

“In my business I offer [describe your product or service]. My strengths are [describe your unique strengths]. Identify which daily tasks I should hire an assistant to help me with, so I can focus on the most strategic parts of my business. Then create a set of 10 guiding principles or scripts that will reduce the number of decisions that this assistant will need me to make. My goal is for them to operate autonomously and only require one 15 minute check-in with me per day. Ask clarifying questions until you can create the principles.”

Create and maintain boundaries

Entrepreneurs don’t have to clock in like people with jobs, which can make sticking to boundaries even harder. If you work between 9am and 6pm but you’re answering emails at 10pm, something somewhere is going wrong. Bonacolta said,“If you don’t respect your boundaries, others won’t either.” She uses the 1st of every month to set hers. “I block out time on my calendar for weekend trips, dinners with friends, workout classes, date nights, etc. I never want my schedule to accidentally become too busy to take care of myself or spend time with the people I love most.” Use this prompt to get a helping hand with your boundaries.

“My self-care priorities for 2024 are to [insert your goals, for example get more sleep, spend more time with my loved ones, and start a gym routine]. Acting as my wellness coach, create an actionable plan for me to form these habits. Then share 5 specific ways I can hold myself accountable.”

AI prompts to practice minimalism and get more done

Minimalism isn't about deprivation or sacrifice, it's about making conscious choices to prioritize what truly matters. Identify your top priority, avoid energy drainers and say no more often. Make faster decisions and maintain boundaries. By trying these prompts and applying these principles, you can eliminate distractions, focus your energy, and achieve your entrepreneurial goals with greater clarity and efficiency.