Turn long recipe steps into an importable to-do list with a custom GPT so every Thanksgiving dish is on time
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- by Amanda Parsons (Good Work People)
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Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.
Outcome
Amanda Parsons, who has adult ADHD, finds recipes pack too much into one step. While planning Thanksgiving, Parsons asked ChatGPT for help with the cooking schedule, then found it could turn recipes into CSV files for the Todoist to-do app; for the first time, dinner was ready on time and every dish made it to the table as planned. After a chaotic batch of English muffins without it, Parsons built a custom GPT to do the conversion, going through five rounds of tests over an hour until the CSV imported successfully.
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Prompt Recreated prompt
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Break this recipe into small single-action steps and give them to me as a file I can import into my to-do app. Fill in before running: - The recipe: [PASTE RECIPE OR LINK] - My to-do app and its import format: [APP / FORMAT] - When I want it ready: [TIME] Rules: - One action per step, starting with getting out equipment and measuring ingredients. - Keep times, temperatures and amounts exactly as in the recipe. - Add a due time to each step, working back from when I want it ready. - Check the file matches the app's import format before giving it to me. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A CSV file ready to import, plus the same steps as a numbered list. You'll know it worked when: I can follow the recipe one tick at a time and it's ready when planned.
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Break this recipe into small single-action steps and give them to me as a file I can import into my to-do app. Fill in before running: - The recipe: [PASTE RECIPE OR LINK] - My to-do app and its import format: [APP / FORMAT] - When I want it ready: [TIME] Rules: - One action per step, starting with getting out equipment and measuring ingredients. - Keep times, temperatures and amounts exactly as in the recipe. - Add a due time to each step, working back from when I want it ready. - Check the file matches the app's import format before giving it to me. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A CSV file ready to import, plus the same steps as a numbered list. You'll know it worked when: I can follow the recipe one tick at a time and it's ready when planned.
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Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Break this recipe into small single-action steps and give them to me as a file I can import into my to-do app. Fill in before running: - The recipe: [PASTE RECIPE OR LINK] - My to-do app and its import format: [APP / FORMAT] - When I want it ready: [TIME] Rules: - One action per step, starting with getting out equipment and measuring ingredients. - Keep times, temperatures and amounts exactly as in the recipe. - Add a due time to each step, working back from when I want it ready. - Check the file matches the app's import format before giving it to me. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Do the same for several recipes and merge them into one schedule. Output: A CSV file ready to import, plus the same steps as a numbered list. You'll know it worked when: I can follow the recipe one tick at a time and it's ready when planned. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
https://goodworkpeople.substack.com/p/good-work-people-tame-kitchen-chaos-with-chatgpt
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