The Quick Reference

Bonus Scannable Everything in one place

How to use this page.

This is the page to look at when you open Claude and freeze. It answers three questions fast: Where do I go? Which of my setups handles this? What exact words should I type? Skim it, bookmark it, or print it and stick it on the fridge. Everything here is pulled from lessons you've already done — this is the reference, not new material.

Where do I go? — Four modes, one decision.

Every time you want Claude's help, you're picking between four places. The right one depends on whether you want a quick answer, a remembering-relationship, actual hands doing the task, or your mouth free while it's busy.

Regular chat (browser or app)

Use for: quick one-off questions, brainstorming, writing help, explanations, research.
Don't use when: the task recurs weekly. You'll waste time re-typing context.

Voice mode (phone)

Use for: when your hands are full — driving, folding laundry, walking the dog, brain-dumping on the way to school.
Don't use when: you need to see the output formatted (lists, tables).

A Project (Family Manager, etc.)

Use for: anything your family touches. A Project remembers your kids, diet, schedule, tone — so every chat inside starts with full context.
Don't use when: truly one-off (researching a vacation spot you'll never visit again).

Cowork (Pro only)

Use for: "I don't want to do it myself" — building an Instacart cart, drafting the week's school replies, turning a voice memo into a plan + calendar events.
Don't use when: you just want to think out loud. That's what the chat and voice modes are for.

The 10-second rule

If you've typed the same setup lines at the start of three different chats this month — that's a Project begging to exist. If you've typed a multi-step instruction like "do X, then Y, then send me a summary" more than twice — that's Cowork territory.

Which Project handles this?

By the time you've worked through Phase 2 and a few Phase 4 modules, you'll have several Projects standing — Family Manager at the center, plus whichever specialty Projects you've built (Inbox, Kid Life, Home Operations, Money Command Center, etc.). Here's which one to open for what.

Family Manager

The general-purpose one. Open this when the question spans life — "what should we do this weekend," "draft a note to grandma," "summarize our week."

Inbox Command Center (Inbox Power Users bonus)

Inbox, schedule, school papers, group texts, calendar. Open this when the question is about administering the family — permission slips, logistics, "when is the thing."

Kid Life

Homework, worksheets, chores, hard conversations, birthday invites, summer schedules. Open this when the question is about the kids specifically.

Home Operations

Appliance manuals, warranties, repair history, school forms, HOA / landlord comms, the Sunday household reset. Open this when the question is about the place you live — the stuff, the paperwork, the admin of the physical home.

MCC

Money Command Center

The monthly money scan, subscription audit, bill & renewal calendar, tax-prep gathering, Sunday Money Reset. Open this when the question is about the pile of money admin — transactions, renewals, bills, forms. Not financial advice. Pure organizing.

When you don't know which one

Default to Family Manager. It has your Mom Profile, it knows everyone, and it'll point you to a more specific Project if the task would be better there.

The 12 flagship prompts from the course.

One copy-paste away. Edit the bracketed parts to match your life. Every one of these is expanded and taught in a specific lesson — linked at the end of each.

1. The universal one-prompt formula

Act as my [role — e.g., patient co-parent, no-nonsense assistant, gentle editor]. Do this: [task — exactly what you want done]. Consider: [constraints — budget, time, kid ages, tone]. Give me back: [format — a list, a draft, three options, a script].

2. Turn a chaotic group text into a schedule

Here's a messy group text from the [team / class / cousins]. Pull out every date, time, and commitment. Give me back a clean list: what's happening, when, who needs to know, and what I need to bring or do. Flag anything I need to RSVP to.

3. School paper to calendar event

Here's a school paper [paste text or describe]. Tell me: what's the event, what's the date/time, what do I need to send or sign, and what's the deadline. Format it as a calendar event I can copy into my calendar.

4. Sunday Assembly — whole-week plan from a voice memo

[Record a voice memo while doing chores, dumping everything coming this week — practices, appointments, school stuff, work calls, who needs what.] Now: turn this into a clean week plan. Day by day. Flag conflicts. Flag anything I mentioned but didn't solve. Give me 3 prep actions I should do today to make this week easier.

5. Weekly meal plan with your real constraints

Plan 5 weeknight dinners for this week. Constraints: [family size, any diet/allergies, budget level, typical time window for cooking]. Avoid: [whatever you're tired of or don't keep stocked]. Include one crock-pot or sheet-pan night. Give me the menu first, then I'll ask for the grocery list.

6. Grocery list, organized by aisle

Turn that menu into a grocery list organized by store section (produce, dairy, meat, pantry, frozen, other). Assume I already have salt, pepper, olive oil, basic spices. Call out anything I need to check my pantry for before shopping.

7. Recipe rescue — cook what you have

I have: [list everything in your fridge and pantry that's usable]. I need dinner tonight for [number] people in [time]. What can I make? Give me 2 options — one easy, one slightly more involved. Use only what I listed.

8. Homework helper — explainer, not answer-giver

My [grade-level] kid is stuck on this: [paste problem or describe]. Don't give the answer. Explain the concept simply, give one worked example of a different problem, then ask me what part of the original one they're stuck on. I'll relay.

9. Hard conversation script

I need to talk to [my kid / partner / teacher / parent] about [specific situation]. The goal of the conversation is [what you want to leave with]. Give me an opening line, 2-3 main points, and a calm way to end if it escalates. Warm but direct, not a speech.

10. Brain dump to action plan

I'm about to dump everything on my mind. Listen, then sort what I say into three buckets: DO TODAY, THIS WEEK, SOMEDAY-OR-NOT-MINE. Don't comment until I'm done. Ready?

11. Decision fatigue — pick for me

Pick [dinner / my outfit / what to do with the kids after school / what to pack for tomorrow] for me. Give me one answer, not a menu. Don't ask follow-up questions — just decide.

Everyday scenarios — Family Manager workouts.

Copy-paste prompts that work the moment your Family Manager Project is set up. Grab them on the day you need one without scrolling through a lesson. Run any of them inside Family Manager and the Family Factsheet does the heavy lifting.

12. The weekend plan

Plan our family weekend — Saturday and Sunday, [specific dates]. Use the Factsheet for who's in the house, ages, and scheduled commitments. Goal: one real outing or activity, one chill block, one thing that chips away at the house. Keep it realistic — we're not doing more than two driving-around things in a day. Give me a simple morning/afternoon/evening breakdown for each day. When the plan looks good, follow up with: "Make it a shareable note I can paste into the family group chat."

13. The school email reply

Here's an email I got from my kid's school. Draft a short reply in my voice — warm, brief, no over-apologizing. If you need a specific detail to reply well (date, yes/no, a volunteer slot), ask me instead of guessing. Email is below. [paste the email]

14. The birthday-party plan in one prompt

Plan a birthday party for [kid's name, or "my [age]-year-old — check the Factsheet"]. Theme direction: [e.g., "something outdoorsy, not princesses"]. Guest count: about [number]. Budget: keep it modest. Time window: [e.g., a Saturday afternoon, 2 hours]. Give me: a 2-hour schedule, a food list with kid-allergy notes, 3 activity ideas we can actually do, and a short invite I could text out tonight. Keep everything doable by one tired parent. Follow up with: "Turn everything in that plan into a single shopping list, grouped by store section."

15. The weekly meal plan + grocery run

Plan our dinners for this week — [5 weeknights or whatever you want]. Use the Factsheet for allergies, picky eaters, schedule, and kitchen equipment. At least 2 make-ahead or leftover-friendly nights. Nothing with more than 8 ingredients. Give me: the 5 meals as a short list, then one consolidated grocery list grouped by store section (produce, protein, pantry, dairy, other). Assume I have pantry staples.

Looking for the lunchbox prompts, family-creativity prompts, or the full Cowork capabilities map?

Those used to live on this page and made it longer than it needed to be. They have their own homes now: The Lunchbox Library (themed-rotation rule + Core 10 pin + five lunchbox prompts), Family Creativity & Images (image-prompt formula + birthday-invitation walkthrough + seed prompts + thank-you/party/packing staples), and What Else Cowork Can Do (the full capabilities map).

When things go sideways — the five common fixes.

Claude and Cowork are very good, not perfect. When something feels off, one of these is almost always the fix.

Quick fixes

"The answer is too generic." → Either the Mom Profile isn't uploaded to this Project's Files panel, or you're in a new chat outside a Project. Open the right Project or upload the profile.
"It's making stuff up." → Ask it to cite or show you its sources. For anything that matters (appointments, medical, legal, financial), verify manually. AI is confident — confidence isn't truth.
"It's being weirdly cheery / too formal." → Your tone rule isn't landing. Say explicitly: "Talk to me like a tired friend. No exclamation points." It'll adjust.
"Cowork got stuck on a website." → Tell it what you see on the screen in plain English ("the Instacart pop-up is asking me to confirm my address"). It'll resume. If it's really stuck, click Stop, tell it what went wrong, try again.
"I don't know what to ask." → Use the Brain Dump prompt (#10 above). Let Claude pull what you need out of the mess in your head.

For overwhelmed days — just type this.

On the days your brain is mush and you can't even remember what you're supposed to ask — paste this in and go.

The "I can't even" prompt

My brain is fried and I don't know where to start. Ask me 3 quick questions to figure out what the single most useful thing you could do for me in the next 15 minutes is. After my answers, just do that one thing — don't offer me options, don't make me decide. Pick the most helpful thing and execute.

Bookmark this page.

This page will quietly save you hours over the next year. Come back to it whenever you open Claude and aren't sure where to go.

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