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The 3 Checks Before You Hand a Job to AI

Hand AI the wrong job and you spend more time managing it than you save. This gives you the 3 checks and a prompt that scores every job in your week, so you know which ones to hand off first.

A free guide by Zach Crawford

If you're trying to save time with AI, you've probably thought it. I spend more time managing my AI than getting anything done with it.

That's not an AI problem. You're handing it the wrong jobs.

Before you hand AI any job, run it through 3 checks. Then let Claude score your whole week for you.

The 3 checks

  1. Does it repeat? Does it keep coming up every week?
  2. Does it follow the same steps every time? Is there a right way to do it?
  3. Do you actually get time back? Do you do it enough that handing it off frees up real hours?

Yes to all three, hand it to AI. If it's not, don't.

Here's mine. Every week I need to find which reels to model. It repeats every week. Same steps every time: find the reels that beat that creator's normal views. And doing it by hand meant scrolling for hours. Check, check, check. So that one went to AI. Now the list is waiting for me every week.

The one people miss is check 2. A messy job you haven't figured out yet will just eat more of your time trying to manage it with AI. Write the steps down first. Then hand it off.

Step 1. Open Claude Code

Open the Claude desktop app, switch from Chat to Code at the top, and pick a folder for this. A new empty folder is fine.

You don't need a list ready. The prompt helps you build one. If you have a calendar, a to-do list or notes from last week, keep them open. They help you remember jobs.

Step 2. Paste the scoring prompt

I want to find which jobs in my business I should hand to AI first. Help me score every job in my week on 3 checks.

The 3 checks:
1. Does it repeat? Does it come up every week (or more)?
2. Does it follow the same steps every time? Is there a right way to do it that I could write down?
3. Do I get time back? Do I do it enough that handing it off frees up real hours?

How to do this:
- First, ask me what my business is and who it serves, in one question.
- Then help me list every job I did last week. Ask me to brain dump. Then ask about the areas people forget: messages and email, content, sales, client work, admin and money, planning. Ask ONE question at a time and wait for my answer.
- For each job, ask me what you need to score it: how often it happens, about how long it takes me, and whether I do it the same way every time. Ask only what you can't tell from what I already said. Never guess my numbers.
- Score every job: Yes or No on each check, with one short reason each.

Then give me one table with these columns:
Job | Repeats? | Same steps? | Time back (my hours a month) | What to do

In "What to do", use only one of these:
- HAND TO AI: yes to all 3.
- WRITE THE STEPS FIRST: it repeats and saves time, but I don't do it the same way yet. Handing it off now will cost me more time managing it.
- KEEP IT: it doesn't repeat, doesn't save real time, or needs my judgment, my face or my voice.

Sort the table so the HAND TO AI jobs with the most hours back are on top.

Then:
- Pick the 1 job to hand off first, and tell me why in 2 sentences.
- For each WRITE THE STEPS FIRST job, ask me to walk you through how I did it last time, and write the steps down for me.
- Save the table and the steps into a file called JOB-SCORES.md in this folder.

Rules for you:
- Use only what I tell you. If you need a number, ask me. Never make up my jobs, times or results.
- The hours are my estimates. Say so in the table.
- Plain words. No jargon.

Answer its questions as they come. When Claude asks to create the file, click Allow.

Step 3. Hand off the top job

Pick the job at the top of your table. In the same folder, paste this:

Read JOB-SCORES.md. Take the job at the top of my HAND TO AI list.

Interview me about it, ONE question at a time: what you need from me to do it, where the inputs come from, what a good result looks like (ask me for an example if I have one), and what you should hand me when you're done.

Then do the job once, right now, with what I give you. Show me the result and ask what to change.

When I'm happy with it, write the steps into a file called the job's name plus .md, so next time I only say "Read [file] and do the job."

Never make up my facts, numbers or results. If something is missing, ask.

Run it a few times and tell it what to fix each time. When it gets the job right without you fixing anything, that job is off your plate.

Then go back to your table and take the next one.

The limitations you should know

Want the next guide? Follow @iamzachcrawford