⚓ The Setup
Three tabs open, cursor blinking, and I was retyping the same paragraph for the third time that day.
“Explain this like I’m five, skip the jargon, give me three examples.” I’d typed some version of that line probably a hundred times this month. Every single time, it ate five or ten minutes I didn’t have.
Turns out u/Pitiful-Buffalo-1797 hit the exact same wall over on r/ChatGPTPromptGenius. The original poster found a fix so simple it’s almost annoying nobody talks about it more.
🧭 Why It Matters
Here’s the thing about AI prompting nobody warns you about. The bottleneck isn’t the AI, it’s you retyping the same instructions over and over.
The original poster put it well. They knew exactly what they wanted from ChatGPT or Claude, but writing a fresh, detailed prompt every single time was eating chunks of their day.
So this Redditor built a personal system of short slash commands, each one standing in for a full, detailed instruction. Type a two-word shortcut, get the same result you’d get from a paragraph of careful prompting.
Think about how much of your AI time actually goes toward typing versus thinking. If you’re anything like me, the ratio is embarrassing. A system like this flips it, so your energy goes toward the actual work instead of re-explaining what you want for the hundredth time.
Quick start: by the end of this post, you’ll have five ready-to-use commands and the exact framework to build your own. No coding, no plugins, just a text file and a habit.
🛠️ How to Build Your Own Shortcut System
- Notice the instructions you repeat. Pay attention for a few days. Every time you catch yourself typing a long, detailed prompt, that’s a candidate for a shortcut.
- Turn it into a slash command. The creator’s collection includes gems like these, reproduced exactly as shared:
/explain
Explain the topic in simple language, assuming I’m a beginner./script60
Turn the following idea into a natural 60-second video script./businessmodel
Break down this company’s business model, revenue sources, customers, costs, and competitive advantage./compare
Compare the following options using advantages, disadvantages, cost, difficulty, and best use case./mindmap
Turn the following topic into a structured text-based mind map. - Keep them all in one place. The original poster stores every command in a single document. That matters more than it sounds like: when everything lives in one spot, you can actually find and reuse what you wrote last month.
- Type the command, then your topic. Instead of writing a full paragraph, you just type something like “/explain quantum computing” and the full instruction fires behind the scenes. The AI reads the whole thing as one prompt.
- Refine as you go. Whenever a command doesn’t produce quite the result you want, the creator tweaks the underlying instruction, not the shortcut name. Over time, each command gets sharper.
This Redditor apparently grew the collection to more than 500 commands covering writing, learning, research, coding, business analysis, content creation, summarization, brainstorming, productivity, and marketing. You don’t need 500. You need the five or six you’ll actually use every week.
Worth noting: the original poster also turned their personal collection into a small app and website. It’s basically a searchable reference library, not an AI model itself. Handy if you want a head start. But the real value here is the system, not any particular tool.
💡 Tips & Tricks
- Start small. Five commands beat 500 you’ll never open again. Build the list slowly, based on what you actually repeat.
- Name commands after the output, not the topic. “/compare” works for any two options, so it stays useful for years instead of one project.
- Store commands somewhere searchable. A plain notes app, a spreadsheet, or a pinned doc all work. The point is you can find “/mindmap” in two seconds, not two minutes.
- Treat each command like a living document. This industry pro’s whole approach depends on tweaking commands after seeing what works, so don’t treat your first draft as final.
- Pair commands with context. “/businessmodel” still needs you to paste in the company details. The shortcut replaces your instructions, not your input.
- Group commands by task type. Writing, research, coding, and business shortcuts tend to live in different parts of your brain. A little organization saves you from scrolling past twenty commands to find the one you need.
🏴☠️ Chart Your Course
I love this one because it’s not really about AI. It’s about not doing the same work twice.
The original poster ended their post with a genuinely good question, and I want to steal it. What’s one instruction you find yourself typing into AI over and over? Head over to the original thread on r/ChatGPTPromptGenius and drop your answer. Better yet, turn it into your first shortcut today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need to use the author’s app or 500+ commands, or should I create my own?
Create your own. The real value is in building commands for tasks YOU repeat constantly. Start with 3-5 commands covering your most frequent work patterns, then grow from there. You can use a simple text file or spreadsheet , the app is just a convenience wrapper.
Q: What if a slash command isn’t giving me the results I want?
That’s the whole point of this system , it’s designed for iteration. Test the command, identify what’s missing (too technical? needs examples? wrong format?), tweak one element at a time, and save the improved version. This is how you build a personal instruction library that actually works for you.
Q: Can I use these commands across ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI tools?
Absolutely. These are personal shortcuts you type , they work with any AI platform. You might discover some commands work better on specific tools and create slight variations, but the concept is universal.
Q: How should I organize my commands so I can actually find them?
Start simple: keep them in one searchable place (text file, spreadsheet, or note app). As your collection grows, organize by category (Writing, Coding, Research, Business Analysis, etc.). The key is making them easy to locate and modify without hunting through old chats.
Q: How many commands do I need before I see real time savings?
Start with 3-5 commands covering your most repetitive tasks. Once those become automatic, add more. Your personal top 10-20 commands will likely handle 80% of your work , you don’t need 500+ to see a meaningful difference.
I was spending more time writing prompts than actually working. This simple system fixed it.
by u/Pitiful-Buffalo-1797 in ChatGPTPromptGenius