Get Everyday Work Done with Claude

Open Claude, make your privacy choice, and know what the Free plan gives you.

1. Open the Claude app and sign in. If your laptop doesn't allow installs, use claude.ai in your browser: the screens are the same.

2. Under the message box, keep the switch on Chat. We don't use Cowork in this class.

3. Click your name at the bottom left, then Settings, then Privacy. Set Help improve our AI models on or off. It controls whether your chats may be used to train Anthropic's models.

Free or paid?

• Free includes Projects (up to 5), creating files and artifacts. It is enough for this class.
• Pro (US$20 a month, or US$17 a month billed yearly) gives you more usage before you reach a limit, and adds Research and Claude inside Microsoft 365 apps. It is optional, and better if you use Claude every day.

If you reach a limit during class, follow along on screen and finish the exercise once your limit resets.

Three things turn a vague request into a useful first draft.

• Context: who it's for and why it matters. Attach the document Claude should work from.
• An example: paste one you liked, or describe the tone: short, friendly, formal.
• The format: say what you want back: a table, five bullets, an email under 150 words.

Try it

Attach your sample file, then copy this request and replace the parts in angle brackets:

I write a weekly update for <who reads it>.
Use the notes I've attached from this week.

They care most about <what matters to them>.

Match the tone of this past update:
<paste a past update>

Give me five bullet points, then one line
on next week. Keep it under 150 words.

A Project remembers your instructions and files, so you tell Claude about your task once instead of in every chat.

1. In the sidebar, choose Projects, then New project.

2. Under What are you working on?, name it after your task, for example Weekly Update. Skip Use a folder, then choose Create project.

3. Choose + next to Instructions, paste the text below, change it to suit your task, then choose Save instructions.

You help me write my weekly update for my manager.
Use the files in this project as your source. Never invent a figure.
Keep it under 150 words: five bullets, then one line on next week.
Write in plain, friendly English. No jargon.
If something is missing from my notes, ask me before you write.

4. Choose + next to Context and add your sample document.

5. Start a chat inside the Project and ask for this week's version. Didn't like something? Add a rule to the Instructions, not just the chat, so it sticks next week.

Ask in plain English and download a real Excel file.

1. In a chat, copy this request and change the task to one of yours:

Make an Excel file to track my
<task, for example client follow-ups>.

Columns: date, client, what was agreed,
next step, due date, status.

Add five sample rows so I can see how it works.

Colour the status: overdue red, done green.
Freeze the top row.

2. Claude works for a minute, then a file card appears. Close any try this in Cowork card: we don't use Cowork in this class.

3. Choose Download on the file card, or open the preview and choose Download as XLSX. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets.

4. Ask for a change in the same chat, for example: Add a column for who owns each item. Claude makes a new version.

If it goes wrong

• Text but no file? Ask again: as a downloadable .xlsx file. Still nothing? Turn on Settings, Capabilities, Code execution and file creation.
• A formula looks wrong? Click the cell in Excel to see it, and ask Claude to explain that formula.

Claude is fast and confident. It is not always right.

• Check one number. Pick one figure in the answer and find it in your own document.
• Ask where it came from. Ask: Which part of my file did that come from?
• Watch for gaps. If your notes don't say it, Claude shouldn't either. Ask it to flag what's missing.

Look twice at exact figures and totals, dates and deadlines, names, quotes and sources, and anything legal or tax. Claude is strongest at first drafts, summaries of your own documents, tables and spreadsheets, and turning rough notes into structure.

Sample rows in a spreadsheet, like the client names and owners in lesson 4, are made up. That is fine for a template, never for real work.

You now have a Project for your weekly task and a checking habit.

Next week, open the same Project for that task. Each time something isn't right, add one rule to its Instructions. After a few weeks it will write the way you want first time.