the pulse

How I Used AI to Reclaim (At Least) 10 Hours a Week

The Simple Reflex That Changes Everything: Go to AI First

By Michael Hyatt

About twenty years ago, I wrote a simple blog post called “How to Shave 10 Hours Off Your Workweek.”

Nothing fancy. Just real productivity hacks that saved me from drowning in an overloaded schedule. No academic theory. Just what actually worked.

That post exploded. It became my most-read piece up to that point.

I parlayed it into a keynote. Then an ebook. Then a lead magnet that generated tens of thousands of customers for my Free to Focus course and book.

One humble post became a business engine.

But here’s what blows my mind: If I’d had AI back then, everything would’ve been faster, better, and infinitely easier. The writing would’ve been tighter. The editing smoother. The examples more poignant and relatable. The whole thing would’ve landed with way more impact.

I did it all by hand. Now I let AI help me carry the load.

The New Productivity Superpower

Think of AI as your personal Swiss Army knife for getting stuff done. It doesn’t replace your brain—it enhances it. Every task that used to eat hours? Now it takes minutes. Every creative block that used to derail your day? Gone. Every tedious process that made you want to bang your head against the wall? Handled. But here’s the catch: You have to train yourself to reach for it first.

Most people still default to old habits. They Google. They struggle. They procrastinate. They ask colleagues to drop everything and help them.

Smart leaders? They go to AI first.

Here are eight ways I’m using AI to buy back time for what actually matters.

1. Drafting Content at Warp Speed

I feed AI everything for my keynote speeches—key concepts, audience insights, personal stories, even killer lines from past talks. Then we collaborate like writing partners. AI shapes the outline, refines the flow, surfaces research, and sharpens examples.

It’s like having a speechwriting team that never sleeps, never burns out, and never runs out of ideas.

Time saved: 10–20 hours of drafting and structuring per speech.

Pro tip: Don’t just dump information and walk away. Engage. Ask follow-up questions. Push for better options. AI gets smarter the more you interact with it.

2. Brainstorming Like a Creative Agency

When I recently decided to shift the focus of my mastermind to AI and its business applications, I gave AI the full brief—audience, goals, format, benefits—and asked for name options.

Boom. Five killer names in seconds.

I posted them in our team Slack. Within minutes, we had a winner: AI Business Lab™ Mastermind.

Time saved: Days of whiteboard sessions and group back-and-forth.

The real win: AI doesn’t have creative blocks or ego. It just generates. You can always refine, but you can’t improve a blank page.

3. Summarizing Like a Speed Reader on Steroids

I drop transcripts, reports, or meeting notes into AI and ask for the CliffsNotes version. When I’m prepping for a call or catching up on something I missed, I don’t need the full novel—just the highlights.

I also buy ebooks, convert them to PDFs, upload them to ChatGPT, and ask for executive summaries. Sometimes that’s all I need to move forward. Sometimes it helps me decide if the full book is worth my time.

Time saved: 1–2 hours per document. Sometimes I skip reading entire books altogether.

Reality check: Not every piece of content deserves your full attention. AI helps you triage ruthlessly.

4. Research That Actually Sticks

I recently gave my brother-in-law a standing desk. I’d just upgraded to a fancy automated one and figured he could use my old setup. Nice gift, but I wanted to make it memorable.

I asked AI for a list of famous historical figures who used standing desks—plus quirky details about their habits.

It delivered gold: Hemingway writing standing up with a typewriter on a chest-high bookshelf. Jefferson drafting correspondence at his tall desk. Churchill pacing and dictating while standing.

I printed the list and included it with the gift. Suddenly, a simple desk became a conversation starter with historical gravitas.

Time saved: 30–60 minutes of research I didn’t have to do myself.

Bonus: The personal touch made the gift unforgettable. That’s the compound effect of AI—it doesn’t just save time; it creates better outcomes.

5. Conflict Resolution Without the Drama

I’m direct. Sometimes too direct. When someone sends a snarky email or leaves a sharp comment on social media, my first instinct is to fire back with both barrels.

Now I run those replies through AI first. I still say what I mean, but AI helps me deliver it with clarity, firmness, and respect. It turns a potential flame war into productive dialogue.

Time saved: 30–60 minutes of editing, rewriting, and damage control.

Leadership lesson: Your first response is rarely your best response. AI gives you a buffer between impulse and action.

6. Content Multiplication Across Every Platform

I upload PDFs of my books into ChatGPT and ask it to generate social media posts, newsletter outlines, and course modules. It keeps the tone consistent while tailoring the message for each medium.

Recently, I used AI to transform the first seven chapters of my book Platform into a formal proposal for my next book, The How of Wow. But here’s where it got interesting: I also had it expand on the content, look for gaps in my thinking, and suggest angles I hadn’t considered. It was like having a seasoned editor who’d read every business book ever written—pointing out where my logic jumped too fast and where I needed more evidence to back up my claims.

Time saved: 12+ hours of repurposing and reformatting.

Strategic advantage: One piece of content becomes ten. Your ideas get more mileage, and your audience gets more value.

7. Financial Analysis Without the Headaches

I created a custom GPT called the Monthly Financial Analyst. Each month, I upload our financial packet from our accountants. AI reads the reports, extracts key metrics, and gives me a summary of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It even highlights patterns and trends I should watch, plus generates questions to ask my accounting team. It’s so good I even use it with my personal coaching clients.

Time saved: 4+ hours monthly. Quality of analysis? Game-changing.

Business impact: I get to the truth faster and focus on what actually needs fixing—without drowning in spreadsheets.

8. Tech Support Without the Hold Music

I’ve stopped reading manuals or Googling every tech hiccup. I just ask AI to walk me through it.

Gone are the days of calling my techie son-in-law at 9 PM because my printer decided to have an attitude. No more sifting through seventeen Reddit threads where half the responses are “did you try turning it off and on again?” and the other half are arguments about which solution worked in 2019.

Now I just describe the problem to AI like I’m talking to that one friend who actually knows what they’re doing. It gives me step-by-step instructions that make sense. No tech jargon. No assumptions about what I should already know.

Printer acting up? AI diagnoses and fixes it. New app integration? AI gives me step-by-step instructions. Platform connection issues? AI troubleshoots faster than any help desk.

Time saved: 10–30 minutes per issue, plus way less frustration.

Sanity preserved: Priceless.

The Compound Effect of AI

Here’s what most people miss: AI doesn’t just save time—it compounds your effort. It takes the tedious and turns it into traction. It takes your ideas and multiplies their impact. It takes your limited hours and makes them infinitely more productive. But only if you build the right reflex.

Your New Default Setting

Want to get the most from AI? Adopt this simple rule: Go to AI first.

Before you bother someone else. Before you burn your own time Googling. Before you procrastinate because a task feels overwhelming.

Ask AI first.

It’s faster than search engines and gives you 100x the value.

If You’re New to This, Start Now

Don’t wait until you “feel ready.” The key to mastering AI is simple: Start using it.

Jump in. Ask questions. Try a workflow. Copy what I’m doing and adapt it for your world.

Because here’s the hard truth: If you’re not using AI to claw back hours in your week, you’re leaving margin, momentum, and money on the table.

Your competitors aren’t waiting. Your industry isn’t slowing down. Your opportunities aren’t getting easier.

But with AI as your productivity partner? You’ll work smarter, move faster, and finally have time for what matters most.

Comments Got a question or story about AI? Hit reply. I read every email. Seriously. Your experiences help me write better content, and sometimes the best insights come from readers like you. Transforming AI from noise to know-how, Michael Hyatt P.S. When you’re ready, here are a few ways to go deeper: Upgrade to a Premium Subscription: Ready to stop watching from the sidelines and start playing the game? The free newsletter gives you the view from the bleachers. But paid subscribers? They’re on the field. Monthly live training where I answer YOUR questions. Custom GPTs that work right out of the box. Step-by-step playbooks for the complex stuff. Think of it as the difference between reading the recipe and actually tasting the meal. 👉🏼 See what you’re missing. Join the AI Business Lab Mastermind: Running a $3-10M business? You’re past the startup chaos but not quite at autopilot. That’s exactly where AI changes everything. The AI Business Lab Mastermind isn’t another networking group—it’s a brain trust of leaders who are already implementing, not just ideating. We’re talking real numbers, real strategies, real results. If you’re tired of being the smartest person in the room, this is your new room. 👉🏼 Learn more and apply here. Listen to the Double Win Show: Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. That’s why Megan (my daughter and the CEO of Full Focus) and I created the Double Win Show. Every week, we sit down with entrepreneurs who refuse to choose between crushing it at work and being present at home. No platitudes. No “work-life balance” fairy tales. Just real strategies from people who’ve figured out how to win at both. Because what's the point of building an empire if you lose your family in the process? 👉🏼 Listen to the Double Win Show.