Life with a Side of AI

Dear Digital Diary,

Spring is in the air—and so is pollen, a suspicious number of sticky surfaces, and the overwhelming urge to burn everything down and start fresh.

Okay, maybe not that dramatic. But I’ve been staring at the corners of my home office with that very specific “I should probably do something about this” energy. You know the one.

Here’s the thing: cleaning has never really been my thing. It’s not that I don’t want a clean space—I do! But it usually turns into an overwhelming, all-or-nothing spiral that ends with me halfway through reorganizing a closet, crying over old paperwork, and being unable to rein in my perfectionism.

So, I asked my favorite assistant—ChatGPT—for help.

🧽 What I Asked

Here’s the prompt I used to kick things off:

Can you help me create a simple, realistic spring cleaning plan for someone who is short on time, easily overwhelmed, and lives in a one-bedroom home?

It gave me A 4-week, Low-Stress Spring Cleaning Plan

• 15–30 minutes a day max
• One task per day—easy to swap or skip
• One full day of rest each week (or two, let’s be honest)
• Focus on progress, not perfection

🧹 How I Used It in Real Life

Once I had my list from ChatGPT, I wanted to make it feel a little more me. So I asked it:

Can you organize this into a simple checklist, with each task broken down?

It totally nailed it, I tired to make it into a cute printable, unfortunately after many attempts I couldn’t get DALL-E to make a readable printable check list. So I took to Canva, their new AI (April 2025) was also not up to the task quite yet… so I ended up leaning into my creative energy and made my own printable.

Honestly? That tiny extra step made the whole thing feel more doable. Suddenly, I had a cheerful checklist, not a guilt-ridden to-do list of doom. And because it was broken down into manageable, room-by-room chunks, I could do just a few things at a time and still feel accomplished.

💬 Other & Additional Prompts You Can Try

Feel free to copy + paste these and adjust them to fit your vibe:

• “Give me a 7-day spring cleaning checklist for someone with very little time each day.”
• “What’s the minimum amount of spring cleaning I can do to feel like I’ve done something?”
• “Make a spring cleaning plan that feels achievable, even if I have ADHD or get overwhelmed easily.”
• “Suggest a few songs to create a high energy Playlist for a day of cleaning”

💛 The Big Takeaway

You don’t have to be hyper-organized or wildly motivated to refresh your space. You just need a little help starting—and an AI friend who gets it.

Just talk to your new AI bestie like you would a friend who needs a little context. Can’t clean on Wednesdays because of trivia night or the kids’ soccer practice? Say so. Want the checklist to include tasks for the whole family? Ask for it. The more you share, the more helpful the responses become. The possibilities really are endless—just keep the conversation going.

You got this. And if you don’t? Well, your bot’s got your back. That’s one of the things I love most about AI—it doesn’t judge your messy junk drawer or remind you how long it’s been since you wiped the baseboards. It just gently offers a plan that makes sense for you.

And when life gets messy? Sometimes that’s all we need.

With lemon-scented vibes,
Nikki (and my very tidy bot) 🧼🤖