Plan Today, Prep Tomorrow: The Secret to Using GenAI to Execute Any Plan - Including Easter Afternoon Tea
We’ve all been there: you start with a burst of excitement, dreaming up the perfect event. You have these great ideas and it feels like it's going to be so much fun. But as the date quickly approaches, the reality of the to-do list sets in. Suddenly, you’re feeling overwhelmed, wondering how you’ll ever get everything done in the way you envisioned. Feeling the anxiety a bit? This is the exact scenario I will be using to show you how to use genAI for help.
Don’t skip this if you don’t host tea. Planning and prepping are constant themes in our lives, whether we are organizing a holiday, a work project, or a kitchen renovation. This article and these skills can be applied to any scenario where you need to do these things. We will discuss how you can apply the concepts of this article to any planning with GenAI models to help you succeed.
Because the issue these days isn't a lack of inspiration; it’s the opposite. We want to do "all the things," but we need a way to make it work without the burnout. We just need to use the right tools and specific considerations to make the process work for us, rather than us working for the process.
Lost in the Digital Junk Drawer
We find recipes and project ideas on Instagram, TikTok, and across the web that look incredible—we "save" them, forget about them, and then realize they are impossible to find when we actually need them. We’re scrolling through a digital junk drawer of saved clips, trying to remember if that one idea was from a Reel three weeks ago or a blog post from last year.
For this exercise, I needed an Easter-themed menu that was organized and festive, but also achievable. I also wanted to feature local teas to support local businesses. Sometimes they have blends unique to them that are absolutely worth trying that you just can't find elsewhere. This time, instead of digging through a graveyard of old saved posts, I opened Gemini to get started.
The Blueprint: How to Actually Talk to AI
Talk to GenAI when you need to move from a vague idea to a concrete plan. It’s about you guiding a dialogue and making executive decisions on whether the output actually meets your needs. Use GenAI as a strategic partner—not as a magic "easy button," but as a high-level collaborator.
To get a result from Gemini that wasn't generic or not specific to my needs, I included 4 pieces of information in my prompt: Persona, Task, Context, and Format. By using these four pillars, you provide the guardrails the model needs to be actually useful:
- Persona: This is who you are, OR who you want Gemini to be -“An exceptional baker and chef specializing in home kitchens.”
- Task: This is what you need Gemini to do - “Creating an Easter afternoon tea menu for 4 friends.”
- Context: This is all of the tiny details you are thinking of for this event - “Local Alberta tea, unique but normal ingredients, Easter theme.”
- Format: This is how you want the information presented - “2 ideas per category in a clean, bulleted list.”
The Reality Check: Human Required
The model provided the foundation, but the "Human-in-the-loop" phase is where the real work happens. Something we need to do more of collectively is applying critical thinking to these conversations. I didn't just take the first list Gemini gave me; I treated it like a back-and-forth consultation to make it work for my actual life.
This is how I remained in the driving seat of the conversation:
I realized very quickly that the initial menu was going to be a nightmare at the checkout counter. I didn't want to buy twenty different one-off ingredients that would just end up wilting in my fridge. It would be way too expensive and needed to better utilize a smaller range of them. I had to course-correct the model:
- The Accessibility Check: I pushed back: “Re-review the menu items you selected. Make sure that they use easily accessible ingredients, are not too complicated. And at least one has Mini Eggs incorporated.”
- The Budget Pivot: To fix the "grocery bill" problem, I told Gemini: “Strategically think about a home kitchen and utilizing the ingredients more fully. The menu you provided uses a lot of one-off items like Asparagus. Provide new items that help reduce the amount of ingredients needed.”
- The Creative Course-Correction: When the AI went a little overboard on the salmon, I had to step in: “That’s a bit too much dill and salmon. Be creative to reuse items but that is not your only objective.”
- The Red Deer Local Hunt: Since I’m spending the holiday in Central Alberta, I asked: “I am in Red Deer for Easter. Are there local teas available in the area, whether at a tea shop or grocery store with local selections?” By using my knowledge of our local scene to swap generic suggestions for The Tea Girl’s "River Valley Chai" or Jolene’s "Alberta Rose Sencha," these unique-to-them blends leveled up the entire experience.
The Master Prep Plan
Once I was finally happy with the menu, it was time to bridge the gap to execution. I have a job and a life, so I couldn't spend 8 hours in the kitchen on Saturday. I gave Gemini my constraints to act as my project manager:
"Okay I have purchased my ingredients and I have 3 days until I am hosting this afternoon tea. I am working from home and can utilize time before, at lunch, and after work to prep for this. Outline a prep plan to best utilize the time I have based on ingredients and high flavor quality to last. Utilize up to 3 days if needed or less if it works."
The model gave me a lot of great, detailed info—which will be amazing when I’m actually in the kitchen completing each step—but I needed to see the "big picture" first. To make sure the prep would actually fit into my 3-day window without causing a meltdown, I added one last instruction:
"Now give me a summary table with the schedule."
By staying in the driver's seat and asking for that high-level overview, I got a phased schedule that fit into my lunch breaks and evenings. I wasn't just "hosting"—I was executing a high-level plan that actually fit my budget, my bandwidth, and my work-from-home reality.
Your Turn: Stop Saving, Start Prompting
The mental load of "doing it all" doesn't have to be your bottleneck. Whether you are prepping a tea party or a project at work, I challenge you to stop the endless scrolling and start prompting.
How are you using tech to save your sanity this season? Let me know in the comments.
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