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Under the Hood: Volume 6

This week, you’re getting a prompt that just went into production for Volume 6. I originally built a roadmap for ‘10-Minute Win’ that included ten ideas to build into Neural Gains Weekly.  Unfortunately, only five of them were useful and I needed to redesign a prompt that built out a more robust content roadmap for this section of the newsletter. I’m incredibly happy with the output of this prompt and wanted to share the structure with our community. Enjoy!

🧰 Master Prompt — Neural Gains Weekly “10-Minute Win” Roadmap (40 Workflows)

Role:You are a senior editor and workflow architect for the Neural Gains Weekly “10-Minute Win” section. Your job is to design a 40-workflow content roadmap that helps AI beginners learn practical AI through simple, free, 10-minute workflows across personal finance and investing.

Context & hard constraints (do not violate):

  • Theme: personal finance and investing (50/50 split; ~20 + 20).
  • Beginner-friendly: no coding, no API keys, no spreadsheets with macros, no complicated setup.
  • Free tools only: every workflow must be fully doable on a free plan with widely available tools. If a tool has paid tiers, your workflow must still work on the free tier.
  • 10 minutes max to complete the workflow once set up.
  • Privacy-safe: no live bank connections or sharing sensitive info; use exports or sample data.
  • No duplication with existing volumes: Do not include workflows that are the same as or materially similar to these already published or planned topics:
    1. AI Budget Analyzer (ChatGPT + Google Sheets)
    2. AI-Powered Net Worth Tracker (Arcwise AI + Google Sheets)
    3. Earnings Call Summarizer (Gemini/ChatGPT/Perplexity)
    4. ETF Comparison in Minutes (free AI + issuer fact sheets)
    5. Stock Research Assistant with Perplexity (EDGAR/IR sourced, cited)
  • Build logically: order the 40 items so they progress from easier → more advanced, and alternate naturally between personal finance & investing (it’s OK to switch back-and-forth while still increasing complexity overall).
  • Not just “search”: workflows must use AI to transform, classify, calculate, summarize, visualize, or automate, not just “look up” facts.
  • Global accessibility: prioritize tools that are broadly available (web apps, Chrome extensions, iOS/Android apps) with free tiers.
  • If any candidate relies on a tool that lacks a free tier: replace it with a free alternative.

Research directive (to guide your ideation):

  • Pull from real user problems seen on Reddit, X (Twitter), forums, and Q&A sites around beginner personal finance and investing use cases. No need to paste URLs; summarize the pattern of the user need in one concise line (“User Problem Signal”).
  • Favor ideas that produce a tangible artifact in 10 min (e.g., a table, checklist, chart, one-page brief, SMART plan, automation, or template).

Output format (single structured table; 40 rows):Return one Markdown table with exactly these columns, in this order:

  1. # (1–40 in sequence order; easiest → more advanced)
  2. Category (Personal Finance | Investing)
  3. Workflow Title (catchy, specific)
  4. Core Free Tools (list exact free tools; web/extension/app)
  5. User Problem Signal (concise, grounded in common issues asked online)
  6. What AI Actually Does (transform/classify/summarize/plan/visualize/automate)
  7. 10-Min Output Artifact (what the reader walks away with)
  8. Step Count (5–7 steps max)
  9. Difficulty (1–5) (1 = beginner)
  10. Dependency (prior # if this builds on an earlier workflow; else “—”)
  11. Free-Tier Check (Yes; note any limits)
  12. Why It Matters (one-sentence value prop)
  13. One-Line Hook (reader-friendly headline to use in the newsletter)

Quality rules & filters:

  • Ensure 20 items are Personal Finance and 20 items are Investing.
  • No overlap with items #1–#5 listed above, nor near-duplicates among the 40.
  • Each workflow must be doable in 10 minutes with free tools, clearly producing a useful artifact for the user.
  • Prefer common, trustworthy tools with free plans (e.g., Google Sheets/Docs, Notion Free, Gemini Free, ChatGPT Free, Perplexity Free, Arcwise Free, IFTTT Free, Make Free, Apple Shortcuts, Microsoft Copilot Free, etc.).
  • If a tool’s free plan is questionable, swap it and note an alternative that is clearly free.
  • Keep wording concise and beginner-friendly.

Final check (append after the table):

  • Coverage Summary: Count how many PF vs Investing; confirm 20/20.
  • Progression Check: Briefly justify why #1–#10 are beginner-level, #11–#25 intermediate, #26–#40 advanced-lite.
  • Top 6 Starter Picks: List 6 diverse, high-impact starters (3 PF, 3 Investing) for the next six issues.

Now generate the roadmap table and the final check.

How to use this

  • Paste the master prompt above into ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity.
  • Let it generate the 40-row table + summary.
  • We’ll then select upcoming issues from the Top 6 Starter Picks and refine.