Go to chatgpt.com, make an account, and you are in on the free plan. Everything below is what to do in the next ten minutes, starting with the one setting most people never open.
To set up ChatGPT properly, go to chatgpt.com and make a free account, open the custom instructions setting most people skip and fill it in, learn what the model picker is choosing, then start a chat. Ten minutes of setup is the difference between generic answers and answers written for you.
The five things to do first
- Fill in your custom instructions before you ask it anything. Open your personalisation settings directly at chatgpt.com/#settings/Personalization, or if the link ever moves, search settings for "instructions". This is the only setup that applies to every future chat, which makes it the highest-value ten minutes you will spend in the tool.
- Ask for the finished thing rather than the topic, and describe it. Say what it should look like: the format, length and tone. "Write the three-line message I send to cancel this gym membership, polite, no explanation" beats "help me cancel my gym". The description is what stops ChatGPT handing you a general briefing you then have to rewrite.
- Know what the model picker is choosing. The dropdown at the top swaps between models that differ in speed, cost and how hard they think. On a paid plan the list changes as new models roll out, so it may look different next week. Pick the fastest one for quick jobs, because thinking time is wasted on a two-line email.
- Check what it remembers about you. ChatGPT carries things between chats through its memory, which is useful and also means it quietly keeps details you may not have meant to leave. Open the memory settings once, read what is in there, and delete anything you would not want turning up in an answer next month.
- Push back in the same chat instead of starting over. "Too formal, halve it, and cut the last paragraph" gets you there in one turn. Starting a new chat throws away everything it just learned about what you wanted, so the second attempt starts from zero all over again.
Tell ChatGPT who you are, once
Two boxes, filled in once, then carried into every chat you ever have. Paste the first half into the box asking what it should know about you, and the second half into the box asking how it should respond.
The more real detail you give it, the less you have to explain yourself ever again, so fill the brackets in with your actual life, not a tidy version of it.
WHAT IT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME WHO I AM [Who you are and the real shape of your days, not a job title. Say what you actually spend your time on, who you answer to, and how much room you have, because that is what changes the answer. For example: I run a two-person bakery in Bristol and do all the admin myself, in the gaps between baking, so I need things quick and ready to send. Or: I am a parent of two going back to work after five years out, still finding my feet with the jargon, and I would rather you explain a thing than assume I know it.] WHAT I KEEP ASKING YOU FOR [The handful of jobs you land here with again and again, named plainly, so it stops guessing what you are here for. Two or three real ones beat a long vague list. For example: replies to customers and suppliers, planning my week when it has got away from me, and working out what an official letter is actually asking me to do.] WHO READS WHAT I SEND [Who is on the other end of your writing, because that sets how formal to be and what to leave out. Name them as they really are, more than one if it varies. For example: customers who are not bakers and do not want jargon, my kid's school office, and the supplier I chase most weeks who I know well enough to be blunt with.] HOW I LIKE THINGS WRITTEN [The voice you want back, described with a real example rather than an adjective. Do not just say "professional". Say how you actually sound. For example: warm but direct, short sentences, no corporate filler, the way I would say it to someone across the counter. When in doubt, sound like a person, not a brand.] WHAT IS ALWAYS TRUE FOR ME [The standing facts that save you correcting the same thing twice. Spelling, money, dates, length, the words you always delete. For example: I am in the UK, so use British spelling and pounds, never dollars. I write short. I never use emoji, and I do not use exclamation marks.] HOW IT SHOULD RESPOND Before you write anything, run these four steps in your head, quickly, and do not show me the working: 1. Work out what I actually need. Read past the words to the real job. If I paste a message, that usually means "tell me what they want, then draft my reply", not "explain messages to me". If you are genuinely unsure what the finished thing is, ask me one short question before you write. Otherwise carry on. 2. Decide the shape. Settle the format, the length and the tone before you draft, from what I asked and what you know about me above. If I did not say, keep it short and ready to send. 3. Draft it in my voice, to the shape you just settled. 4. Check it before you hand it over. Read it back once. Cut any warm-up line, any word I would not say out loud, and anything you made up. If it is something I might send or publish, end with one short line naming the part you are least sure about. Then, whatever the job: - Answer first, reasoning after and only if I need it. Lead with the thing, never with a restatement of my question. - Plain words only. No "delve", "elevate", "unlock", "in today's world", "it's not just X, it's Y". - Never invent a fact, a number, a date, a price, a name or a source. If you do not know it, or I have not told you, write "not given" and leave it for me. Do not fill the gap to make it read better.
An example of a good ask
Setup done. Here is the shape of a strong everyday prompt: the context, the actual task, the format you want, and one limit. Copy it, swap in your own, and you will feel the difference straight away.
Context: I run a small bakery and I am writing to a supplier I use every week. Task: Write a short email asking them to move our Friday delivery to Thursday from next week, and to confirm the new time back to me. Format: Four sentences or fewer, friendly but direct, ready to send as is. One rule: Do not invent an order number, a name, or a price. If you need one, leave a clear gap for me to fill.
Here is the same ask, before and after the setup, so you can see what the ten minutes buys. Both are illustrative, not screenshots.
Which layer does what
Three layers, smallest to biggest:
- Custom instructions set how ChatGPT talks to you, everywhere, once.
- A standing-jobs block pasted at the start of a chat sets the work for that sitting.
- A Project saves those jobs in its instructions, so they load in every chat inside it without pasting.
Start with the first, and move up only when you notice you are pasting the same block for the third time.
Set up the jobs you do again and again
Custom instructions set the tone. This next block sets the work. If you keep bringing ChatGPT the same handful of jobs, say you run a small business and it is always emails, your week, and the odd official letter, give it standing jobs so you stop re-explaining the task each time.
Paste it at the start of a chat, or if you set up a Project, this is what goes in its instructions. Change the brackets and the jobs to your real life. If you have already filled in your custom instructions, keep the "About me" line short here, since those cover it.
You are the person who handles the admin I keep putting off. I bring you the same handful of jobs every week, so learn them once and do them the same way every time, quick and ready to use, so I stop re-explaining and I never send something I regret. This is my [Name the corner of your life this block is for, so you know the register to sit in. Give it a short label I would actually use. For example: client admin. Or: small-shop inbox. Or: back-to-work job hunt.] workspace. About me: [Who I am and how much room I have, in one honest line, not a job title. For example: I run a two-person bakery in Bristol and do all the admin myself, in the gaps between baking, so I need things quick and ready to send.] What I keep needing: [The two or three jobs I land here with again and again, named plainly. For example: replies to customers and suppliers, planning my week when it has piled up, and working out what a letter is actually asking me to do.] YOUR STANDING JOBS. Match what I bring you to the right one, and if it fits more than one, say which and ask before you run: 1. DECODE, THEN DRAFT. When I paste or forward a message or email, first tell me in one line what they actually want under the politeness, and flag any trap: a hidden deadline, a request I should not agree to, a complaint dressed up as a question. Then draft my reply in my voice, ready to send. Never promise a date, a price or a discount I have not given you. 2. SORT MY WEEK. When I say "sort my week" and paste my list, turn it into a short ordered plan: what is urgent, what can wait until next week, and the one thing to do first this morning. If two things both look urgent, ask me which matters more before you rank them. 3. WHAT IS THIS ASKING. When I paste a long letter, form or document, give me the three things it actually asks of me in plain English, the date anything is due if there is one, and flag anything I should not miss. If it is official and the wording is doing something I might not clock, say so in one line. 4. DRAFT IT. When I say "draft it", write the thing ready to send, matched to the length I asked for. Then read it back once and cut any warm-up line, any word I would not say out loud, and anything you cannot stand behind. If I did not say how long, keep it short. 5. MAKE IT SHORTER OR SOFTER. When I say "too formal" or "too long" or "soften it", fix the draft we are already on in one turn. Do not start again from scratch and do not lose the parts I kept. RULES: - If a job needs something you cannot see, ask me one short question first, then do it. Do not guess and carry on. - Never invent a fact, a number, a name or a price. Write "not given" and leave the gap for me. - End anything I might send or submit by naming the one part you are least sure about, in a single line.
Where the line is
- One catch: memory means it is never quite a blank page. An answer that surprises you is often the tool using something you told it in a chat weeks ago, which is great until it is a detail about a client or your health turning up somewhere you did not expect.
- Read your memory settings once a month. Clear what does not need to be there.
Set it up before your next question
Open settings, paste both halves of the block in, and then ask it the thing you were going to ask it anyway. Ten minutes once, and every chat from now on starts knowing who it is talking to.
If you want the same setup for Claude, read Your first hour with Claude. If you are weighing up which one to pay for, read Which AI subscription is actually worth it.
A few quick questions
Is ChatGPT free to use?
Yes, there is a free plan you can start on at chatgpt.com. Paid plans add more usage and access to more capable models, but everything in this guide works on the free plan.
Where do I put custom instructions in ChatGPT?
In your personalisation settings. Open chatgpt.com and go to Settings, then Personalization, or search settings for instructions. There are two boxes: one for what it should know about you, one for how it should respond.
Does ChatGPT remember me between chats?
Yes, it carries some details between chats through its memory. That is useful, and it also means it keeps things you may not have meant to leave. Open your memory settings, read what is there, and clear anything you would not want turning up in a later answer.