Practical guide · Orange Ink
How to set up ChatGPT for work without drowning in settings
You do not need a perfect “AI stack” on day one. You need a clean account, clear instructions, and one place where the week’s work lives. Here is a light setup that operators actually keep.
- 01
Pick the right account and keep work separate
Use a work email if you can. Turn on history for the chats you will reuse; keep personal experiments elsewhere. Decide now that client data and secrets never go into the prompt.
- 02
Write three-line custom instructions
Tell ChatGPT who you are, who you serve, and how you want drafts: GB English, short paragraphs, mark unknowns as TBD. Skip novel-length bios — three lines beat thirty.
- 03
Create one weekly ops chat
Name it with the week date. Park the Monday brief, meeting notes, and Friday close there. New topic threads for deep work; the weekly chat is the ops desk.
- 04
Run one loop before you collect more prompts
Brief → Capture → Draft → Close once. If the setup does not survive a real week, more prompt packs will not save it.
Setup is done when you can open ChatGPT on Monday and know exactly which chat and which checklist page to use — not when every model feature is toggled.
Go further with the pack
ChatGPT for Business Ops Kit
The free Weekly Ops Checklist PDF walks the same setup beside ChatGPT. The ChatGPT for Business Ops Kit expands it into 26 pages of workflows, prompts, and a 14-day practice plan — built by Orange Ink.
Get the free checklist PDFFree pack starter
Free download
Questions, answered
Before you decide
Do I need ChatGPT Team or Enterprise?
Not to start. A Plus/Team seat helps with limits and admin, but the weekly rhythm matters more than the plan name.
Should I turn on browsing and connectors?
Only when a workflow needs them. Extra tools add noise until the basic loop is habit.