Five things you can do with Claude today that'll save you hours.

Enough theory. Here are five things you can open Claude and do right now, each with the exact words you can type. I use all of these regularly.

1. Draft that email you've been avoiding

We all have one. The complaint to the energy company. The awkward message to a friend. The follow-up to a job application. Just tell Claude what you need.

I need to email my energy provider. My bill has been wrong for three months and they keep ignoring my complaints. I want to be firm but not rude. My account number is 12345678.

Claude will draft the whole email. If it's too formal, say "make it sound more like me, less like a lawyer." If you want to add something, say "also mention that I've been a customer for six years." It adapts to your style.

2. Summarise something long

Got a 15-page school policy document? A long article someone sent you? Terms and conditions you should probably read but won't? Paste the whole thing into Claude and ask:

Here's a document I received from my solicitor. Can you summarise the key points in plain English and flag anything I should be worried about?

Claude will pull out the important bits and explain them without the legal jargon. This alone has saved me hours.

3. Plan a trip or an event

Claude is brilliant at logistics. Give it the constraints and let it work.

I'm planning a weekend in Edinburgh with my partner. We arrive Friday at 3pm and leave Sunday at 5pm. We like good food, history, and walking but nothing too strenuous. Budget is about 200 pounds for activities and meals, not including the hotel. Plan our weekend.

You'll get a time-blocked itinerary with specific restaurant suggestions, walking routes, and things to see, all within your constraints. If you want changes, just say "actually, swap Saturday lunch for something vegetarian" or "we'd rather skip the castle, what else is nearby?"

4. Understand confusing paperwork

Tax letters. Insurance policies. Employment contracts. Pension statements. The stuff that arrives in an envelope and immediately makes you feel stupid. Claude is extremely patient with this.

I received this letter from HMRC and I genuinely don't understand what they want me to do. Can you explain it like I'm someone who has never dealt with tax before?

It'll break it down step by step: what the letter is saying, what action you need to take, and by when. If you have follow-up questions ("but what if I already paid this?"), just keep asking.

5. Think through a big decision

This is my favourite one. Claude is like having a thinking partner who never gets tired and has no agenda.

I've been offered a new job. It pays 8,000 pounds more but the commute is 45 minutes each way instead of 15. The role is more senior but in a field I have less experience in. My current job is comfortable but I'm a bit bored. What should I be thinking about?

Claude won't tell you what to do (it shouldn't, and good AI tools don't). But it'll ask the right questions and help you think about angles you might have missed. The commute cost in time and money. The learning curve. What "bored" might turn into in two years. It's like talking to a very thoughtful friend who asks good questions.

The pattern you'll notice

All five of these have something in common: you're just telling Claude what you need in normal words. There's no trick. There's no special format. You talk to it like a person, and it responds like a helpful one.

The more specific you are, the better the results. "Help me write an email" is fine, but "help me write a polite email to my landlord about the leak in the bathroom that's been there since January" is better. Not because Claude needs magic words, but because more detail means less guessing.

Pick one of these five and try it right now. I promise it'll take less than two minutes, and you'll immediately see why people are excited about this stuff.