Let's be real. Sometimes you get stuck on something so simple, you don't even want to Google it. Or maybe you need to look smart in a meeting you didn't pay attention to.
Stop fighting the easy stuff. I use these prompts when I'm short on brain cells and need the computer to cover for me.
Here are 5 easy wins you can steal today:
1. The "What Does This Even Do?" Explainer
When someone pastes an unfamiliar code block or a terrifyingly long regular expression, don't pretend you get it. Get a summary first.
👉 Prompt:
Explain this [Code Snippet, Library function, or RegEx] to me like I'm a developer who just started their first internship. Break down the core logic in one sentence, then list exactly what it takes as input and what it returns as output.
💡 Example: Dropped in a complicated array map/reduce function $\rightarrow$ got a perfect three-line explanation that let me confidently say, "Ah, yes, it’s aggregating the user scores."
2. The Meeting Quote Generator
You're in a planning meeting and need to sound deeply concerned about technical debt or scalability without knowing the details.
👉 Prompt:
Give me 3 different, high-level technical concerns I should raise about this plan: [Describe the Plan, e.g., 'Moving our $auth$ logic from $microservice$ A to $microservice$ B'].
Format each concern as a professional-sounding, one-sentence quote that starts with: "We need to consider..."
💡 Example: For a plan to update a dependency $\rightarrow$ I got: "We need to consider the cascading failure modes if the rollback strategy is not instantly reversible." Everyone nodded.
3. The $Git$ Command Saver
You've made a mess in $Git$. You're on the wrong branch, you need to squash $12$ commits, and you're sweating. Don't look up $Stack$ Overflow.
👉 Prompt:
I am currently on branch [Current Branch Name] and I need to [The Mess, e.g., 'squash the last 5 commits into one', 'undo the last commit and keep the file changes', 'switch to the main branch without committing these temporary changes']. Give me the exact, safest shell command to achieve this, and add one sentence explaining what the command does.
💡 Example: Asked how to fix a commit I regretted $\rightarrow$ got the exact git reset --soft HEAD~1 command, saving me from googling $15$ different unsafe options.
4. The Boilerplate Blocker
You know what you need (e.g., a simple data class, a $JWT$ token check), but you're too lazy to type out the same fields or imports again.
👉 Prompt:
Write a boilerplate [Language, e.g., $Java$ class, $TypeScript$ interface, $Python$ function] that implements [Goal, e.g., 'a data structure for a User object with name, email, and ID', 'a basic endpoint handler for a $GET$ request']. Do not include any business logic, just the standard structure and required type definitions.
💡 Example: Asked for a $React$ component that fetches data $\rightarrow$ got a clean skeleton with $useEffect$, $useState$, and a placeholder fetchData function. Saved $10$ minutes of setup.
5. The $NPM$/$PIP$ Package Finder
You know what you want to do, but you can't remember the name of that one popular package that handles it.
👉 Prompt:
What is the most popular, standard [Language/Ecosystem, e.g., $Node.js$, $Python$] package for [Problem, e.g., 'validating input data against a defined schema', 'creating a command line interface']? Give me the package name and the exact install command.
💡 Example: Could not recall the $Python$ package for data validation $\rightarrow$ ChatGPT suggested Pydantic and gave me the pip install pydantic command. Done.
✅ The truth: The fastest way to finish a task is often to get the most boring parts handled by something else. Work smart, not hard (or barely at all).
👉 I’ve collected dozens more prompts like these (for marketing, social media and more).
You can save them or even create your own advanced prompts at AISuperHub Prompt Hub.
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