In a previous column, I wrote about how it alarmed me to observe that women of my generation who are not working often do not keep up with advances in computer technology. They let their children take over their laptops and shy away from acquainting themselves with the latest apps and web services. The risk of this is that we miss out on great opportunities to use technology to make our lives easier, more efficient, and most importantly—free up more time to relax! One such tool that can be an absolute game-changer for busy women and mothers is ChatGPT.

For those who haven’t used it before, ChatGPT is an AI-powered assistant that can answer questions, generate ideas, and help with tasks simply by responding to prompts that you type in. The best way to learn to use it is just to experiment—type in a request, see the response, tweak your wording, and soon you’ll be making it work for you in ways you never imagined. If you are still unsure of how it could help you in your daily life, here are a few practical ways that ChatGPT can assist with running a household and looking after a family.

Planning Your Weekly Menu
I clearly remember what my mother-in-law told me when my husband and I moved into our forever home and stopped relying on his parents’ house for our meals: “Now you’ll have that odious task of deciding the menu every day!” After experiencing for myself how much mental effort it took to plan the daily menu for my variety-obsessed husband and the rest of our household, I was inspired to write about the struggle in a blog post in a personal blog I used to have back then. The topic was so relatable that friends reference the post to me even now, years later, proving that every woman who assumes this responsibility finds it challenging, or at least tedious with its never-endingness. That’s why it felt like a “Eureka” moment when I came across a post on X (formerly Twitter) from a working mom sharing that she had used ChatGPT for making a week’s worth of daily meal plans, and found it to be a game changer.

How to use it:
Go to ChatGPT and type a prompt like:
“Give me a weekly meal plan with quick, healthy Indian vegetarian dinners that a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old would also enjoy.” Or: “Create a meal plan with dinner recipes for one week, keeping in mind that I want a mix of Indian and continental food and have only 30 minutes to cook each meal.”

ChatGPT will generate a structured menu with meals for each day, and you can even ask it to include grocery lists! This can save you the daily struggle of deciding what to cook while ensuring your family gets variety and nutrition.

A point to remember when using this wonderful technology is that the more detail you put into your prompt, the better your results will be. I attended a presentation on this very topic and learned that a good prompt should be at least 450 words. So go ahead and be specific with your family’s meal requirements: mention things like high-protein, unprocessed foods, dairy intolerance, etc., as well as the exact number of meals and snacks in a day. Giving an example of a standard menu would greatly help the AI-assistant as it keeps learning and improving with every bit of information you feed it.

Once it churns out a week’s menu, review it and write another prompt explaining any modifications you want. When you’re happy with the plan, you can ask it to generate a grocery shopping list based on this menu, which I mentioned earlier but is so handy it bears repeating! Just think about how much mental energy it will free up to automate this task. Encourage all the women in your life to try it!

Planning Your Family’s
Summer Holiday
Some people thrive in the task of planning vacations, but if you’re like me, the process can be daunting. Deciding on a destination, creating an itinerary, finding family-friendly activities, figuring out visa requirements—it’s a lot, but the good news is ChatGPT can simplify it all for you.

How to use it:
Try typing something like:
“Suggest a 5-day itinerary for a family vacation in Kerala with two young children, including sightseeing and relaxing activities.” Or: “Help me find a budget-friendly international holiday destination for a family of four traveling in July, with recommendations on activities and accommodation.”

ChatGPT can offer destination suggestions, day-by-day itineraries, and even tips on local food, weather, and packing lists. It’s like having a personal travel planner at your fingertips! What would normally take you a few hours of research can now be done in minutes, producing a neatly laid out plan that you can share with your spouse or other travel companions. The best part of this is that you can present several options at once to your group, and keep refining your prompts to help land on the best one. Of course, you must be extra thorough when planning travel and should independently research the attractions and other relevant information, like visa requirements, presented by ChatGPT, because it can certainly make mistakes. This is why it is discouraged as a research tool for students; however, smart usage makes it an awesome mommy’s-little-helper.

Creating an Engaging Bedtime Story
Although I have been writing for years, I was never creative enough to weave fantasy stories out of thin air to tell my children during bedtime or quiet time. This irked me because I was desperate for any activity that allowed me to pass the time with my small children while sitting still, even better if reclining! If you are tired of reading the same bedtime stories over and over again, or if your child would be delighted by stories customized to their interests, let ChatGPT do the creative work for you!

How to use it: Try a prompt like:
“Write a short bedtime story for my 5-year-old daughter about a magical cat that helps children in their dreams.” Or: “Create a funny bedtime story for my 8-year-old son about a boy who discovers he can talk to animals.”

The real value comes in the ability to personalize it. You can ask for an alternate version of a story your kid already loves. You can incorporate characters they know, or family members and friends. If your child is in need of a reminder of the principles of sharing, or empathy, you can create a lesson within the story. As kids receive a tailor-made story every night, they will start to look forward to this part of their bedtime routine, and anything that gets them into bed faster is a boon for parents!

Helping with Difficult Conversations
Mothers often have to navigate difficult conversations—whether it’s with their spouse, in-laws, children, or even a friend. Sometimes, you may want to express your feelings but worry about sounding too harsh or emotional. This is where ChatGPT can help refine your message.

How to use it: Type something like:
“I need to tell my husband that I feel like I’m doing most of the parenting and would like more help, but I don’t want to sound nagging. Can you help me phrase this more constructively?” Or: “I need to tell a friend that I feel hurt because she cancels plans at the last minute. Can you help me phrase this in a way that is kind but firm?”

ChatGPT will provide a balanced, polite way to express your feelings while avoiding inflammatory or accusatory language. When left to our own devices, emotions can lead us to use such language, which the other person then gets hung up on and thus derails the conversation. While you might feel silly having a script, this can help make difficult conversations more productive and less confrontational.

If you find yourself using ChatGPT regularly, consider upgrading to the paid version, which offers faster response times, access to more advanced AI models, and a higher message limit. The enhanced capabilities can make a big difference, especially when you’re using it for detailed planning, research, or creative tasks.

Technology is advancing at lightning speed, and there’s no reason for us not to take advantage of tools that can make our lives easier. ChatGPT is like having a personal assistant who doesn’t need a salary and never takes a day off! By using it to lighten our mental load—whether it’s planning meals, organising travel, storytelling for our children, or even navigating relationships—we can reclaim more time for ourselves. So go ahead, experiment with it, and enjoy the benefits of a little AI-powered help in your daily life!