8 ChatGPT Prompts to Identify Your Highest-Leverage Business Activities
In business, not all work is created equal. Some activities quietly compound results, while others consume time without moving the needle. The challenge isn’t working harder—it’s identifying high-leverage activities: the few actions that create outsized impact relative to the effort invested.
This is where ChatGPT becomes more than a writing tool. When used well, it can act as a strategic thinking partner—helping you clarify priorities, spot leverage points, and eliminate low-value work.
Below are 8 powerful ChatGPT prompts designed to help you identify and focus on your highest-leverage business activities.
1. The Impact Filter Prompt
Prompt:
“Based on my business model, what activities typically create the most long-term value and why?”
This prompt helps you zoom out before zooming in. High-leverage work depends heavily on context: a SaaS founder’s leverage looks different from a consultant’s or an ecommerce operator’s.
By asking ChatGPT to reason from your business model, you encourage first-principles thinking. The output often highlights patterns like:
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Customer acquisition channels with compounding returns
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Systems or processes that reduce future workload
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Product improvements that unlock new revenue streams
Use this prompt early to establish a strategic baseline before analyzing your own tasks.
2. The 80/20 Reality Check Prompt
Prompt:
“Help me apply the 80/20 principle to my business. What 20% of activities are likely driving 80% of results?”
The Pareto Principle is simple in theory but hard to apply emotionally—especially when you’re busy. This prompt forces prioritization by asking ChatGPT to surface likely disproportionate drivers of results.
The value isn’t just in the answer, but in the reflection it triggers. Compare the output with how you actually spend your time. Any major mismatch is a signal that leverage is being left on the table.
3. The Time Audit Interpreter Prompt
Prompt:
“Here is how I spend my average workweek: [list tasks and hours]. Which activities appear low leverage, and which deserve more focus?”
Most people do time audits—but few know how to interpret them strategically. ChatGPT can help you step back and evaluate your schedule objectively.
This prompt often reveals:
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Tasks that could be delegated or automated
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Work that feels productive but produces minimal business impact
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Under-invested activities that could scale results if given more time
It’s one of the fastest ways to turn raw time data into actionable insight.
4. The Opportunity Cost Lens Prompt
Prompt:
“What is the opportunity cost of me continuing to spend time on [specific task] instead of higher-impact work?”
Leverage is inseparable from opportunity cost. Every hour spent on low-impact work is an hour not spent on growth, strategy, or revenue.
This prompt reframes decisions in terms of trade-offs, not effort. Seeing the hidden cost of “just getting something done” often makes it easier to let go of tasks you’ve been holding onto unnecessarily.
5. The Delegation Readiness Prompt
Prompt:
“Which of my current responsibilities should I delegate first to maximize leverage, and what skills should I delegate to?”
High-leverage leaders are not the best doers—they are the best allocators. This prompt helps identify tasks that cap your leverage because they rely on your time instead of systems or people.
ChatGPT can help you:
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Rank tasks by delegation potential
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Define clear roles or skill sets needed
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Spot bottlenecks where you are the constraint
Even if you’re a solo founder, this prompt prepares you for smarter hiring or outsourcing decisions.
6. The Constraint-Finding Prompt
Prompt:
“Based on my goals, what is the biggest constraint limiting my business growth right now?”
Borrowed from the Theory of Constraints, this prompt is about focus. Growth rarely comes from doing more—it comes from addressing the single biggest bottleneck.
High-leverage activities are often those that relieve constraints, such as:
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Improving a weak conversion step
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Fixing fulfillment or delivery delays
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Clarifying messaging that confuses customers
Once the main constraint is addressed, leverage shifts—so this prompt is worth revisiting regularly.
7. The Compounding Effect Prompt
Prompt:
“Which activities in my business will compound in value if I invest in them consistently over the next 12 months?”
Leverage loves time. Activities that compound—like content, systems, product quality, or brand trust—often feel slow at first but dominate long-term outcomes.
This prompt helps you distinguish between:
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Linear work (paid once, benefits once)
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Compounding work (paid once, benefits many times)
If an activity continues to pay off without proportional additional effort, it’s almost always high leverage.
8. The Stop-Doing Prompt
Prompt:
“What activities am I likely doing out of habit that no longer meaningfully contribute to my business goals?”
Sometimes the biggest leverage gain comes not from adding something—but from stopping something.
This prompt challenges assumptions and legacy work. Businesses evolve, but task lists often don’t. Eliminating outdated or low-impact activities frees time, attention, and energy for what actually matters now.
How to Get the Most Value from These Prompts
To maximize impact:
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Be specific with context (business model, goals, constraints)
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Paste real data when possible (time audits, task lists, metrics)
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Revisit the prompts quarterly as your business evolves
Think of ChatGPT not as an oracle, but as a clarity accelerator—helping you see patterns, question assumptions, and make better strategic decisions faster.
Final Thought
High-leverage work is rarely obvious in the moment. It often feels uncomfortable, strategic, or slow compared to busywork. But by using the right prompts, ChatGPT can help you cut through noise, focus your efforts, and consistently invest in the activities that truly drive growth.
In business, leverage isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most.
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