Use ChatGPT Custom Instructions to Keep a Weekly Update Consistent

A weekly update is easier to review when it follows the same shape every time. ChatGPT Custom Instructions can hold that shape across chats. They should guide formatting and uncertainty handling, not turn missing project facts into confident progress.

Reader and decision: You are a manager preparing a short internal update from approved notes. The artifact is a draft with progress, blockers, requests, and open facts. The decision is whether the draft is ready for a human owner to review.

Evidence label: Documentation-based and illustrative. OpenAI documents Custom Instructions, where to enable them, immediate application across chats, and edit or delete controls. The notes, instruction text, and output below are fictional. No ChatGPT run or personal test is claimed.

What you need

• ChatGPT on the web or desktop, with Custom Instructions available in your account.
• Approved notes that contain only information you may use in ChatGPT.
• A human owner who can check the draft before it is shared.

OpenAI says Custom Instructions are available on web, desktop, iOS, and Android. On web and desktop, the documented path is Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions. Labels can change, so use the controls visible in your account.

Fictional input

Create a note called october-weekly-notes.txt:

Project Atlas weekly notes, 26 October 2026

Done: the onboarding checklist draft is complete.
In progress: the access request is waiting for approval.
Planned: Maya will review the checklist on Friday.
Open question: the notes do not name the final sign-off owner.
Request: ask Finance whether the access approval needs a separate form.

The notes distinguish completed work, current work, a plan, an unanswered ownership question, and a request. The instructions should preserve those distinctions.

Save the instruction template

1. Open ChatGPT on the web or desktop.
2. Go to Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions. Turn customization on if the setting appears.
3. Save the following text in the field. Replace the bracketed role only if it matches your real work.

You help me draft internal weekly updates for [team or function].

Use this format:
1. Done
2. In progress
3. Planned
4. Blockers and open questions
5. Requests for a named owner

Use only the notes I provide. Keep completed, current, and planned work separate. Do not convert a plan into a completed result. Do not invent an owner, date, approval, metric, cause, or deadline. If a detail is missing, write NOT STATED. Put a short source phrase beside each material claim. End with a review checklist that asks me to confirm facts before sharing.

Keep the draft under 180 words unless I ask for a longer version. Use plain English and short paragraphs.

4. Start a new chat and paste the fictional notes. Ask:

Draft a weekly update from the attached notes using my Custom Instructions. Keep the five sections. Mark every missing fact as NOT STATED. Put the source phrase in parentheses after each material claim. Do not send, publish, or imply that a planned review has happened.

5. Compare the draft with october-weekly-notes.txt. Edit the prompt or the instructions if the output merges planned and completed work.
6. After the review, decide whether these instructions still fit your work. OpenAI documents that you can edit or delete them later, and that changes apply across chats.

Illustrative output

This is an editor-written target, not a captured ChatGPT result:

Done
The onboarding checklist draft is complete. ("Done: the onboarding checklist draft is complete.")

In progress
The access request is waiting for approval. ("In progress: the access request is waiting for approval.")

Planned
Maya will review the checklist on Friday. ("Planned: Maya will review the checklist on Friday.")

Blockers and open questions
The final sign-off owner is NOT STATED.

Requests for a named owner
Ask Finance whether the access approval needs a separate form. The owner is NOT STATED.

Review checklist
Confirm the access approver, the final sign-off owner, and whether Friday's review happened before sharing.

The useful artifact keeps the missing owner visible. A clean format does not supply the missing decision.

Acceptance checks

Before sharing the update, confirm:

• The five requested sections are present.
• Completed work is separate from in-progress and planned work.
• Maya’s review remains planned rather than completed.
• The final sign-off owner is shown as NOT STATED.
• The Finance request remains a request, not a completed action.
• Every material claim has a matching phrase in the fictional notes.
• No email was sent and no project record was changed.

Troubleshooting

• The instruction does not affect a new chat: reopen Personalization, confirm customization is enabled, and start a fresh chat. Do not assume an older response used the new text.
• The draft invents an owner: add the exact rule that missing owners must be written as NOT STATED, then test the same fictional notes again.
• A plan becomes a result: add a separate Planned section and require the model to preserve the source label beside the claim.
• The template is too rigid: remove the word limit or one section, then keep the source-boundary rules that prevent invented facts.
• Sensitive notes are involved: stop and follow your organisation’s policy before using Custom Instructions or uploading the notes.

Limits and verdict

Custom Instructions apply broadly, so a format that helps weekly updates may be awkward for another task. They also contain information you choose to save in your account. Review the instructions before adding work details, and keep the final accuracy check with a person.

TRY: the fictional template and one low-risk weekly update.

SKIP: confidential notes when your organisation has not approved the account, and any workflow that shares the draft automatically.

USE: the template as a repeatable starting point after each owner and claim passes review.

For one practical AI workflow each week, join The Weekly Verdict.

Sources

• ChatGPT Custom Instructions
• Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT