This post is running compilation of all of the Thursday Things Tech Tips from May 8th, 2025 to present sorted by reverse chronological order.

For older tech tips, check out: ccingmyea.vimcal.com/p/all-tech-tips-part-1.

This way you don’t have to dig through your old emails just to search for a specific tech tip you wanted a refresher on. 👍

Why EAs need tools built specifically for their workflows (8/7/2025)

If you’ve ever wrestled with a tool that wasn’t designed for how you work (e.g. Google Calendar or Outlook), this might resonate.

Imagine you want to colorize a black and white photo.

You could ask a general tool like ChatGPT to do it.

It’ll kiiinda work, but it’s clunky, slow, and honestly not good enough.

Or… you could just use a specialized tool that was actually built to do that one specific thing.

That’s the difference between general AI tools and specialized software, and in this 18-minute presentation I gave at The EA Campus’s Innovate Virtual Summit, I break down exactly what that looks like in action. 👇

Planning an offsite? 2 tools worth checking out (7/31/2025)

Offsites are fun after they happen. But planning them? It’s a lot…

Here are two tools I know about that can make organizing your next one easier, whether you're doing it solo or want someone to take it off your plate:

Offsite

Fun fact: Offsite is also based in NYC so we’re going to be hosting a fun event for EAs together soon, look out for that!

Think: “Airbnb for team retreats” but with two options: you can go the self-serve route and browse venues yourself or let their team plan the whole thing for you.

They offer:

• Search over 1,000 vetted global venues and compare availability, amenities, and pricing in one place

• Access curated local vendors from team-building activities to event production and transportation

• Option to upgrade to full-service planning, including customized agendas, vendor booking, travel logistics, and on-site coordination all for a flat per-person fee

🎁 Offsite set up a discounted link for CCing my EA readers, which includes 10% off your first retreat when you use their full-service option.

Nowadays

I heard about Nowadays from a trusted Vimcal EA user who was raving about how actually helpful the AI features were, so I had to check them out.

Built from the ground up around AI and automation, it’s perfect if you want speed, reach, and a shared planning dashboard.

You get:

• Access to 400,000+ venues/vendors, all searchable and instantly comparable

• Automated outreach in the venue’s native language and real time negotiation

• Help with flights, visas, city research, and attendee registration

• One dashboard for quotes, maps, comments, and approvals

🎁 Nowadays set up a discounted link for CCing my EA readers that gives you 30% off their corporate planning fee (normally 10%, now 7%). If you have any questions, you can also reach out to them at [email protected] with “CCing my EA” in the subject line.

ChatGPT prompting cheat sheet (7/24/2025)

I saw this ChatGPT cheatsheet on Reddit and thought it could be super helpful as a printout for you to have by your desk.

With that said, if you ever feel like using ChatGPT “correctly” is too complicated or technically complex, you might find some of the top comments on the Reddit post reassuring:

Clay for CRM (7/17/2025)

Note: if you're already using a different CRM tool, Clay will migrate you for free and send you a special gift! Just email them at [email protected] to get started.

If your exec knows hundreds of people but remembers zero birthdays, job changes, or who they had lunch with last quarter… Clay might be worth a look.

It’s a relationship management tool that actually works for EAs and is built to help you stay on top of your exec’s network across both personal and professional relationships. With shared access, smart integrations, and a clean interface, Clay helps you manage your exec’s relationships behind the scenes.

Here’s how you’ll want to start:

1. Connect everything: Email, calendar, LinkedIn, iMessage, WhatsApp. Clay pulls in contacts, meetings, and interactions automatically.

2. Clean up contacts: Use Clay’s duplicate detection to merge, edit, or enrich with job titles, notes, or personal context.

3. Set reminders + notes: Schedule regular check-ins for important relationships, and take rich, searchable notes tied to each contact.

4. Use the Home feed: It’s like a relationship briefing: job changes, social updates, birthdays, and who your exec hasn’t talked to in a while.

My personal favorite feature is the Map view though. It gives a quick, visual reminder of who’s physically nearby, which is especially helpful while traveling.

More than once, I’ve visited a city and completely forgotten someone I should’ve reached out to. Clay solves that in one glance!

To try out Clay, use this link to get an extended trial (normally 14 days, now 2 months) specifically for CCing my EA readers: clay.earth/partners/vimcal 🎁

And just in case, here’s Clay’s full EA guide.

Paste this into ChatGPT. It’ll change how you prompt. (7/10/2025)

Ever spent 10+ prompts trying to get ChatGPT to “just write the thing”? Same.

A Reddit user had that exact meltdown and ended up creating Lyra, a prompt that flips the script. Instead of you guessing what ChatGPT needs, Lyra interviews you first.

In his words, it’s like upgrading ChatGPT into a “$500/hr consultant”.

Here’s what to do:

1. Copy the full Lyra block below

2. Paste it into a new ChatGPT thread

3. Give it your vaguest, messiest request

4. Watch it ask smart clarifying questions and return a way better result

👇 Copy/paste this into ChatGPT:

You are Lyra, a master-level AI prompt optimization specialist. Your mission: transform any user input into precision-crafted prompts that unlock AI's full potential across all platforms.

## THE 4-D METHODOLOGY

### 1. DECONSTRUCT
- Extract core intent, key entities, and context
- Identify output requirements and constraints
- Map what's provided vs. what's missing

### 2. DIAGNOSE
- Audit for clarity gaps and ambiguity
- Check specificity and completeness
- Assess structure and complexity needs

### 3. DEVELOP
- Select optimal techniques based on request type:
  - **Creative** → Multi-perspective + tone emphasis
  - **Technical** → Constraint-based + precision focus
  - **Educational** → Few-shot examples + clear structure
  - **Complex** → Chain-of-thought + systematic frameworks
- Assign appropriate AI role/expertise
- Enhance context and implement logical structure

### 4. DELIVER
- Construct optimized prompt
- Format based on complexity
- Provide implementation guidance

## OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES

**Foundation:** Role assignment, context layering, output specs, task decomposition

**Advanced:** Chain-of-thought, few-shot learning, multi-perspective analysis, constraint optimization

**Platform Notes:**
- **ChatGPT/GPT-4:** Structured sections, conversation starters
- **Claude:** Longer context, reasoning frameworks
- **Gemini:** Creative tasks, comparative analysis
- **Others:** Apply universal best practices

## OPERATING MODES

**DETAIL MODE:** 
- Gather context with smart defaults
- Ask 2-3 targeted clarifying questions
- Provide comprehensive optimization

**BASIC MODE:**
- Quick fix primary issues
- Apply core techniques only
- Deliver ready-to-use prompt

## RESPONSE FORMATS

**Simple Requests:**
```
**Your Optimized Prompt:**
[Improved prompt]

**What Changed:** [Key improvements]
```

**Complex Requests:**
```
**Your Optimized Prompt:**
[Improved prompt]

**Key Improvements:**
• [Primary changes and benefits]

**Techniques Applied:** [Brief mention]

**Pro Tip:** [Usage guidance]
```

## WELCOME MESSAGE (REQUIRED)

When activated, display EXACTLY:

"Hello! I'm Lyra, your AI prompt optimizer. I transform vague requests into precise, effective prompts that deliver better results.

**What I need to know:**
- **Target AI:** ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Other
- **Prompt Style:** DETAIL (I'll ask clarifying questions first) or BASIC (quick optimization)

**Examples:**
- "DETAIL using ChatGPT — Write me a marketing email"
- "BASIC using Claude — Help with my resume"

Just share your rough prompt and I'll handle the optimization!"

## PROCESSING FLOW

1. Auto-detect complexity:
   - Simple tasks → BASIC mode
   - Complex/professional → DETAIL mode
2. Inform user with override option
3. Execute chosen mode protocol
4. Deliver optimized prompt

**Memory Note:** Do not save any information from optimization sessions to memory.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Emojis for saved Google Maps lists (7/3/2025)

Back when I was backpacking China and SE Asia from 2018-2019, I desperately wanted a way to visually separate saved food spots from museums and scenic viewpoints. Instead, I was stuck with Google Maps’s 5 generic default icons. 😒

Turns out, Google quietly fixed this in September 2023!

Now, when you create or edit a saved list in Google Maps (on iOS or Android), you can assign it an emoji icon: like 🍔 for restaurants, 🖼️ for museums, 🌄 for viewpoints, etc.

The emojis will show up on your map, making it way easier to scan at a glance.

Wish 2018 me had this but better late than never!

Search browser tabs shortcut (⌘ + Shift + A) (6/26/2025)

Right now, I have 61 Chrome tabs open. And yes, I actually counted. 😱

If that sounds like you, here’s a much needed shortcut I just discovered that I’m kinda obsessed with:

• ⌘ + Shift + A on Mac

• Ctrl + Shift + A on Windows

This opens a little search bar where you can type anything (e.g. “LinkedIn”, “Google Docs”, “calendar”) and instantly jump to the relevant tab.

Bonus: You can close tabs right from the same search box (perfect for removing duplicate tabs).

Extra bonus: The tabs are sorted by last opened them, so it’s easy to spot mummies. I found 13 tabs I haven’t touched in 64 days… 😭

Copy-paste text without messing up your formatting (6/19/2025)

Ever copy-paste something into an email or doc, only to spend the next minute fixing the weird font sizes, colors, and spacing?

Here’s a shortcut I use constantly to get around that:

• Shift + ⌘ + V on Mac

• Control + Shift + V on Windows

This pastes just the plain text, so it’ll automatically match the formatting of whatever you’re pasting into.

No more unintentionally copy pasting Comic Sans font!

Note: If you’re on Mac, this is literally the same effect as right clicking and then selecting “Paste and Match Style”.

Stop manually scanning emails for scheduling and just let AI do it (6/12/2025)

You get an email:

“Can you do Tuesday 2-5pm, Wednesday 11am-1pm, or Thursday 3pm-6pm?”

And suddenly you're stuck flipping back and forth between your email and calendar trying to see what works.

If this sounds familiar, take 10 seconds to watch this 👇

With Vimcal EA’s AI Free Time Finder, you can:

1. Screenshot the message

2. Drag the screenshot into your calendar

3. Instantly see which times actually fit for you

Calendly links work too: just copy-paste the link and Vimcal EA will show you the overlapping availabilities directly inside your calendar.

Little things like this save way more time (and brainpower) than you’d expect.

Bonus Tech Tip: 2 recent AI updates useful for EAs

Wanted to throw in an extra tech tip this week that isn’t about Vimcal EA and is 100% worth knowing about:

The “3-word rule” to make ChatGPT give expert responses (6/5/2025)

A few months ago, our CTO shared his four-part prompt formula to help you get quality responses from your AI tools.

Today’s tech tip essentially boils that four-part prompt formula down to a 3-word phrase you can add to your AI prompts to get quality answers. All credit for this tech tip goes to Amanda Caswell via Tom’s Guide.

Before we get started, as per Amanda’s post, “No, the three little words are not ‘I love you’”. 😂

“The concept is simple: Add a short, three-word directive to your prompt that tells ChatGPT how to respond. These three words can instantly shape the tone, voice and depth of the output. You’re not rewriting your whole question. You’re just giving the AI a lens through which to answer.

Here are a few examples that work surprisingly well:

• ‘Like a lawyer’ — for structured, detailed and logical responses

• ‘Be a teacher’ — for simplified, clear and educational explanations

• ‘Act like Hemingway’ — for punchy, minimalist writing with impact

It’s kind of like casting the AI in a role, and then you're directing the performance with the specifics in your prompts.”

“Need a few starter ideas? These formats work across writing, research, translation and even creative tasks:

• ‘Summarize this article like a journalist’

• ‘Explain dark matter like a professor’

• ‘Give feedback like a mentor’

• ‘Write a poem like a songwriter’

• ‘Translate this message like a diplomat’

You can swap in almost any role or voice that fits your needs: CEO, therapist, designer, coach, teenager or just about anyone else. The more specific, the better.

Each tweak helps ChatGPT interpret your request through a more useful lens, and the difference in quality is often immediate.” - Amanda Caswell

2 Shortcuts: ⌘ + ↓ (bottom of page) and fn + ↓ (next page (5/29/2025)

Ever found yourself mindlessly scrolling down a 40-paragraph blog post or dragging your mouse to hit a tiny scroll bar just to reach the footer of a website?

Here’s a faster way:

On Mac

• ⌘ + ↓ instantly jumps to the bottom of a document or webpage

• fn + ↓ moves you down one full page at a time

On Windows

• Ctrl + End instantly jumps to the bottom of a document or webpage

• Page Down moves you down one full page at a time

Why you shouldn’t sleep on niche AI tools (5/22/2025)

My parents recently sent me some old black-and-white photos of themselves from 40+ years ago that they were reminiscing over.

I thought it’d be fun to surprise them by colorizing the photos with AI, so I first tried my go-to AI tool, ChatGPT.

Despite explicitly prompting ChatGPT to “color the photo in realistically while keeping all of the original details intact and without taking creative liberties”, the result still looked cartoonish.

Then I tried Gemini with the same prompt. While it did a better job of maintaining some of the realism, it melted their faces and turned their clothing into plastic.

But then I found a niche AI tool on MyHeritage that was specifically dedicated to restoring old family photos and the difference was night and day: the colors were true to life while every wrinkle, shadow, and smile remained intact. Best of all, I didn’t need to do a thing beyond uploading the original image — not a single prompt needed!

The result speaks for itself.

The main point I’m trying to make here is that while general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are super convenient and great for getting simple work done, they’re going to fall short when compared to single-purpose tools for more complex tasks.

If you’re trying to get the best result, whether it’s restoring a decades-old photo, transcribing a meeting, or calendaring meetings for your exec (Vimcal EA anyone? 😉), niche tools built for one job are going to outperform general-purpose AI tools every time.

Use ChatGPT to prepare for tough conversations (5/15/2025)

This tech tip is a simple and self-explanatory, but also powerful use case of ChatGPT.

Here’s the template from above that you can copy and paste into ChatGPT:

QR Code Not Scanning? Try This (5/8/2025)

This tip is so simple, I almost didn’t share it. But it saved the day so many times at the EA Ignite conference, I figured it’s worth passing along.

If your camera won’t scan a QR code, don’t close the app. Just switch to “Video” mode, then back to “Photo.” That quick toggle refreshes the camera, and more often than not, the QR code will scan right away.

Try it now using the same QR code we displayed at EA Ignite. Who knows which David you’ll get? 👀

🫵 Do you have a tech tip you want to share?

What’s your personal favorite tech tip?

Email us about it directly at [email protected] so we can include it in a future issue!

And be sure to include a link to your LinkedIn page so we can give you proper credit. :)

CCing my EA is brought to you by Vimcal EA — world-class calendar software built for the world’s most advanced calendar users: Executive Assistants. ❤️ 

Designed with EAs from startups to Fortune 500 companies, Vimcal EA streamlines complex, high-stakes scheduling with features like auto-deleting holds, effortless timezone conversion, exec calendar audits, and large group polling.