Start here: a free AI setup for parents in one evening

Step 1: pick one assistant (10 min)

Pick one and stick with it for a month. All three have a free plan:

• ChatGPT Free includes projects and custom instructions.^[1][2] OpenAI’s help page lists up to 3 scheduled tasks on Free, running once a day at most in loose time windows.^[3] The pricing table shows tasks as “No” for Free, so check your account.^[4]
• Claude Free includes memory across chats, up to 5 projects, skills and app connectors. Scheduled tasks need a paid plan.^[5][6]
• Gemini is free with a Google account, and it can read your Gmail, Google Calendar and Keep lists once you connect the Google Workspace app.^[7] Schedules are rolling out to personal accounts, and you need Keep Activity on.^[8] Gemini Notebook is also free, with up to 100 notebooks and 50 sources in each.^[9]

My rule of thumb: if your family runs on Gmail and Google Calendar, start with Gemini, because the free plan can see your school email and calendar. Not sure? Take the 2-minute picker.

Step 2: paste your family profile (10 min)

About our family (use this in every answer):
- We are a family of [number]: [parents/guardians] and [number] kids, ages [ages].
- School: [public school / homeschool, grades]. Work: [one parent runs a business / shift work / etc.].
- We live in [region and climate]. We shop at [store].
- Food: [allergies, dislikes]. Weeknight dinners: 30 minutes or less. We watch the budget.
- Our calendar is [Google / Apple / Outlook]. Busy days: [e.g. Tue and Thu practice].

How to help us:
- Keep it short. Plain words, bullet lists, answer first.
- End every plan with a checklist we can tick off.
- If something important is missing, ask me one question. Don't guess dates, prices or medical facts.
- Never buy, send, book or delete anything without asking me first.
- Don't repeat full names, addresses, school names or account numbers.

It fits ChatGPT Free’s 1,500-character limit.^[2] Where to paste it on each assistant: the family profile playbook.

Step 3: make one project (15 min)

A project keeps chats, files and instructions together. Make one called “Our week” and add things you look up a lot: the school calendar PDF, the practice schedule, your list of regular dinners.

ChatGPT Free allows 5 files per project.^[1]

Step 4: hand off one recurring job (10 min)

Pick the small job that interrupts you most. For a lot of parents with school-age kids, that’s school email, so here’s the daily digest:

Every weekday at 6:30 am, read only my school emails from the last 24 hours (the ones labeled "School" in Gmail, or in my "School" folder in Outlook).
Give me a digest I can read in 2 minutes:
1. ACTION NEEDED: anything to sign, pay, send in, RSVP or reply to, with the deadline. Most urgent first.
2. DATES: new events, early releases, days off, picture day, practice or game changes, with day and time.
3. BRING / WEAR: anything a kid needs to bring or wear, and which day.
4. FYI: one line each for everything else. Skip newsletters with nothing new.
Kids: [Kid 1, grade, teacher] and [Kid 2, grade, teacher]. Put each item under the right kid's name.
If a date, time or amount is unclear, write "check the email" instead of guessing. Don't reply to anyone or add anything to my calendar without asking me.

• On Gemini: paste it at gemini.google.com and connect Google Workspace when asked, so it can read Gmail.^[7] If schedules haven’t reached your account yet, run it yourself each morning.^[8]
• On ChatGPT Free: OpenAI lists the Gmail plugin for Plus and Pro, not Free,^[10] so start with the grocery list prompt instead. It works from what you type in.
• On Claude Free: Claude’s own pages disagree on whether Free gets the Gmail connector.^[11][12] Check Customize → Connectors. If Gmail isn’t there, start with the grocery list too.

The full digest setup, including the Gmail filter that keeps it focused: turn school email into a 2-minute daily digest. Four more: 5 scheduled tasks that take the little jobs off your plate.

Step 5: set one rule (5 min)

Never buy, send, book or delete anything without asking me first.

Start with that one line. More in stop bossing your agent around.