Congratulations — you've completed Week 1. In just six days, you've gone from "What is ChatGPT?" to understanding models, navigating the interface, writing effective prompts, setting up personalization, and using web search. That's a solid foundation.
Today we're going to step back, connect everything you've learned, and look at how these skills compound. Then we'll preview what's coming in Week 2 and give you a practical challenge to cement your skills.
Let's review the core skills you've built:
Day 1 — What ChatGPT Is: You learned that ChatGPT is a conversational AI by OpenAI, powered by different models (GPT-5.2 Instant, Thinking, and o3), capable of writing, coding, analyzing data, generating images, voice conversations, and more. You understand the plan tiers and how to choose.
Day 2 — Setting Up: You created your account, explored the interface (sidebar, chat area, model selector), and learned when to use each model. GPT-5.2 Instant for most tasks, Thinking for complex reasoning, o3 for the hardest problems.
Day 3 — Your First Conversation: You learned how context windows and tokens work, saw the difference between weak and strong prompts, and discovered the iteration loop — refining responses through follow-up messages instead of starting over.
Day 4 — Prompt Engineering: You mastered the prompt formula: Role + Context + Task + Format + Constraints. You saw side-by-side comparisons proving that specificity transforms output quality. You learned the five most common prompting mistakes and how to avoid them.
Day 5 — Personalization: You set up Custom Instructions (persistent rules about who you are and how you want responses) and Memory (information ChatGPT picks up and stores from conversations). Together with personality settings, these make ChatGPT feel like it was built for you.
Day 6 — Search: You learned how ChatGPT browses the web for real-time information, when to use search vs. built-in knowledge, how to verify information with source links, and techniques for getting better search results.
That's six skills in six days. Each one individually makes ChatGPT more useful. But the real power comes when you combine them.
Here's something most tutorials miss: these skills aren't isolated. They multiply each other. Watch what happens when you use everything together:
Scenario: You're preparing for a job interview at a tech company next week.
Custom Instructions already tell ChatGPT you're a marketing manager with 5 years of experience looking to transition into product management.
Memory knows you completed a PM course last month and that you're targeting growth-stage startups.
Prompt formula lets you write: "You're an experienced tech recruiter. I have an interview at [Company X] next Tuesday for a Senior PM role. Create a preparation plan with: 5 likely interview questions based on the job description (I'll paste it), sample answers that highlight my marketing-to-PM transition story, and 3 smart questions I should ask them. Format as a study guide I can review over the weekend."
Search finds current information about the company — recent product launches, company culture, latest news — so your preparation is up-to-date and specific.
Iteration lets you refine: "Make the sample answers more concise," "Add a question about their product development methodology," "Now do a mock interview — ask me these questions one at a time and give me feedback."
One conversation. Five skills working together. A level of personalized preparation that would take hours to do manually.
Next week is where things get creative and visual. Here's a preview:
Day 8 — Image Generation & Analysis: Create images with DALL-E directly inside ChatGPT. Generate marketing graphics, product mockups, logos, and illustrations from text descriptions. Also learn to analyze and describe images you upload.
Day 9 — Writing & Content Creation: Go deep on using ChatGPT as a writing partner. Blog posts, newsletters, scripts, social media content — with techniques for maintaining your voice and creating at scale.
Day 10 — Data Analysis & Spreadsheets: Upload CSVs and Excel files. Ask questions about your data. Generate charts, find trends, and get insights without knowing formulas or pivot tables.
Day 11 — Code & Automation: Even if you've never coded, learn how ChatGPT can write scripts, build simple tools, and automate repetitive tasks for you.
Day 12 — Voice & Conversation: Explore Advanced Voice mode — talk to ChatGPT like a colleague. Practice presentations, brainstorm out loud, and learn through spoken conversation.
Day 13 — Custom GPTs: Build your own specialized version of ChatGPT — a custom assistant tailored to a specific task, with its own instructions, knowledge, and personality.
Day 14 — Your Creative Toolkit: Week 2 recap and a hands-on challenge combining all your new creative skills.
Each lesson builds on the foundation you've created this week. Your prompt skills, personalization, and search abilities make everything in Week 2 more powerful.
Knowledge without practice fades quickly. Here's your challenge for tomorrow:
Use ChatGPT 5 times for real work or personal tasks. Not practice exercises — actual things you need to do. Here are ideas based on what you've learned:
1. Write an email you've been putting off. Use the prompt formula. Give ChatGPT the context, audience, and tone. Iterate until it sounds like you.
2. Research something you're curious about. Use Search to get current information. Ask follow-up questions to go deeper. Verify at least one fact by checking the source link.
3. Summarize a long article or document. Find an article you've been meaning to read. Paste it in (or upload the file) and ask for a summary with key takeaways.
4. Brainstorm solutions to a problem. Describe a real challenge you're facing — at work or in life — and ask ChatGPT for 10 creative solutions. Then pick the best 3 and ask it to develop them further.
5. Plan something. A meal plan, a weekend trip, a project timeline, a workout routine. Give ChatGPT your constraints and preferences, and let it build a structured plan.
The goal isn't perfection. It's building the habit of reaching for ChatGPT when you have a task, and developing the muscle memory of prompting, iterating, and refining. After tomorrow, you'll have both the knowledge and the experience to make Week 2 transformative.