Quick Prompts: Solo Brainstorm
Real-time AI assistance for individual thinking sessions, idea generation, and personal problem-solving.
Solo Brainstorm quick prompts are designed for those moments when you're thinking through a problem, developing ideas, or working through a challenge on your own. Whether you're planning a project, solving a problem, or exploring creative ideas, these prompts provide the kind of thoughtful pushback and synthesis you might get from a trusted colleague—except it's just you and your thoughts.
Each goal category supports a different phase of thinking. Use "Generate Ideas" when you need fresh perspectives, "Analyze Deeply" when you want to stress-test your thinking, "Synthesize Insights" when it's time to consolidate, and "Plan Action" when you're ready to move forward.
Goal: Generate Ideas
When this applies: You're in exploratory mode, trying to generate possibilities, make connections, and expand your thinking. This is the creative, divergent phase where quantity and variety of ideas matters more than polish.
Ideal settings: Early-stage brainstorming, creative exploration, problem definition, when you feel stuck in conventional thinking.
💡Find connections
What it does: Analyzes your ideas and identifies patterns, relationships, or unexpected connections between different concepts you've been exploring.
When to use it:
You've generated many ideas and want to see how they relate
You sense there's a theme but can't quite articulate it
Different threads of thought might connect in valuable ways
You want a fresh perspective on your own thinking
Example scenario: You've been brainstorming about a new product concept, touching on user needs, technology trends, and market gaps. These feel related somehow. You want help seeing the connections that might reveal a unifying insight or opportunity.
What to expect: Identification of patterns, themes, or surprising connections across your ideas, potentially revealing insights you hadn't consciously recognized.
💡Divergent thinking
What it does: Suggests unconventional angles, perspectives, or approaches you haven't yet considered, helping you think more broadly.
When to use it:
Your thinking feels constrained or too conventional
You want to explore beyond the obvious solutions
You're deliberately trying to think outside the box
You want to challenge your own defaults and assumptions
Example scenario: You're planning a marketing campaign and keep coming back to the same tired approaches—social media ads, influencer partnerships, email campaigns. You know there must be more creative options but you can't seem to break out of familiar patterns.
What to expect: Two or three unconventional perspectives or approaches that take your thinking in new directions, opening up possibilities you hadn't considered.
💡Challenge assumptions
What it does: Identifies assumptions underlying your thinking and suggests which ones might be worth questioning or testing.
When to use it:
You want to ensure you're not limiting yourself unnecessarily
You're making decisions based on beliefs that might not be true
You want to pressure-test the foundations of your thinking
Something feels like a constraint but maybe shouldn't be
Example scenario: You've been planning a product launch assuming you need to hit a certain price point, target a specific demographic, and launch by a particular date. But where do these assumptions come from? Are they all really necessary constraints?
What to expect: Identification of one or two key assumptions in your thinking, framed as opportunities for exploration rather than criticisms of your reasoning.
💡Apply frameworks
What it does: Suggests thinking frameworks or mental models that could help organize, structure, or expand your current ideas.
When to use it:
Your thinking feels scattered and needs structure
You want to apply systematic approaches to your problem
You're looking for established methods that could help
You want to ensure you're considering all relevant angles
Example scenario: You're thinking through a career decision—whether to stay in your current role, pursue a promotion, or switch companies entirely. The factors are many and complex. You need a framework to organize your thinking and ensure you're considering what matters.
What to expect: A relevant thinking framework or mental model, with a brief explanation of how it could be applied to organize or enhance your current exploration.
Goal: Analyze Deeply
When this applies: You want to think more rigorously about your ideas—examining implications, testing for weaknesses, and ensuring you've considered important factors. This is the critical, convergent phase where quality of thinking matters.
Ideal settings: Evaluating options, preparing for decisions, developing strategies, refining plans before execution.
💡Second-order effects
What it does: Explores potential downstream consequences of your ideas—what might happen as a result of your primary outcomes, including unintended effects.
When to use it:
You're considering a decision and want to think through consequences
Your idea seems good but you want to anticipate side effects
You're planning something complex with many dependencies
You want to avoid unintended negative consequences
Example scenario: You're considering restructuring your team. The first-order effects seem positive—clearer roles, better accountability. But what are the second-order effects? How might this change team dynamics, morale, or collaboration patterns?
What to expect: Identification of potential second-order effects and downstream implications, including both intended benefits and possible unintended consequences.
💡Stress test
What it does: Examines your idea from multiple angles to identify potential weaknesses, vulnerabilities, or areas that need strengthening.
When to use it:
You want to find flaws before others do
You're preparing to present an idea and want to be ready for pushback
The idea will be tested by reality and you want to prepare
You're about to commit resources and want to de-risk
Example scenario: You've developed a business plan that you're excited about. Before presenting it to investors, you want to identify every potential weakness so you can either address them or prepare strong responses to concerns.
What to expect: A constructive critique identifying potential weaknesses in your thinking, framed as opportunities for improvement rather than dismissals of your ideas.
💡Identify blindspots
What it does: Suggests important aspects or considerations that might be missing from your current thinking.
When to use it:
You want to check for gaps in your analysis
You've been deep in one area and might be missing others
Important stakeholders or perspectives might be overlooked
You want a completeness check on your thinking
Example scenario: You've been planning a project focused heavily on technical implementation. You might be missing other crucial elements—stakeholder management, change management, training needs, or cultural factors that could derail even perfect technical execution.
What to expect: One or two important aspects you might not have considered, presented constructively as additions rather than criticisms.
💡Deepen analysis
What it does: Suggests thought-provoking questions that could help you explore your current ideas more deeply or from new angles.
When to use it:
You feel like you're only scratching the surface
You want to push your thinking further
The idea needs more depth before it's ready
You want to be more rigorous in your analysis
Example scenario: You've identified that "better customer communication" is important for your project. But that's still fairly surface-level. What specifically about customer communication? For which customers? Through what channels? With what message? You need questions that push deeper.
What to expect: One or two probing questions designed to take your thinking to a deeper level, opening up new dimensions of exploration.
Goal: Synthesize Insights
When this applies: You've done substantial thinking and need to consolidate, summarize, and extract the most valuable insights. This is the integration phase where you make sense of what you've explored.
Ideal settings: After extended brainstorming, before making decisions, when preparing to communicate ideas to others, when wrapping up a thinking session.
💡Summarize key points
What it does: Provides a concise summary of the main ideas and insights from your brainstorming session, distilling the most significant elements.
When to use it:
You've been thinking for a while and need to consolidate
You want to capture the essence of your session before moving on
You need to brief someone else on your thinking
You want to confirm you haven't lost important threads
Example scenario: You've spent an hour brainstorming about your career direction, exploring different paths, weighing trade-offs, and examining priorities. Before you step away, you want to capture the key insights so you don't lose the value of this thinking time.
What to expect: A focused summary of the main ideas and most significant insights, maintaining their context and meaning while reducing volume.
💡Extract principles
What it does: Identifies underlying principles, patterns, or themes emerging from your thinking that could guide future decisions or applications.
When to use it:
You want to find generalizable lessons in your specific thinking
You're developing a philosophy or approach from your exploration
The patterns matter more than the specific ideas
You want guidance you can apply beyond this specific situation
Example scenario: You've been analyzing several past project failures. Rather than just cataloging what went wrong in each, you want to extract underlying principles about what makes projects succeed or fail—lessons you can apply going forward.
What to expect: Underlying principles or themes that emerge from your thinking, framed in ways that could apply more broadly beyond the immediate context.
💡Combine ideas
What it does: Suggests ways to combine or synthesize different ideas you've explored into more powerful composite concepts.
When to use it:
You have several good ideas that might work together
You want to create something greater than the sum of its parts
Different threads of thinking might strengthen each other
You're looking for innovative combinations
Example scenario: You've been exploring ideas for a new business: one focused on sustainability, another on convenience, and a third on personalization. Rather than choosing between them, could they be combined into something more compelling?
What to expect: Suggestions for combining your ideas into more powerful composite concepts, showing how different elements could enhance each other.
Goal: Plan Action
When this applies: You're ready to move from thinking to doing. These prompts help you translate ideas into concrete plans, anticipate challenges, and set yourself up for successful execution.
Ideal settings: End of brainstorming sessions, project planning, when transitioning from strategy to tactics, when preparing to implement.
💡Next steps
What it does: Suggests concrete, actionable next steps based on your thinking, helping you translate ideas into forward motion.
When to use it:
You've done the thinking and need to move to action
You want to maintain momentum after your brainstorming
The path forward isn't obvious despite good thinking
You need to convert insights into a to-do list
Example scenario: You've clarified that you want to transition to a new career field. You've thought through why and what you're looking for. Now you need concrete next steps—what do you actually do tomorrow, next week, next month to make this happen?
What to expect: Two or three concrete, actionable next steps that maintain momentum while staying true to your insights and conclusions.
💡Implementation challenges
What it does: Identifies potential obstacles or difficulties you might face in implementing your ideas, along with suggestions for addressing them.
When to use it:
You want to prepare for difficulties before they arise
Your idea is good but execution could be challenging
You want to de-risk implementation
You need to think through practical barriers
Example scenario: You've designed an ideal morning routine that would transform your productivity. But you know yourself—you've tried similar things before and they haven't stuck. What are the real challenges you'll face, and how can you prepare for them?
What to expect: Identification of likely challenges or obstacles, presented constructively with suggestions for how they might be addressed or mitigated.
💡Success metrics
What it does: Suggests ways to measure or evaluate the success of your ideas, helping you know whether your implementation is working.
When to use it:
You want to be able to track progress
"Success" feels vague and you need to define it
You're building accountability into your plan
You want to know when you can declare victory
Example scenario: You've decided to improve your work-life balance. That's a worthy goal, but how will you know if you're succeeding? What would "better work-life balance" actually look like in measurable terms?
What to expect: Two or three practical, meaningful metrics aligned with your intended outcomes—ways to measure success that actually capture what matters.
💡Resource needs
What it does: Identifies key resources, skills, or support you might need to move forward with your ideas.
When to use it:
You want to understand what's required to execute
You need to plan for dependencies
You might need help from others
Resource constraints could affect your approach
Example scenario: You've designed an ambitious personal project—writing a book, starting a side business, or learning a new skill. What resources will you actually need? Time? Money? Expertise? Tools? Support from others?
What to expect: Identification of critical resources or enablers needed for success, focused on what's most important rather than an exhaustive list.
Goal: Stay Focused
When this applies: You're managing the brainstorming process itself—clarifying objectives, overcoming blocks, and deciding where to focus your attention. This is about thinking about your thinking.
Ideal settings: When you're feeling stuck, when you've lost the thread, when you need to choose between directions, when the session needs redirection.
💡Clarify objective
What it does: Helps you articulate or refine the core problem you're trying to solve or goal you're trying to achieve.
When to use it:
Your thinking has become scattered and you've lost focus
You're not sure what problem you're actually trying to solve
Multiple objectives are competing for attention
You want to ensure your thinking is directed toward what matters
Example scenario: You started thinking about how to improve your team's efficiency, but the brainstorm has drifted into team culture, hiring, technology, and office layout. Are all of these relevant? What's the actual objective you should be optimizing for?
What to expect: Help articulating or refining your core objective, providing focus while maintaining flexibility for exploration.
💡Get unstuck
What it does: Suggests ways to overcome a mental block or impasse, offering new angles or approaches when you're feeling stuck.
When to use it:
You feel like you're going in circles
You've hit a wall and can't think of new ideas
The problem seems intractable
You need a fresh approach to get moving again
Example scenario: You've been trying to solve a persistent problem for an hour. You keep coming back to the same ideas, the same objections, the same dead ends. You're frustrated and stuck. You need something to break the logjam.
What to expect: A suggestion for overcoming your current block—this might be reframing the problem, exploring a different angle, or breaking it down into smaller parts.
💡Prioritize threads
What it does: Helps you identify which of your multiple lines of thinking is most promising or important to focus on right now.
When to use it:
You've explored multiple directions and need to choose
Limited time means you can't pursue everything
Some threads seem more promising than others
You need to focus your energy on what matters most
Example scenario: Your brainstorm has generated three distinct potential solutions to your problem. All seem viable. You can't develop all three in depth. Which one deserves your focused attention right now?
What to expect: Identification of the most promising or important thread to focus on, with a brief rationale for why this direction deserves priority attention.