My partner and I discussed having "things to train for" in 2026 to motivate us actually to hit the gym and ride our bikes more. We wanted to focus on events in the Midwest since we're based in Chicago.
I particularly love Northern Michigan, so I asked Manus.ai to build me a list of events that fit our interests: mountain biking, road cycling, kayaking, and even an adventure race.
A list with dates, registration links, and more was provided.
Instead of going back and forth with the list and our calendars, I connected Manus to my personal Google Calendar. Like magic, the events dropped into my calendar.
Now I could go week by week, month by month and decide what actually fits into our 2026.
The time breakdown:
10 minutes for Manus to find everything
1 minute for me to click the create entry button for calendar events
5-10 minutes for my partner and I to review and confirm the 2-3 events that worked for us both
That's it.
AI just saved hours of planning and coordination. This is what practical AI use looks like.
Ok, how do I use this in my day-to-day?
Here are 4 more examples:
1. Meeting Prep in 60 Seconds: Research attendees and create talking points. 30 minutes becomes 1 minute.
2. Meal Planning That Actually Happens: Recipes, shopping list, prep instructions from what's in your fridge. 45 minutes becomes 5 minutes.
3. Travel Itineraries Without the Rabbit Hole:s Flights, hotels, restaurants, day-by-day plan. 6 hours becomes 20 minutes.
4. Professional Development on Autopilot: 90-day learning plan with schedule and resources. "Someday" becomes 10 minutes.
The pattern: AI does research and organization. You do decision-making and execution.
Stop learning about AI. Start doing AI.
