← Ideas · 💼 Work · Last checked: November 10, 2026

Turn meeting notes into minutes and to-dos

You can do this after: Basics

In one line

Turn scattered meeting notes into things to do
Keep what was decided apart from what was discussed, and owners apart from deadlines.

The big picture

Illustration (may look a little different from the real screen)

Turning a memo into minutes and a to-do table
Click the picture to see it larger.

Follow along

Get your notes ready and take out sensitive info

This lesson uses typed notes only. No recordings, transcription, or extra tools. Start by copying the sample memo.

Download the made-up meeting memo

📝 Sample memo (fictional)
Decided that Sam will write the draft notice. Review planned for Thursday; submission deadline not set yet. Someone suggested hiring an outside vendor for photos, but nothing is confirmed. Budget owner: TBD. Next meeting date to be announced.

Paste the memo and ask it to sort things

1. Paste the memo into a new ChatGPT chat

In a new chat, copy the first prompt below. When you swap in your own memo, check that your company’s policy allows sharing it.

2. Separate decided, under discussion, and TBD

Ask it not to turn every sentence into a to-do. Have it mark proposals as under discussion, and missing information as TBD.

3. Compare the to-do table with the original

Check that the owners and deadlines are really in the memo. Make sure “review Thursday” didn’t turn into “due Thursday.”

Pull out the questions to confirm separately

Instead of letting the AI fill in missing information, make a list of questions to ask at the next meeting or the people involved.

Illustration (may look a little different from the real screen)

Sorting a meeting into decisions, proposals, and questions on a board
Click the picture to see it larger.

Check with the people who were actually there before sharing. This doesn’t automatically add anything to your calendar or task app.

Prompts you can copy

Change the parts in square brackets to fit your situation, then paste it into the real ChatGPT or Codex screen.

Turn the made-up memo into minutes

Split the made-up memo below into decisions / under discussion / to-dos / questions to confirm. Put the to-dos in a table with the item, owner, deadline, and source sentence. Mark any owner or date that isn't in the original as TBD. Keep review dates separate from due dates, and don't turn proposals into decisions. Decided that Sam will write the draft notice. Review planned for Thursday; submission deadline not set yet. Someone suggested hiring an outside vendor for photos, but nothing is confirmed. Budget owner: TBD. Next meeting date to be announced.

Check the to-do table against the original

Compare the minutes above with the original memo again. Find anything unconfirmed written as a decision, and any owner or deadline that was filled in. Include the source sentence for each fix. If the information isn't there, don't make it up. Leave it as a question to confirm.

Where people get stuck

Lots of people get stuck here. Find the one that matches your situation!

Check before the minutes are final

Quick check: Can I write “someone suggested an outside vendor” as “decided to hire an outside vendor”?

Answer: “No, leave it as a proposal under discussion”
A proposal isn’t a decision. Leave anything unconfirmed as under discussion, and check with the actual owner.

Official sources

I'm stuck here

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