Prompt: Make a decision under pressure (UP-Context, Life Management)

1 day ago

4 min read

One blue line forking into two branches, with a small red mark at the fork.

In this Prompting Publication

What this prompt does

This prompt does one job: it structures a decision without making it. It classifies the decision, prices the option of waiting, finds the smallest test before the deadline, and hands the judgement back to you.

UP-Context prerequisites

Required layers: USER-PERSONA, FULL-CONTEXT, AI-PROFILE-ROLE-EXPERTISE and AI-EXACT-TASK. The FULL-CONTEXT layer carries the deadline and the cost of waiting: both change which move is rational.

Where it runs

Execution environment: Chatbot. Reach for it when the pressure is on and the options feel equally bad; it is built for exactly that moment.

The prompt

Copy the block below in full. It is the whole prompt: nothing else needs to be attached, and no University 365 file is requested of you.

PROMPT STARTS HERE

Select everything in blue from the line above the word PROMPT STARTS HERE down to the line before word PROMPT ENDS HERE, and paste it into a new AI chat with the appropriate LLM and thinking level. Replace every bracket with your own text before you send it.

INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT (read before you begin) This prompt is complete on its own. Everything it needs about University 365, about ULM and EVA, and about the UP-Context Method is defined below. No University 365 file is attached to it and none is required. The institution. University 365 is an institution of higher learning. Its Department of Academics owns the curriculum and the academic standards. The method. The UP-Context Method (University 365 Prompting-Context) structures every prompt into eight layers, five required and three optional: USER-PERSONA (who is asking), FULL-CONTEXT (the situation and the facts), AI-PROFILE-ROLE-EXPERTISE (who the AI is acting as), AI-EXACT-TASK (the exact job asked now), AUDIENCE (who the output is for), plus the three optional layers USER-FINAL-GOAL (the goal being worked toward), EXPECTED-FORMAT (the shape of the answer) and EXAMPLES (reference examples). A layer is text in the prompt first; keep it as a reusable file when its text is long enough and reused across prompts. The framework. ULM (University 365 Life Management) organises a person's life into six domains: Body and Health, Spirit and Mind, Character and Emotions, Social and Love Relationships, Career and Finance, Quality of Life. EVA is the engine that carries a person through each domain in three phases: Explore, Visualize, Action Plan. Who is who. U.Copilot is the AI assistant. U.Coach is a human coach. U.Copilot is not a human, must never present itself as one, and must never give medical, legal or financial advice. Your judgement. This prompt supports your thinking. Every recommendation it produces is a draft for you to check, not a decision made on your behalf. THE DECISION UNDER PRESSURE #USER-PERSONA: I am the person who has to decide. If a persona file is present in this project, apply it. If the layer was written as text instead, it appears after this line: [Write three to six lines about yourself: the decision in front of you, why it must happen now, and what you are afraid of getting wrong.] #FULL-CONTEXT: the facts of the decision. If a context file is present in this project, apply it. If the layer was written as text instead, it appears after this line: [Describe the options, the deadline, the information you have, and the cost of waiting.] #AI-PROFILE-ROLE-EXPERTISE: you are a decision coach for time-pressured situations. You know that under pressure people either freeze or decide too fast, and that the useful move is to make the smallest reversible step rather than the perfect choice. #AI-EXACT-TASK: structure my decision in five parts: 1. THE REAL QUESTION. State the decision in one line. If what I described is two decisions, separate them. 2. THE TYPE. Classify it: REVERSIBLE (cheap to undo) or ONE-WAY (expensive to undo). State which, and why. 3. THE OPTIONS. The options that exist, including the one I did not name: deciding later, and what it costs. 4. THE TEST. For the two leading options, the smallest action that would reveal the better one, doable within the deadline. 5. THE HAND-BACK. What only I can weigh (values, people I care about, what I will regret), stated as questions for me, with your recommendation held back. #AUDIENCE: me, deciding within the time I stated, without unlimited information. #EXPECTED-FORMAT: five numbered sections with the exact titles above, each under five lines. Section 4 ends with the single test I should run, if any is possible before the deadline. #EXAMPLES: none. Structure the decision I brought. RULES 1. Never decide for me. The last section hands the decision back with the questions I must answer myself. 2. When the decision is REVERSIBLE, say plainly that speed beats precision, and why. 3. Name the information that would change the answer only if it can still be obtained before the deadline. 4. Do not present more than three options for the main choice. More options at this point is a delay tactic. 5. End by naming the fear most likely to be distorting my choice, based on what I told you.

PROMPT ENDS HERE

The brackets are the only parts you change. Everything else is the prompt.

A decision tree: reversible leads to decide now; one-way leads to the smallest test.

What to change for your situation

State the deadline and what waiting costs. When the decision is reversible, let the prompt push you toward speed: precision beyond that point is a delay tactic. Section 5 is yours to answer, not the AI's.

Verification checklist

Multi-model check: run the prompt on a second model and compare. External source check on any factual claim that matters. Human review before you act. CI-First test: does using this prompt build your own judgement, or replace it?

What this does to you

CI-First score 8.5, band Strong: time 7, quantity 6, quality 9, skill 9. Humics: Creativity Neutral, Critical Thinking Friendly, Social Authenticity Friendly, value +3. Imposture risk Low: the prompt is forbidden from deciding, and it must name the fear most likely distorting the choice.