A weekly content plan with AI in 30 minutes

Most of the time, the reason you can't post consistently isn't a lack of ideas — it's a lack of a system. Starting from zero every day with "what should I post today?" eats time and leaves your content feeling disconnected.

In this guide we'll build a planning routine you can run on the same day every week in 30 minutes: we'll define content pillars, build an idea bank, lay out the weekly calendar, batch the scripts and look back at last week to adjust the plan. The first setup takes a bit longer; after that, the routine really does come down to half an hour.

What you need

• A ChatGPT account. You can start on the free plan; if you'll use it regularly, keeping all your planning inside one Project makes things easier.

• Notion or a simple spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Excel). Either works.

• Audience questions: comments, DMs, question sticker answers. Collect them somewhere as text.

• The insights screen of the app you post on (Instagram, TikTok or YouTube's own analytics). No extra analytics tool needed.

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ChatGPT

An all-round chat assistant for writing, ideas, summaries and everyday questions.

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Notion

An AI-assisted workspace for notes, tasks and docs in one place.

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Step 1: Define your content pillars (once)

Content pillars are the 3–4 main themes your account keeps coming back to. With pillars in place, "what should I post?" becomes "what should I post from which pillar this week?" — a much easier question. You do this only in the first week and revisit it every few months.

You are an experienced content strategist. Define 3–4 content pillars for me.

Account topic: [e.g. AI for freelancers]
Target audience: [who they are, what they do, their biggest pain point]
My goal: [e.g. grow followers / find clients / drive people to my course]
Formats I can make: [Reels, carousels, stories, long-form video, etc.]

For each pillar: its name, why it helps the audience (one sentence), 3 example pieces of content, and roughly what percentage of weekly posts it should make up.
Keep the pillars clearly distinct. Return a table.

For example, an account sharing AI tips might use: "quick tips", "step-by-step how-tos", "common mistakes" and "behind the scenes / personal take". What matters is that each pillar answers a real need your audience has.

Step 2: Turn audience questions into an idea bank

The idea bank is the single list you pick from every week. Whenever a new idea comes to you, it goes here too — so planning day never starts with a blank page.

Below are the audience questions and my own notes from this week. My content pillars are: [list pillars].

1) Place each question under the best-fitting pillar.
2) For each, write a short video/post idea: working title + one-sentence core idea.
3) Mark ideas as "ready to make" or "needs prep".
4) Merge questions that are very similar into a single idea.
Return a table: Pillar | Idea title | Core idea | Status. Don't invent questions that aren't in the list.

Questions and notes:
[paste]

Step 3: Lay out the weekly calendar

Now pick this week's content from the idea bank and spread it across the days. The rule is simple: don't plan more than you can do. Posting 3 pieces a week without fail beats planning 7 and dropping half.

Build this week's posting calendar from my idea bank.

Number of posts I can publish this week: [e.g. 4]
Platforms: [e.g. Instagram and TikTok]
Constraints: [e.g. I can't film on Tuesday or Thursday]
Pillar mix: [percentages from Step 1]

Rules: Don't put two posts from the same pillar back to back. Place ideas that need prep later in the week. Give each post a single goal (saves, comments, follows, etc.).
Output table: Day | Platform | Format | Pillar | Title | Goal.

Idea bank:
[paste the table]

The output should look roughly like this:

Step 4: Batch your scripts

Batching means finishing similar tasks in one sitting. Drafting all of the week's scripts at once keeps your tone consistent and saves you from getting back into "writing mode" every day.

Draft every piece of content in this week's calendar. The calendar is below.

For videos: 3 alternative hooks (3 seconds max each), a 30–45 second spoken script, on-screen text and a single CTA.
For carousels: slide-by-slide headline + short text (8 slides max), with the CTA on the last slide.
For stories: 3–4 frames and a poll/question sticker idea.

Rules: Write conversationally, in short sentences. Flag anything you're unsure of. Put each piece under its own heading so I can copy it easily.

Calendar:
[paste the table]

Don't use the drafts as they are: read each one aloud, put it into your own words and check every line that contains a fact. If you want to go deeper on a single video, use the prompts in 8 prompts that write your Reels and TikTok scripts.

Step 5: Set up a tracking board

If the plan isn't visible somewhere, it falls apart mid-week. In Notion, create a database and group it by a "Status" property in a Board view, so you can drag each content card from column to column as it moves forward. You can build the same structure in a spreadsheet: each property becomes a column and you pick the status from a dropdown.

Step 6: The weekly review

This step is what makes the plan a little better every week. You don't need complex analysis — a handful of numbers you already see in your app's insights is enough: views, average watch time, saves, shares, comments and (if shown) follows. Instagram's Reels insights also include a metric showing whether viewers scrolled past in the first few seconds — a useful signal for judging your hooks.

Below are the results of the content I posted last week. For each piece: title, pillar, format, hook, views, average watch time, saves, shares, comments.

1) Which pieces did clearly better or worse than the rest? Rely only on this data and say explicitly where you're guessing.
2) What might the strong performers have in common (pillar, format, hook style, topic)?
3) Give 3 concrete suggestions for next week: what to repeat, what to change, what to try.
4) Remember that one week of data rarely proves anything; phrase your suggestions as "hypotheses to test".

Data:
[paste the table]

Write the suggestions into the "Notes" field on your board, and feed them into Prompt 3 when you plan next week's calendar. That turns the whole system into a loop that improves itself.

The 30-minute weekly routine

After the initial setup (pillars and board), do this on the same day, in the same order, every week:

Common mistakes

• Starting from scratch every week: Without pillars and an idea bank, every plan still begins with a blank page.

• Planning beyond your capacity: If the calendar becomes a wish list instead of what you can actually do, you'll drop it mid-week.

• Skipping the review: Planning without looking at results means repeating the same mistakes.

• Deciding based on one week: A post can do well or badly for many reasons. Watch for patterns over several weeks.

• Posting drafts without checking: AI speeds up drafting; accuracy and your voice are still on you.

• Fiddling with tools instead of planning: Don't spend an evening building the perfect Notion template. A simple spreadsheet is enough.

Next step

Your plan is ready; now it's time to turn each piece into a strong script. The prompts for writing hooks, shot lists, captions and cross-platform versions are in 8 prompts that write your Reels and TikTok scripts.