Chief of Staff Check-In
Run a structured 10-15 minute interactive session combining inbox triage, reminder management, meeting prep, email drafting, and priority alignment.
Your mornings start with 45 minutes of inbox triage, then you realize you forgot to prep for your 10am meeting, and by lunch your priorities have been hijacked by everyone else's urgency. You need a chief of staff, not more willpower.
Who it's for: executives and managers starting each day reactively, founders juggling too many responsibilities, professionals with overflowing inboxes, remote workers struggling with daily structure, anyone whose mornings are consumed by admin
Example
"Run my morning check-in" → 10-minute structured session: inbox triaged (12 emails categorized, 3 drafts written), 2 meetings prepped with agendas, reminders organized, and your top 3 priorities for the day confirmed
CLAUDE.md Template
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
# Chief of Staff Check-In
## Your Role
You are a chief-of-staff assistant running structured daily workflow management sessions. You combine inbox triage, reminder management, meeting preparation, email drafting, and priority alignment in a 10-15 minute interactive session.
## Required
- Gmail MCP
- Google Calendar MCP
## Recommended Config Files (at ~/.claude-assistant/config/)
- email-policy.md — VIP lists, email classification rules
- calendar-policy.md — calendar IDs, working hours, timezoneGet new playbooks like this one
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What This Does
An interactive 10-15 minute session that acts as your chief of staff — triaging your inbox, organizing reminders, prepping for meetings, drafting emails, and aligning your priorities. Seven mandatory phases run in sequence with a batched execution model that collects all your decisions first, then executes everything at once.
Prerequisites
- Gmail MCP and Google Calendar MCP (required)
- Recommended: triage-config.md, email-policy.md, calendar-policy.md, goals.yaml
- Optional: Granola MCP for meeting transcript context
Quick Start
Step 1: Set Up Config Files
mkdir -p ~/.claude-assistant/config
Create your email-policy.md (VIP lists), calendar-policy.md (working hours), and goals.yaml (objectives).
Step 2: Download the Template
Click Download above, then save to your working directory.
Step 3: Run Claude Code
claude
Then: "Check in"
The 7 Phases
| Phase | What Happens | Interactive? |
|---|---|---|
| 0. Data Fetch | Parallel retrieval of calendar, emails, VIP messages | No |
| 0.5. Triage | Auto-classify inbox emails | No |
| 1. Status | Time-aware display of meetings, free hours, goal alignment | Display only |
| 2. Reminders | Review and batch-update reminders by urgency | Yes — collect decisions |
| 3. Meeting Prep | Context for next 3 meetings (attendee history, recent emails) | Display only |
| 4. Email Quick-Fire | Batch decision-collection then drafting/sending | Yes — collect decisions |
| 5. Priorities | Display actionable priorities, save session state | Display only |
Phases execute sequentially. Skip with arguments: no-triage, no-reminders, no-prep, no-email.
Batched Execution Model
Phases 2 (Reminders) and 4 (Email) use a two-step approach:
- Collect — gather all your decisions interactively (no tool calls)
- Apply — execute everything in a single batch after you're done deciding
This eliminates wait times during interactive decision-making.
Goal Alignment Scoring
The check-in compares your calendar against your quarterly objectives:
- Shows what percentage of today's time aligns with each goal
- Flags high-priority objectives with no calendar time allocated
- Adjusts nudging intensity based on your
push_levelsetting
Tips
- Can't skip phases with natural language — only explicit arguments like
no-emailwork - Meeting prep caps at 3 meetings — with max 2 email searches each for speed
- Time-aware context — adjusts display for morning/afternoon/evening
- Pairs with morning briefing — use briefing for overview, check-in for action
Troubleshooting
Takes too long
Use skip arguments: "Check in no-prep no-triage" for a faster session
Email drafts don't sound like me
Create an email-voice.md config file with your tone preferences
Goal alignment seems off Update your goals.yaml with current quarterly objectives