There is a concept from chess called "centaur" play, a human + AI team that beats both humans and AI working alone. I started applying this to my actual workday and the results were significant.

My audit: I tracked every tasks I did for 2 weeks and categorized them as below:

• Human-only tasks : meetings, relationship building, decisions requiring judgment, anything with safety/legal implications
• AI-only tasks : formatting, first-draft generation, data summarization, template creation
• Centaur tasks : I provide context and direction, AI does the big part, I review and refine

The breakdown (your numbers will vary):

• 30% human-only (meetings, calls, decisions)
• 15% AI-only (stuff I now fully delegate to AI with a quick review)
• 45% centaur (the biggest category and the biggest time saver)
• 10% waste (tasks that shouldn't exist at all)

Here are the centaur tasks that saved the most time:

1. Email processing : I give AI my inbox context ("I'm a PM on 3 projects, here are my priorities this week") and it triages, drafts, and flags. I review and hit send. What took 90 min/day now takes 30.
2. Report writing : I outline the key points in 5 bullet points. AI expands it into a structured report with proper formatting. I edit for accuracy and tone. A 2-hour report takes 40 minutes.
3. Meeting prep : I tell AI who I'm meeting, what we discussed last time, and what I need to accomplish. It creates a briefing doc and agenda. 20 minutes of prep becomes 5.
4. Data analysis : I paste data and tell AI what I'm looking for. It identifies patterns and creates visualizations. I validate the conclusions against what I know about the business. 3 hours becomes 45 minutes.
5. Process documentation : I describe a process from memory in rough notes. AI structures it into a proper SOP with numbered steps. I review for accuracy. What I'd procrastinate on for weeks gets done in 30 minutes.

The key insight:

The centaur approach isn't about AI doing your job. It's about recognizing that most knowledge work has two phases: the creative/judgment phase (human) and the execution/formatting phase (AI). When you separate these consciously, you stop spending 3 hours on a task that only needed 30 minutes of your actual expertise.

How to try it:

1. Track your tasks for 3 days
2. Categorize each one: human-only, AI-only, or centaur
3. For centaur tasks, identify what YOUR contribution is vs what AI can handle
4. Build prompts for the AI portion and test them for a week
5. Adjust based on what actually saves time vs what's just novelty

The 45% centaur category is where most people are leaving hours on the table every week.

What tasks have you turned into centaur tasks?

There is a concept from chess called "centaur" play, a human + AI team that beats both humans and AI working alone. I started applying this to my actual workday and the results were significant.

My audit: I tracked every tasks I did for 2 weeks and categorized them as below:

• Human-only tasks : meetings, relationship building, decisions requiring judgment, anything with safety/legal implications
• AI-only tasks : formatting, first-draft generation, data summarization, template creation
• Centaur tasks : I provide context and direction, AI does the big part, I review and refine

The breakdown (your numbers will vary):

• 30% human-only (meetings, calls, decisions)
• 15% AI-only (stuff I now fully delegate to AI with a quick review)
• 45% centaur (the biggest category and the biggest time saver)
• 10% waste (tasks that shouldn't exist at all)

Here are the centaur tasks that saved the most time:

1. Email processing : I give AI my inbox context ("I'm a PM on 3 projects, here are my priorities this week") and it triages, drafts, and flags. I review and hit send. What took 90 min/day now takes 30.
2. Report writing : I outline the key points in 5 bullet points. AI expands it into a structured report with proper formatting. I edit for accuracy and tone. A 2-hour report takes 40 minutes.
3. Meeting prep : I tell AI who I'm meeting, what we discussed last time, and what I need to accomplish. It creates a briefing doc and agenda. 20 minutes of prep becomes 5.
4. Data analysis : I paste data and tell AI what I'm looking for. It identifies patterns and creates visualizations. I validate the conclusions against what I know about the business. 3 hours becomes 45 minutes.
5. Process documentation : I describe a process from memory in rough notes. AI structures it into a proper SOP with numbered steps. I review for accuracy. What I'd procrastinate on for weeks gets done in 30 minutes.

The key insight:

The centaur approach isn't about AI doing your job. It's about recognizing that most knowledge work has two phases: the creative/judgment phase (human) and the execution/formatting phase (AI). When you separate these consciously, you stop spending 3 hours on a task that only needed 30 minutes of your actual expertise.

How to try it:

1. Track your tasks for 3 days
2. Categorize each one: human-only, AI-only, or centaur
3. For centaur tasks, identify what YOUR contribution is vs what AI can handle
4. Build prompts for the AI portion and test them for a week
5. Adjust based on what actually saves time vs what's just novelty

The 45% centaur category is where most people are leaving hours on the table every week.

What tasks have you turned into centaur tasks?