Hi Reader,

The tool works.

People just run out of things to ask it.

Cowork shipped out of beta this week. And the questions I'm seeing— from coaches, architects, VPs, consultants, solopreneurs— is some version of: "What do I actually ask it to do?"

I had it too, so you're not alone!

They set it up. They run their first task. Maybe a second.

Then they stare at the blinking cursor and wonder if they're doing something wrong.

They're not. The bottleneck is inspiration, not technology.

Why This Keeps Happening

When a new tool lands in your workflow, you reach for the problems you can already see.

The email you've been putting off. The report due Thursday. The thing sitting at the top of the pile.

That's a reasonable starting point. But Cowork is built for more than clearing your inbox.

It can run entire categories of work in the background while you focus on what only you can do. Finance. Research. Document creation. Client deliverables. Project management. Scheduling.

The hard part is knowing which categories exist— and which ones map to your specific role.

What I Built

Before Cowork even launched, I put together a spreadsheet for my consulting clients.

210 use cases. Every row includes:

• The task, in plain language
• What you'll actually get when it's done
• A copy-paste prompt to drop straight into Cowork
• Time saved per use
• Difficulty level

Sixteen roles. One filter click.

Coaches, consultants, fractional execs, solopreneurs, senior managers, VPs. Marketing and operations leads. Architects, engineers, project managers, estimators, construction managers. Accountants, HR.

There's also a full AEC section— submittals, RFIs, change orders, bid prep, cost estimates— that's the most comprehensive thing I've seen built for that space.

How to Use It

Find your role. Filter the sheet.

You'll see tasks that look exactly like the work sitting in your inbox right now. Pick one. Copy the prompt. Paste it into Cowork.

Then go do something else while it works.

The Real Shift

After Cowork runs a real task all the way through, something changes about how you see your calendar.

You stop asking "can AI help with this?" and start asking "which of these actually need me?"

Tasks that need your thinking go in one column. Tasks that need your instructions— but not your presence— go in another.

Most people have never made that distinction clearly. The use case library forces you to make it.

That's not a spreadsheet thing. That's a thinking shift. The spreadsheet just makes it concrete.

Get the 210 Use Case Library

Grab the library here: https://resources.dancumberlandlabs.com/cowork-use-case-library-210-roles-prompts​

If you haven't set up Cowork yet, start with the Setup Guide first:

​https://resources.dancumberlandlabs.com/cowork-setup-guide​

Setup tells you how. The use case library tells you where to go.

Keep building,

-Dan

P.S. These two resources together— the Setup Guide and the Use Case Library— are what I walk every consulting client through in their first session. You now have what they paid for.