How to Delegate to AI Like You'd Delegate to an EA

The biggest mistake people make with AI is treating it like a search engine. They ask vague questions and get vague answers and conclude that AI isn't that useful. The shift is simple: stop asking. Start delegating.

How You Talk to a Search Engine vs. How You Talk to an EA

Search engine: "birthday party ideas for 7-year-old." You get 47 articles, a listicle from 2019, and a Pinterest board.

Executive assistant: "I need to plan a birthday party for my 7-year-old daughter, Mia. She loves horses and art. We have 10 kids coming, a backyard, and $200. I need a theme, activities, food, and a shopping list. Make it easy to execute for a non-Pinterest mom." You get exactly that.

The 4 Elements of a Good Delegation

Context: What's the situation? Who's involved? What constraints exist? Task: What exactly do you need done — not the goal, the deliverable. Standard: What does good look like? Tone, length, format? Deadline or urgency: Does this need to be quick and dirty or thorough?

What You Can Delegate Starting Today

Research tasks — compare these three options and give me a recommendation. Communication tasks — draft this email, this text, this note. Decision support — here are my options, here's what I know, help me think through this. Planning tasks — build the schedule, the meal plan, the party timeline. Admin tasks — create the packing list, the babysitter instructions, the school supply list.

The Mental Shift

The mothers who get the most from AI aren't more technical. They're more comfortable with delegation. They've given themselves permission to hand things off. If that feels hard — if you find yourself thinking "it's faster to just do it myself" — that instinct is worth examining. Because it's the same instinct that put you in charge of everything in the first place.