Let’s be honest. You didn’t get into your trade—whether you’re a plumber, a baker, or a consultant—because you were passionate about writing captions for Instagram. You love your craft, but you probably hate the “second shift.”

You know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s that mountain of admin and marketing work that’s waiting for you after the “real work” is done. It’s the 10 PM realization that you haven’t posted on Facebook in two weeks, followed by an hour of staring at a blank screen, trying to think of something clever to say.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not just feeling this way—you’re the norm.

The “Second Shift” is Costing You More Than Just Time

You’re not imagining the grind. Canadian entrepreneurs are already working an average of 49.7 hours per week. And it’s taking a toll, with over 40% of business owners reporting they feel overwhelmed by their workload.

That feeling of overwhelm? That’s the “second shift” in action. It’s the time-suck of social media, email marketing, and invoicing that steals you away from your family and your life. Staring at that blinking cursor in a blank social media scheduler isn’t just annoying; it’s a symptom of a real business problem.

The “Unfair Advantage” Your Competitors Are Already Using

Here’s the “straight goods,” as we say. You’re feeling this pain, but most of your competitors are too. A recent report found that only 11% of Canadian small businesses are using generative AI.

But here’s the kicker. Of that 11% who are using it, what do you think they’re doing?

• Their #1 use case is ‘creating content’ (71%).
• Their #2 is ‘marketing and communications’ (62%).

Your competitors aren’t necessarily better at marketing—they’re just using a smarter toolbox to solve the exact problem you’re struggling with. They are automating their “second shift.”

It’s time to level the playing field. This isn’t about some “magic bean” tech. This is about grabbing a new tool for your toolbox, like a new wrench, that gets the job done faster.

The 5-Minute AI Fix: 3 Prompts to Plan Your Week

Forget “chatting” with AI. We’re going to instruct it. This whole process takes five minutes.

Think of a good prompt like a “jig” in your workshop. You wouldn’t try to cut ten identical pieces of wood by hand, would you? You’d build a simple jig to get a perfect, repeatable result every time. These prompts are the exact same idea.

Open your favourite AI tool (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) and use these three prompts, copy-and-paste.

Prompt 1: The “Weekly Theme” Brainstorm

First, we overcome “blank page” syndrome. We need ideas.

I am a [YOUR BUSINESS - e.g., 'plumber in Langley, B.C.'] targeting [YOUR CUSTOMER - e.g., 'local homeowners']. My brand voice is [ADJECTIVES - e.g., 'friendly, professional, and reliable'].

I need 7 content themes for my social media this week. Focus on [THEME 1 - e.g., 'seasonal maintenance tips'], [THEME 2 - e.g., 'customer testimonials'], and [THEME 3 - e.g., 'common problems we solve']. Give me a simple list.

Boom. In 10 seconds, you’ll have a list of seven ideas. No more guessing.

Prompt 2: The “Write This Post” Command

Now, pick one of those themes and get the AI to do the heavy lifting.

Take theme 2 ("customer testimonials") and write an engaging 75-word social media post for Facebook.

The post must include a hook, share a short (fictional) customer win, and end with a simple call-to-action to 'Call us for a quote'. Use my friendly, professional, and reliable brand voice.

Bam. You have a ready-to-go post. But we’re not done.

Prompt 3: The “Remix” Command

This is the real magic. One post isn’t a week’s worth of content. But a remix is.

That's great. Now, rewrite that post in these 3 variations:

1. A 280-character X/Twitter post.

2. A "myth vs. fact" post for Instagram based on the customer win.

3. A "Question for my followers" to create engagement.

And that's the game.

In less time than it takes to brew a pot of coffee, you have brainstormed your entire week, written a high-quality post, and remixed it into three different formats to fill your calendar. You’ve gone from a blank page to a full content plan.

Canadian AI Guy’s Pro-Tip: Go from a “Fix” to a “System”

This 5-minute fix is a game-changer for winning back your evenings. But it’s still a fix. You still have to do it.

What if you could systemize it?

What if you had an “AI Employee” trained on all your past customer reviews, your specific services, your price list, and your unique Canadian voice? So instead of copy-pasting prompts, you just said, “Write my 7 social posts for this week,” and it knew exactly what to do?

That’s the difference between a simple fix and a real business system. It’s the core of what we build in our AI Training Programs.

If you’re ready to stop doing the admin and start automating it for good, that’s the next step.

Learn more about our AI Training Programs here.

Pro-Tip #2: ‘Prime’ Your Intern Before You Give it a Task

Remember: the AI is your intern. A new intern doesn’t know who you are or what you do. The best way to get great results is to “prime” them before you give them a task.

Before you even paste in Prompt #1, copy and paste this into the chat:

You are an expert social media marketer for a [YOUR BUSINESS - e.g., 'plumbing and heating company'] in [YOUR TOWN - e.g., 'Langley, B.C.']. Your target audience is [YOUR CUSTOMER - e.g., 'local homeowners']. Your brand voice is friendly, professional, reliable, and uses 100% Canadian spelling. Do you understand?

Once it says “Yes, I understand,” then you give it your prompts. You’ve just turned a generic intern into a trained specialist.

What to Do When the AI Sounds Like a Hoser

Alright, a fair warning: even with priming, the AI’s first draft might sound… weird. It might be too robotic, or worse, “too American.” It might say “center” or “color.”

Don’t delete it. Just boss it around. Use this follow-up prompt:

Make this sound more human and less like a marketing robot. Use a friendly, Canadian voice and 100% Canadian spelling (e.g., 'colour', 'labour', 'centre').

You are the boss. The AI is your intern. A quick edit is all it takes to make it sound like you.

Frequently Asked Questions (People Also Ask)

1. Will AI take over my social media marketing?

Nope. It will take over the tasks you hate. You are still the boss. You set the strategy, you check the final post, and you build the real-world relationships. The AI is just the tool that does the typing.

2. How long should it take to write a social media post with AI?

With these prompts, your first try might take 10 minutes. After a few tries, you’ll have it down to 5. The goal is to create a full week of content in less than 30 minutes, total.

3. What’s the best free AI for writing social media posts?

The free versions of ChatGPT (3.5 or 4o), Claude (Sonnet), and Google’s Gemini are all fantastic starting points. Pick one, and get good at it. Don’t worry about “which is best”—the best one is the one you actually use.

4. Can AI create images for my social media posts?

Yes! Tools like Gemini’s 🍌 Nanobanana, ChatGPT 4o Image Generation, Midjourney, or Canva’s Magic Studio can create fantastic images from a simple text prompt. That’s a “5-Minute Fix” for another day.

5. Will my customers know I’m using AI?

Only if you let it sound robotic. If you use the prompts above, “prime” the AI, and give it a quick 30-second review to add your human touch, your customers won’t know you’re using AI. They’ll just think you’ve gotten really consistent with your marketing.

Your Week is Back. What Will You Do With It?

The point of all this isn’t to be “fancy” with AI.

The point is to get you off the laptop at 10 PM. The point is to get you back to your family, to the hockey game, or to just sitting on the couch with a well-deserved beer.

You’ve just taken a 2-3 hour per week task and shrunk it down to 5 minutes.

So, here’s the challenge: try these prompts tonight. See what happens. And if you’re ready to build a system that does this for you automatically, you know where to find me.