There was a time when I had 11 browser tabs open, a half-finished homepage mockup, and no clue what the client actually wanted on their About page.

That time was… yesterday. 

Even as a seasoned designer, the workflow juggle can get messy. Especially when you’re doing everything — branding, design, dev, client emails, timelines, revisions, content gathering, tech setup… deep breath.

But here’s the truth: You don’t have to do it the hard way.

Recently, I’ve started using ChatGPT as a quiet little sidekick in my business. Not to do the design — that’s your genius zone. But to take the messy bits of the process and tidy them up.

Here’s how.

Writing a clearer design project scope

You know when a design client says, “Just something clean and modern” and you’re like, Cool but… what does that actually mean?

I started feeding those vague client comments into ChatGPT and asking it to help me rewrite the scope in plain English.

It gives me a starting point, then I tweak it to suit.

The result? No more second-guessing or backtracking halfway through a web design project.

Turning brain dumps into to-do lists

I used to scribble random notes everywhere. Ideas, feedback, tech tweaks, launch tasks… all scattered across Trello, sticky notes, and in emails to myself with subjects like: ‘don’t forget!’.

Now, I chuck the chaos into ChatGPT and say: “Turn this into a step-by-step project plan.”

It sorts the fluff from the facts. Gives me a neat little list. Suddenly I’m back in control.

Speeding up the client content-gathering process

Getting website content from clients is like pulling teeth.

So I use ChatGPT to write first-draft content prompts. Things like:

👉 What should we ask in a homepage copy brief?

👉 How do I explain the difference between an opt-in and a lead magnet?

👉 Can you write a gentle nudge email asking for About page content?

It saves hours. And clients love the extra support.

Breaking down the techy bits

When I’m setting up a new website and can’t remember the right DNS record settings or why that plugin is throwing a fit, I paste the error into ChatGPT.

Most times, it explains what’s going wrong in normal-person language.

It’s like having a patient tech friend sitting beside me — but one who doesn’t charge by the hour. 

Like I always say… you don’t need to know code to be an awesome web designer.

Less mental load, more creative flow

Using ChatGPT in my workflow doesn’t make me lazy. It makes me more focused on the right things.

I get to spend more time in the creative zone — designing beautiful websites — and less time mucking around trying to write perfect emails or figure out tech error messages.

It’s not cheating. It’s smart.

Want to learn how to design beautiful WordPress websites, too?

If you’re a designer who wants to offer websites (but the tech side makes your brain melt), I’ve got the perfect free training for you.

🎥 Watch my free training video

It’s a no-fluff, plain-English walkthrough that shows you how to build beautiful WordPress sites without needing to code, cry or call your developer.

See you in the training!

Em x

PS. Freaking out that AI is going to replace designers? Read this blog post, my friend.

Want to see exactly how I use WordPress to build irresistible websites for clients?

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