When you stop in the middle of something, the next step may be obvious right now. Later, you may have to spend time finding the file, remembering what you meant to change, and working out where you left off.
Before you close it, leave a note for the person who will come back. That person is you, with a different day in front of them.
Leave the useful pieces
A handoff can be four short lines:
- I was working on: name the draft, task, or decision.
- The last thing I did: leave the place where you stopped.
- The next small step: say what you might do first.
- Open this: include the file, link, or place to find it.
“Continue the report” leaves a lot to reconstruct. “Open the April draft, check the two blank rows, then ask for the missing numbers” gives you a route back in.
It is a clue, not a promise
You can change the plan when you return. The note only needs to make the first minute easier; it does not have to predict what you will want to do later.
If you ask an AI agent to help with a task, include the handoff in its instructions. Ask it to leave what it changed, what still needs a person, and the smallest next step. Read that note before relying on it.
Save the thread somewhere you are likely to see it. A message to yourself, a line in the document, or a note beside the task can all work.