Give a Reasoning Model a Clear Destination
A difficult task benefits from a clear outcome and constraints. A long prompt full of instructions to “think harder” may add little useful information.
For a practice planning task, give the OpenAI model the available hours, required deliverables and dependencies. Ask for a plan that fits those limits and identifies any conflict. Check the arithmetic and ordering independently.
Keep the output contract concrete: a short sequence of actions, owners and unresolved decisions. You do not need a transcript of hidden reasoning to assess whether the plan is usable. If the result misses a constraint, add a precise example to the evaluation set. Model-specific prompting guidance can help, but the acceptance conditions should come from the work you need done.
