The writing
Everything, in one place.
Notes from someone who is still learning, not someone who knows it all. If something here turns out to be wrong, I will come back and say so on the page rather than quietly fix it.
44 pieces
Start hereWhat is AI? A plain-English guide for complete beginnersNo jargon and nothing to install. Fifteen minutes to understand what AI is, what it is not, and what it can do for you, before you connect it to anything.
Start hereThe AI dictionary: 32 words explained in plain EnglishPrompt, token, agent, hallucination, context window. The words that make AI sound harder than it is, each explained in a sentence or two.
Start hereAI chat or AI agent? How to choose, and why I prefer agentsA chat answers. An agent gets things done. Most people only ever use the first. Here is the difference, and how to pick.
Start hereClaude, ChatGPT and Perplexity: who made them, and which should you use?Three names said in one breath, three different kinds of tool. Who made each one, what each is best at, and how to choose without the jargon.
Start hereYour first day with AI: set up, stay safe and build your first tool before bedtimeSix short steps, about two hours in all, spread across one day. You finish with an account, a safe way of working, a real job done and a tool you built yourself.
SafetyBefore you connect AI to anything: the safety setup that actually holdsMost guides mention safety last. Set the fence first, with real permission settings, before you connect a single account.
Set it upSet up Claude properly in one afternoon: memory, Projects, connectors and moreMost people use a fraction of what Claude can do because nobody shows them the settings. Seven steps, in the right order, with safety first.
CraftTalk, don’t type: how to use AI with your voice, for freeThe microphone is on every plan. Talking beats typing for most of this, and it means you can do it from the stove.
CraftHow to catch AI when it is confidently wrong (a five-minute exercise)It will sometimes invent a number and say it with a straight face. Make it happen on purpose, somewhere harmless, so you learn to spot it.
The ideaWhy you feel mentally overloaded, and the part AI can safely carryThe mental load is four jobs, not one. Three of them can be handed over. The fourth, the deciding, stays yours.
PracticalUsing AI on a small phone and small data: get more from every megabyteYou do not need a laptop or unlimited data. Eleven habits that make AI work on a basic phone, a shared phone and a tight budget.
SafetyConnect your email to AI safely: five questions to ask first, then five prompts to tryLetting AI read your inbox can save you an hour a day. Letting it do so carelessly can cost you far more. Here is how to do it with the fence in place.
PracticalFind your first job for AI: starter ideas for teachers, traders, tailors, farmers, students and managersNot sure what to ask AI to do? Start with one job from your own working life. Three ready-to-use prompts for six kinds of work.
Start hereBeyond the chat box: eight things AI can do that most people never tryMany people finish a whole AI course and still only use the chat box. Here is the map of everything else, and how the pieces work together.
Set it upTeach AI your job in 30 minutes, and never explain yourself twiceOne conversation, spoken out loud, and Claude knows your role, your voice and your priorities for good.
Craft10 habits that stop AI giving you average answersTen small habits, each with a prompt you can copy, that turn a guessing machine into a careful colleague.
PracticalTame your inbox in five minutes: the three-pile methodForget inbox zero. What you need is to know what is in there. Here is the question that tells you.
CraftUse AI without letting your own mind go soft: the Think First methodA tutoring mode that makes you try first, so you get answers and keep your skills.
CraftMake AI writing sound like you: the twelve tells to cut and a prompt that does itAI text has habits that make readers switch off. Learn to spot them, cut them, and keep your own voice and your own facts.
SafetyIs your AI helper a security risk? The three-question testAn AI that can see private things, read strangers’ words and send things out can be turned against you. Here is how to check, and what to cut.
BuildBuild your first AI helper in one afternoon, with no codingA helper with one clear job, the right information and clear rules, set up inside Claude Projects. No terminal needed.
BuildBuild five useful tools in minutes: a budget, an order tracker, an event planner and moreAI can build a working tool you tap and keep, with no coding. Five ready-to-paste prompts, and the one safety rule that matters.
BuildMake posters, slides and one-pagers with AI design tools, even if you are not a designerDescribe it, and AI lays it out. How to brief a design tool, set your brand once, and get something you are proud to share.
BuildBuild an AI second brain: three ways, from fifteen minutes to a full systemA second brain is one place that holds what you know, so AI never starts from nothing. Three ways to build it, and the one file to write first.
BuildSave your best way of working as a skill: do it once, correct it live, then keep itExplain a task once, fix it as you go, and have AI save the whole thing so you never explain it again. Two prompts that do it.
SafetyAI skills worth installing, and the eight-point check before you trust oneFree skills can save you hours. A skill from a stranger can also change how your assistant behaves. How to choose, check and install one safely.
CraftGet a second opinion from a fresh AI: five review prompts that catch what you missedThe chat that made a mistake is the worst place to spot it. Open a clean one, show it only the work, and ask for a hard second look.
SafetyLet an AI helper work on its own without losing control: the guardrails templateFour guardrails make autonomy safe: it scores itself, every change can be undone, steps stay small and it stays inside one boundary. A template you can paste.
BuildLet AI work on your computer while you do something else: your first task, safelySome assistants can sort files, prepare a weekly briefing and run on a schedule. How to give one a task, keep it in a small box, and stay in charge.
PracticalThe 60-minute Sunday reset: walk into Monday with your week already sortedSix ten-minute blocks that clear your head, your inbox, your meals and your money, and leave you with three things that matter.
PracticalYour monthly reset: let AI show you the patterns you cannot seeExport your chats, run one audit, and find what you keep revisiting, what you keep doing by hand, and where your attention really goes.
CraftAn AI advisor that will not just agree with you: the Honest Advisor promptAI tends to take your side. For everyday disagreements and decisions you want the opposite: a friend who tells you what you cannot see.
PracticalA weekly meal system: what is for dinner, solved with the foods your family already eatsStop deciding what to cook every evening. A Project that plans the week from foods you already like and writes one shopping list.
PracticalA money map you can read: see where your money goes without sharing anything dangerousMost of us are afraid to look. A Project that turns your own rough numbers into a clear picture, with firm rules about what you never share.
PracticalA home command centre: one place for appliances, warranties, repairs and who to callYour home runs on a hundred small facts that live in your head. A Project that holds them, so a breakdown becomes a ten-minute job.
PracticalA career command centre: keep a running record of your wins and use it every time it countsReviews, promotions, CVs and interviews all need evidence you never wrote down. A Project that collects it as you go.
PracticalMake your work visible: a Friday habit that writes your weekly report and keeps your winsTen minutes every Friday gives you a report your manager actually reads and a growing record of what you have achieved.
PracticalStuck, or thinking of leaving? A forty-minute interview that finds your next career moveAn interviewer that asks one question at a time, pushes back on vague answers and ends with moves worth testing. Not advice, a mirror.
PracticalThe five AI skills employers can see, and a 30-day project that proves each oneCertificates matter less than evidence. Five practical skills, in plain words, each with a small project you can finish and show.
PracticalFree AI courses worth your time: what is free, what is not, and how to study without wasting weeksSeveral good AI courses cost nothing. A few that say free are not. Here is what to check, and a study partner prompt that makes you learn rather than just watch.
AdvancedAllow, ask and deny: let a coding helper work faster without letting it run dangerous commandsAn advanced piece. Three short lists decide what a code-writing helper may do freely, what it must ask about, and what it may never do.
AdvancedHelpers that message each other: a team charter so they cooperate without running wildAn advanced piece. When several AI sessions can talk, you need a roster, a short message format and a rule that no message counts as your approval.
CraftLearn from any video: five prompts that turn a video into notes, a plan or a templateYou do not need to watch a ninety-minute video twice. Five prompts that pull out the structure, the steps and the claims worth checking.
AdvancedA small AI marketing team in one chat: five roles that plan, write, design and voice a campaignStrategist, copywriter, designer, video maker and voice. One assistant plays all five, and you approve each step. Honest rules included.