I get it. AI is… confusing… overwhelming? There’s a new tool every week, a new headline every day, and it feels like everyone around you is somehow crushing it while you’re still trying to figure out what the hell half of this stuff even does.

I guess i take this for granted. I use AI all day, every day. It’s baked into how I write code, manage projects, organize my notes, prep for meetings. It’s spilled into my personal life too. I built a spelling practice app for my kids in a couple hours. I released a country album on Spotify in 48 hours just to see if I could (I dont even like country!). This stuff is second nature to me at this point.

When friends or clients ask me how I do the things I do, and I start explaining, they glaze over. Every time. And I’ve realized the problem isn’t them. It’s me. I’m starting too high. I’m talking about agents and workflows and context windows when they just want to know how to stop dreading their inbox. It’s so easy to assume everyone just “knows” this shit.

So I thought, maybe I take a step back and figure out how I can help.

Because beyond the baby steps, you know, asking ChatGPT random questions, making another Ghibli photo of yourself for Facebook… what’s the actual use case that’s valuable? How does AI help you get real work done? How do you start feeling like you’re winning, even just a little bit?

So that’s what this post is about. No technical background needed. No 50-tool listicle. No “learn Python first” roadmap (thats a programming language btw, one of my favs). Just the practical stuff that actually matters when you’re a busy professional who wants to use AI without making it a second job.

Good news, you’re not crazy, it IS overwhelming

So, here’s what’s been bugging me. AI moves fast. Genuinely, uncomfortably fast. Every week there’s a new tool, a new person on LinkedIn telling you you’ll be unemployable by Thursday if you don’t adopt their framework. It’s exhausting. And honestly a little demoralizing if you’re just trying to keep up. I’m watching part of my industry get eaten alive.

77% of workers who do use AI say it actually increases their workload. As in, its making things harder for them! Seventy seven percent?! Sheesh. They’re spending hours rewriting AI-generated emails that sound like a corporate robot, fact-checking stuff they’re not sure is real, copy-pasting between six tools that don’t talk to each other. I’d be skeptical too. Is it lunch yet?

But that’s not an AI problem. That’s a “using AI wrong” problem. And it’s fixable. That’s the whole point, right?

Lets chat about the big ass elephant in the room

Did you know that 57% of employees who use AI at work hide it. More than half. Statistically that means you probably are too (don’t worry I won’t tell). People are sneaking around with ChatGPT like it’s contraband. There’s this weird feeling that using AI means you’re not doing “real work.” That you’re cutting corners or something. You’ll boss will fire you and hire AGENT1337 instead.

But nobody feels guilty about using spellcheck, right? How is that not the same thing? AI handles the mechanical stuff, the formatting, the first draft, the “how do I even phrase this” part so you can focus on the actual thinking. The judgment. The relationships. The stuff that actually neeeeeds a human.

The person who writes a great client email in 2 minutes with AI isn’t less skilled than the person who agonized over it for 20 minutes. They just have more energy left for the next thing.

69% of company leaders are already using AI. They’re not hiding it. They’re building it into their strategy. Meanwhile the people doing the actual work feel weird about it. That’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it. Wait… do those stats even make sense next to each other? Fuck it…

The boring stuff is where AI shines

I know, know.. this isn’t the sexy take. But follow me for a sec. The use cases that actually save people time are incredibly mundane. And do you actually WANT to do mundane work?

Email drafting. This is the big one. A third of people specifically want AI for this, and I get it. You know those moments when you’re staring at a blank email trying to find the right tone and 30 minutes just vanish? AI gets you a first draft in seconds. You tweak it, hit send, move on.

Summarizing long documents or threads. Someone sends you a 40-page report? Cool. AI reads it and gives you the highlights. You just saved an hour. Maybe two. TLDR plz thx.

Meeting notes. Instead of frantically typing while trying to also participate in the conversation, let AI handle the transcript. This one’s almost too obvious. I use it all the time. Why are you taking notes when you should be listening!?

First drafts of anything. Reports, proposals, social posts, performance reviews. The blank page is the enemy. AI kills the blank page. I do this with my D&D sessions ha ha. Great way to kickstart the thought. It’s like a cure to writers block.

Brainstorming when you’re stuck. Kind of the same as the above, but worth re-framing. AI is a decent thinking partner. Not because it has brilliant ideas, but because it gives you something to react to. Sometimes you just need someone to throw stuff at the wall so you can say “not that, but close” and suddenly you know exactly what you want.

People who use AI for this kind of stuff save around 3.5 hours a week on average. That’s not gonna change your life, but that’s half a day back. I’ll take that. And then we can build on it!

One tool, one task. That’s it.

The trick to getting this right when you’re new is as follows…

Pick one tool. ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Claude (Don’t pick ChatGPT). That’s it. Don’t install five things. Don’t spend a weekend comparing features. Just pick one and go.

I use Claude every day, so I’m biased and yes, I know how that sounds. But honestly? For getting started it doesn’t matter. They’re all good, they both have free tiers. Pick whichever, move on. You can nerd out about the differences later.

Pick one task you already do. Not something new and exciting. Something you do every day that’s kind of a pain. Writing emails, prepping for a meeting, summarizing your notes after a call, drafting a report you’ve been putting off. Something boring. Something you’ll do again tomorrow.

The goal here isn’t to revolutionize anything. It’s to see AI handle something familiar, go “huh, that was actually pretty good,” and build from there.

Learn one prompting trick. This is the part most people skip, and it’s why their results suck. Talking to AI isn’t like Googling. You can’t just type “email” and expect magic. You gotta give it context.

Here’s what’s been working for me:

• Role: “Act as a [senior marketing manager / executive assistant / whatever fits]”
• Task: “I need you to [draft an email / summarize this / brainstorm ideas for X]”
• Context: “Here’s the background: [paste the relevant details]”
• Format: “Give me this as [bullet points / a short email / a table]”

That’s it. Role, task, context, format. Takes 30 seconds to learn. Make a template if you want. Or better yet, get the AI to help you make a template to help the AI. Ok, now you’re getting it!

Here’s what this looks like in practice. Instead of:

“Write me an email about the project update”

You type:

“Act as a project manager. I need to send a status update to my team about the website redesign. We’re two days ahead of schedule, the design phase is complete, and development starts Monday. The client is happy with the mockups. Give me a short, upbeat email no more than 150 words. And don’t make me sound like a corporate douche.”

Ok wait… the difference in output actually blew my mind the first time I tried this. It went from generic slop to something I’d almost send as-is. Especially that last part.

A few things to know going in

I’m not gonna sit here and tell you AI is perfect. It’s not. I use it every day and it still annoys the hell out of me sometimes. When you use it this much, you really start to find its edges.

It makes stuff up. This is real and it’s prob the biggest gotcha. AI will confidently tell you something that’s completely wrong. I’ve seen it happen with code, with facts, with dates. You cannot just copy-paste AI output and call it done. Use it for the first draft, then review it with your own brain. If you wouldn’t send an email a junior employee wrote without reading it first, don’t do it with AI either.

Privacy matters. Don’t paste confidential data, trade secrets, or sensitive customer info into free AI tools. Just don’t. Enterprise versions like ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude for Business have proper data protection baked in. If your company has an AI policy, follow it. If they don’t… maybe be the person who suggests they create one. Good look for you honestly.

It sounds robotic at first. Everyone’s initial reaction is “this sounds nothing like me.” The fix is stupid simple: just tell it how you want it to sound. “Write this like a human, casual tone, no corporate speak.” Or paste something you’ve written and say “match this style.” It adapts fast. It’s prob just me (it usually is), but I think most people give up before they figure this part out.

Ugh, I’m tired of seeing AI influencer stuff. The people posting “I built a $10K business with AI in a weekend” are either lying, leaving out massive context, or are technical people who already knew how to build things. Ignore them. Your goal is way simpler. save time on stuff you already do.

Alright, I’m done holding your hand

Here’s your homework. 15 minutes. That’s it.

1. Go to chat.openai.com or claude.ai and create a free account
2. Think of something you need to write today, that could be an email, a summary, a message, anything
3. Use the Role + Task + Context + Format thing and ask AI to draft it
4. Edit it so it sounds like you
5. Send it
6. Grab a beer

That’s it. You just used AI at work. World didn’t end. And it probably took half the time. Or maybe it took more. But the important thing is you’re getting the flow. Next time it’ll take a little less, then a little less.

Do it again tomorrow. And the day after. Within a week you’ll start developing instincts for what AI handles well and what it’s useless for. You’ll get faster at prompting. You’ll wonder why you waited this long.

Nearly half of all employees say they want AI training but their companies aren’t providing it. Which sucks. But you don’t need a corporate training program to get started. You need 15 minutes and the willingness to feel a little awkward trying something new.

Install it on your phone if you have too. Message Claude while you’re on the throne. God knows everyone else does.

Need to level up?

If you try this stuff and think “ok, what else can it do?”, well there’s a lot more. Custom instructions that make AI match your voice automatically. Workflows that chain tools together. AI agents that buy your groceries and order them to your house (yes I do that). Ways to use AI that go way beyond chatting in a browser window. It gets really fun once you get past the basics. I’m excited. Are you excited!? YOU SHOULD BE EXCITED!

I help people and teams figure this stuff out. Not theoretical frameworks, actual “here’s how this applies to your specific job” kind of stuff. If you gave the 15 minutes a shot, tell me how it went. Seriously, I wanna hear what you tried first. Message me and we’ll hop on a call and we can nerd out about who rad this stuff is.

Ok bye. Call me.