Notes On Work - by Caleb Porzio
I hate everything after two weeks
· Summarized
Key takeaways
- AI tools have a 'honeymoon phase' where initial excitement fades after a couple of weeks, often leading to frustration.
- Simplifying workflows by avoiding bespoke skills and encoded processes can reduce messes and improve manageability.
- Automating complex tasks with AI requires direct tools rather than complicated workflows, which tend to break down.
- Consistent, scheduled effort on maintenance and issues can help achieve mental clarity and productivity.
- Emotional cycles with technology include enthusiasm, disillusionment, and the desire to revert to simple solutions.
Summary
The Honeymoon Phase of AI Tools
The speaker discusses the common pattern of adopting new AI tools or models, initially experiencing excitement and love for them, which is described as the 'honeymoon phase.' Over time, this enthusiasm wanes, and frustrations or dislikes develop. The cycle is exemplified through personal experiences with tools like Cursor, Cloud code, and others, illustrating how initial admiration often fades after a couple of weeks.
Disillusionment and Complexity in Workflow Management
The speaker reveals a desire to simplify and rid their workflow of bespoke skills and encoded processes, which tend to create messes and become burdensome over time. They express a preference for using simple prompts or markdown repositories rather than complex, stored workflows or skills. The speaker also describes their experiments and subsequent rejection of complex support automation tools, favoring simple daily briefs or prompts instead.
Challenges with AI-Generated Content and Workflow Loss
The speaker shares frustration with specific AI tasks, such as creating hero images for blog posts, which AI models like Codex struggle with consistently. They highlight the limitations of bespoke workflows and skills, which tend to break down or become ineffective across models. The narrative emphasizes the need for tools that allow AI to interact directly with specialized tools rather than relying on complex bespoke workflows.
Reflections on Productivity and Emotional Cycles
The speaker reflects on their recent achievement of reaching inbox zero after a long period of backlog, attributing it to disciplined scheduled tasks like managing pull requests and issues. They note how maintaining regular, focused effort helps clear mental clutter and fosters progress, contrasting this with the tendency for maintenance tasks to consume all available time. The overall tone ends with a mix of fatigue, hunger, and anticipation for pizza and movie night.
Sponsors
- Grokbot · If I tried Grokbot today, I would have the same two-week cycle as every other cool tool that eventually becomes useless.
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