Claude cheat sheet.
Everything from the primer on one page. Tape it above your desk.
Three things to have done first
- 01Have one real conversation. Go to claude.ai and send anything. One message, one response. Done.
- 02Copy one prompt you'll reuse. From the five below. Save it in Notes. It'll earn its keep inside a week.
- 03Ask for one Artifact. A small tool. A coin-flip, a tip-splitter, a water tracker. Keep the link.
Five prompts worth stealing
Act as a calm, thoughtful planning partner. Ask me 6 questions, one at a time, about what's on my plate this week (work, family, house, money, body, mind, anything I'm avoiding). After I answer all 6, write me back a single page titled 'The real list', sorted by impact.
Help me write an email I've been putting off. Situation: [who it's to, what I want, why it's awkward]. First ask one clarifying question. Then draft three versions, short & direct, warm & human, firm but kind, and tell me which you'd send.
Explain [topic, e.g. how HSA contributions actually work] like I'm a smart adult who never had it explained. No bullet points. One clear paragraph I could read out loud. Then one example with round numbers. Then what people most often get wrong about it.
I'll paste the notes from a conversation. Extract: (1) what was decided, (2) what's still open, (3) who owes whom an answer, (4) the one thing that if I don't do by Friday derails this. Under 150 words.
Build me a small web tool I can use in my browser. It should [describe]. Make it beautiful, use warm colors, no login, save my data locally. Show it as an Artifact.
Your first 7 days
- 1Open claude.ai. Just talk to it.Ask one question you were about to google. Don't polish it.
- 2Run the Sunday reset prompt.10 minutes. You'll learn more about your week than any to-do app.
- 3Give it something to read.A long email, a PDF, a photo of a contract. Ask for the 4 things that matter.
- 4Teach it your voice.Paste 2-3 pieces of your writing. 'Write in this voice from now on.'
- 5Ask for an Artifact.A coin-flip. A tip-splitter. A meal planner. Build one, keep the link.
- 6Try voice mode on a walk.Disarmingly good. Talk through a decision. It remembers.
- 7Start a Project.One folder, one ongoing effort. Drop in the files. Every future chat already knows context.