Amber Tollefson

Honest question for this forum.

I save AI tool threads constantly. New model drops, someone's slick Cursor workflow, "10 tools that'll change everything." I open maybe one in twenty. And I still feel behind every single week.

Lately I think the problem isn't information, there's an ocean of it. The problem is that almost all of it tells you about AI instead of showing you. A thread describes a workflow. A launch video is scripted so everything works on the first try. None of it shows the real thing: the prompt someone throws away, the tool they reach for and why, the moment it breaks and how they dig out.

And that's the part that actually teaches you. Nobody got good at cooking from recipes or at chess from the rulebook. You get good watching people better than you do the real work.

This could be related to your industry, or even a side project you're working on.

Here are my 5 (I couldn't function without them):

1. Grammarly proofreading my texts, not just posts, but also client communication

2. ChatGPT / Claude mostly brainstorming, help with copy, and summarising

3. Figma I can put the basic graphics together quickly.

4. Translator sounds incredibly old-school, but English is not my mother tongue

5. Gmail and not only for communication, but also for storing ideas and sending myself email reminders for posts