The workflow that finally stuck

I tried a lot of ways to work with AI tools and most of them made a mess. Here is the one that finally stuck, and I am curious if anyone else landed in the same place.

I build small. One piece at a time, and I run it before I move on. I never let the model build two related things at once, because when something breaks I want to know exactly what broke. I keep the context tight so the model is not guessing about code that does not exist. And I read everything before I trust it.

It is slower than the demos. It is faster than doing it alone. And it is the only version I have found that does not end in a mess I have to dig out of.

The thing I gave up was the dream of describing an entire product and watching it appear. That never worked for me.

Small, verified, readable steps always did.

What is your actual workflow? Not the idealized one, the one you use on a normal Tuesday.