AI Guides › Getting Started
By Nigel Guy · 2 min read
Most beginner resources are either a single tip, too thin to help, or a full course, too long to keep at your desk. What's actually useful in week one is smaller than a course and more structured than a tip — something you could print, pin up, and glance at before you type. That format barely exists, because it's less satisfying to write than either extreme.
The rule: one page, five sections, nothing on it you'd need a second page to explain.
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Before you type | Say the outcome first, in one sentence. Add only context that changes the answer. |
| If the answer's wrong | Say specifically what's wrong; correct the same conversation. Don't restart unless it's gone in circles. |
| Before you trust a number | Ask where it came from. Recompute anything short enough to check. Flag it if you can't verify it. |
| Before a new tool | Check the cost at the tier you'd actually use. Check what it does with your data. Check it's built for your actual task. |
| Once a week | Revisit what you've connected and what you've saved. Drop what you're not using. |
Keep it next to you, not memorised. The point of a cheat sheet is that you don't have to remember it — you glance down, find the row, act on it. Print it if that's genuinely how you'll use it; a note pinned in whatever app you already have open works just as well.
Skip adding a second page. If a beginner needs more than this to get through a normal week, that's a sign for a specific, deeper guide on that one topic — not a reason to make the cheat sheet longer. Skip memorising it before you've used it once; the habits form from repetition against real tasks, not from studying the sheet in the abstract.