Tip

Day 3: Three questions first.

The three-word suffix that pauses the AI before it answers.

Yesterday I promised three more words. Here they are:

"Three questions first."

Type these at the end of any prompt — a draft you want feedback on, a strategy you're sketching, code you want refactored, anything. Before the AI generates a response, it stops and surfaces what it doesn't know yet.

What you get back: three questions that almost always include something you genuinely hadn't thought about. Answer them, the AI proceeds, and the output lands ten IQ points higher than it would have.

Why it works: most prompts under-specify what we mean. We're answering a question we think the AI is asking. "Three questions first" inverts that — the AI tells you what it needs to do its best work, before it does the work.

Try it on the next prompt you write today. The questions it asks will surprise you.

— Ivy

P.S. Yesterday's "three more words" delivered. Tomorrow we keep it rolling — one more tip, same time. See you in the morning.

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Day 23: Turn one good draft into a reusable style guide.

When a piece of AI-assisted writing comes out exactly right, most people move on too fast. Do not just save the draft. Save the pattern. Try this: "Read this finished draft and extract the style guide behind it. List the tone, structure, sentence rhythm, formatting choices, audience assumptions, and

Day 22: Use AI as a friendly first-pass editor.

One of the easiest ways to get useful value from AI is to stop asking it for the final version. Ask it for the first cleanup pass instead. Try this: "Edit this for clarity and structure. Keep my meaning. Flag anything that sounds weak, repetitive, or vague. Do not

Day 21: Turn a messy note into a clean action plan.

Messy notes are where good intentions go to hide. A meeting recap. A voice memo. A half-finished list. A brain dump from your notes app. Instead of cleaning it manually, paste the mess into AI and ask for structure. Try this: "Turn these notes into a clean action plan.

Day 20: Make AI ask 3 questions before it answers.

If AI keeps missing the point, the problem is often not the answer. It is the missing context. So stop demanding the final output first. Ask for the questions first. Try this: "Before you answer, ask me the 3 most important clarifying questions." That one line forces the

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Day 23: Turn one good draft into a reusable style guide.

Day 22: Use AI as a friendly first-pass editor.

Day 21: Turn a messy note into a clean action plan.

Day 20: Make AI ask 3 questions before it answers.