Day 4: Cut it in half.

The four-word edit that reveals what the AI actually meant.

Today's prompt is four words long. Paste any AI response back into the same chat and tell it:

"Cut it in half."

What happens: the AI tightens. Hedges fall away. The connectors that linked weak points to weaker ones get cut. What's left is closer to the actual point — and you'll usually notice it's better.

Why it works: model defaults are calibrated for an imagined reader who needs everything explained. So they pad. The first draft is always 30–50% structural cushion: “great question,” “there are several considerations,” “it's important to note that…” None of which you needed.

Halving forces a hierarchy. The AI has to decide what's load-bearing and what was filler — and most of the time, the cut version is the version you should have asked for.

Try it on the next long answer you get back today. Or — better — paste a paragraph you wrote and ask the AI to halve it. The reverse direction is just as revealing.

— Ivy

P.S. Tomorrow: a three-word trick that makes the AI ten IQ points more useful on whatever you're trying to do.

New here? Start here, browse the best AI tips so far, or get tomorrow’s AI tip.

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.