Most of what I see written about Claude is about doing things faster. Writing faster, coding faster, summarising faster. That’s not the thing that’s actually changed how I work. The thing that’s changed how I work is using Claude for the decisions I keep procrastinating on. The ones where I’ve already half-decided emotionally but won’t admit it. The ones where I’m circling because I’m scared of being wrong. The ones I tell myself I need “more information” on when I actually just need to commit. These are the prompts I run on those. When I’m going back and forth on something: I keep going back and forth on this: [describe] Tell me which option I’ve already chosen emotionally based on how I described it. Tell me the assumption I haven’t tested. Tell me what I’m actually afraid of. Don’t tell me what to do. Just make me see it clearly. This is the one I run most. The “which option I’ve already chosen emotionally” is the part that earns the prompt. Most of the time I already know. Claude just shows me that I know. When I keep avoiding a task: I keep avoiding [describe the task or decision]. Don’t tell me to break it into smaller steps. Don’t motivate me. Tell me what I’m actually avoiding underneath the task. The fear, the worry, the specific thing I don’t want to face. Then ask me one question that might unlock it. The “don’t motivate me” instruction is critical. Without it Claude defaults to productivity-coach energy which is exactly the wrong response when you’re avoiding something for emotional reasons. When something feels off but I can’t name it: Here’s what’s happening: [describe the situation] Here’s how I feel about it: [be honest] I can tell something’s off but I can’t name it. Help me figure out what I’m reacting to that I haven’t said out loud. Don’t list options. Ask me one specific question. Used this one on a client situation last month. The question Claude asked was the question I’d been avoiding asking myself for three weeks. When I’m overthinking a small decision: I’ve been thinking about [the small decision] for [however long] and it doesn’t deserve this much attention. Make the decision for me. Pick one. Tell me your reasoning in three sentences. Don’t hedge. If I push back I’m probably hiding from something - flag that. The “if I push back I’m probably hiding from something” is the part that breaks the spiral. It removes the option of staying in the loop. When I need to face something I’ve been avoiding looking at: Here’s something in my life right now that I keep not looking at: [describe] Don’t comfort me. Don’t problem-solve. Tell me what I’m probably going to wish I’d done six months from now. Tell me the version of myself I’d respect on this. Tell me the price I’m paying for not acting. Then stop. I’ll take it from there. This one is harsh on purpose. Most decision prompts default to gentle, which is wrong when you’ve been gentle with yourself for too long. The pattern across all of these: I’m not asking Claude to make the decision. I’m asking it to surface what I already know. The decisions don’t get made by Claude. They get made by me, after Claude shows me what I was avoiding seeing. I keep about 100 prompts like these for the actual moments of life - difficult conversations, decisions I keep avoiding, things I’m overthinking, work I keep procrastinating on, messages I’m hesitating to send, if you want to swipe it here . If you only run one of these this week, run the first one on whatever you’ve been circling on for the last seven days. The “which option I’ve already chosen emotionally” line will probably get you within 30 seconds of where you needed to be. submitted by /u/Professional-Rest138
Originally posted by u/Professional-Rest138 on r/ArtificialInteligence