I’ve been watching a lot of content on working with AI and wanted to share what I’ve learned from my own experience. My background includes jet engine maintenance in the military, IT and information security, and hands-on trades like carpentry and welding. I’ve used AI across both digital and physical projects, and after a couple of years of experimenting, I’ve settled into two main approaches: 1) I start with a clear idea and use AI to refine it and move faster than I could on my own. 2) I start with a rough concept and use AI to help develop it into something more complete. Both approaches work, but I’ve found I strongly prefer the first. I enjoy taking time to think through ideas on my own. I’ll bring a notebook into my workshop or outside, sit in the sun, and sketch or loosely wire frame concepts. That process—just thinking and creating internally—feels like play. Sometimes I go a step further and mentally simulate the idea as if it already exists. I “use” it in my head, test how it functions, and push on its weak points. Doing that has helped me catch design flaws and structural issues early. I treat those like small stress tests, iterate on them, and once the idea feels solid, I bring it to AI to accelerate the build-out. For anyone new to working with AI, a few things stand out: 1) Expect friction. You will make mistakes, lose work, break things, and backtrack. That’s part of learning any new tool. 2) This technology isn’t perfect. It will fail or give bad output at times. Step away when needed and rely on your own problem-solving skills. 3) Treat it as a creative process. There’s real enjoyment in building something, not just finishing it. 4) Focus on quality. Some ideas aren’t worth rushing. Focus on what’s meaningful or interesting, even if it takes longer. 5) Keep it light. Experiment, build things with friends, and don’t take it too seriously. It’s a tool meant to support you, not replace you. 6) Work in a collaborative manner. Some times asking for feedback, suggestions, or thoughts from a model can bring back useful information.

If you're hitting session limits in Claude Code, this video breaks down exactly how tokens actually work and the habits that will stop you from burning through them. I cover context rot, manual compaction, the rewind feature, sub agents, markdown conversions, and a free token dashboard I built so you can see where your tokens are really going. By the end you'll know when to clear, when to chain sessions, and why the 1 million token window is insurance, not a goal to fill. Token Dashboard 10 GitHub Repos: https://x.com/DeRonin_/status/2045420155434320270?s=20