By the time you finish this sentence, at least two new AI thingies have been announced. Big tech will have made some ridiculous promise that either makes you question your livelihood or makes you go, “Cool story, bro.”
Not gonna lie; this ish is exhausting. Trying to keep up makes my head hurt, and keeping up is literally my job. 😩
So I can only imagine how you feel. It’s becoming impossible to keep track of everything, and honestly, you shouldn’t even try.
Also: Google Gemini just made two of its best features available for free
Instead, I suggest a different approach. In this article, we’ll cut through the hype and explore the practical ways AI can drive real value in your life and work.
If you’re new to my work, I’mLester But feel free to call Les. I’m always busy, so I use AI to help me work smarter and faster. If you want to learn some practical and useful AI tips and tricks Sign up for my free newsletter, No Fluff Just Factual Information. I share marketing insights and trends that I’ve seen, as well as what’s working for business.
Avoiding AI Overwhelm
How do you focus on the things that really matter in the world AI? It all starts with a simple but powerful shift in perspective. Focus on the problems that you want to solve, rather than getting bogged down by the latest tools and technologies.
Ask:
- Which challenges do you face at work or in your private life that AI can help solve? What are your desired outcomes? Write down the tasks that you perform repeatedly and find slow or tedious. For example, research, writing or summarizing information.
Then, test two or more AI tools that are specifically designed for these tasks. Use each tool at least for one day to determine if it will make your workflow easier or faster. Only keep the tools that will save you time and simplify your life. Ignore them, no matter how popular.
The most popular AI Tools (and what it means)
Using this quick testing process will stop overwhelm before it begins and ensure that each tool you use is worthwhile.
Here are the AI tools that I use.
These tools are tailored to my workflow.
(19459039) ChatGPT My beloved! I use ChatGPT as a kind of creative assistant to help me come up with ideas. I don’t use ChatGPT for heavy lifting, like creating content…I may be a snob but I don’t think AI writing that good…I’m willingly admitting I could be biased and refusing to be replaced by machines. Perplexity has replaced Google for the most part in my research workflow. Grammarly is a tool that can be used to check spelling and grammar when creating or sending emails. If I’m honest, it’s my editor. It hates it when I use words such as kinda. Canva is quick and easy to work with if I need to create a presentation for my client or meeting. I haven’t yet found an AI tool to make a presentation look as good as Canva. I’m keeping my eyes open and will keep you updated.
This is my daily workflow. You need to do what works for YOU and not blindly follow others (including me).
The feeling of missing out on something is not unique to one topic. We all have to deal with it. Whether that’s constantly checking our email or social media in order to make sure we don’t miss anything important.
I’m managing AI FOMO.
The struggle is real. Here’s how I deal with AI FOMO.
I am working on accepting the fact that knowing everything is not possible.
Instead of passive learning, I now take immediate action. I’m too old to learn anything “just ’cause.” and I need to be able use this information immediately. Quality over quantity. I rely on a few trusted sources for AI news.
I was an AI skeptic before these 5 tools changed me
Shameless Plug: I rely on ZDNET to provide my AI news. Not just because I am a ZDNET employee, but also because I trust their commitment to fair and impartial reporting. Aly, my editor, doesn’t play games. If you go off the rails, she will make sure you are back on track.
To avoid confirmation bias, I actively seek out opposing viewpoints.
I consume information at my pace, and not just because there is something new announced. Thursday morning is my catch-up day and I stick to it. It’s not special that Thursday is my catchup day. I chose it at random, marked it in my calendar and now try to keep to it.
I’ll leave you this checklist.
- Accept that you can’t be an expert in everything
- Replace the passive learning with immediate actions
- Prioritize the quality of information over quantity
- Schedule weekly catchups to consume updates
- List repetitive and tedious tasks that you want to accelerate
- Test two or more targeted AI tools for these tasks
- Keep only AI tools If it goes from 10 up to 50, I’m interested.
What about from 10 to 11? Nah, I’m good. I’m not going to learn a new thing or get a new subscription.
I’m also an AI tools expert and these are the two I pay for.
Look at me, I’m neither anti-innovation nor anti-AI. All I’m asking is, what is the point of these tools if we spend more time learning to use them rather than actually using them.
Feel me?
I hope this helps. I’m rooting you on.
P.S. You can find more AI tips and tricks here. Subscribe to my free newsletter. No Fluff, Just Facts
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