Give Your AI a Filing Cabinet
Beyond the Prompt · Issue 02 · AI Tips · 6 min read
Give Your AI a Filing Cabinet
This is the second issue of Beyond the Prompt. Last week, you taught your AI tool who you are with custom instructions. This week, we give it something just as useful: a place to keep everything it needs to know about what you're working on.
Your AI Knows You. It Doesn't Know Your Work.
Custom instructions solve half the problem. Your AI tool now knows your role, your voice, and how you like answers written. But every time you want help with a specific project, you still start by pasting in the plan, re-describing the people involved, and explaining what happened last week.
You're the one carrying the context. Every single time.
That's where projects come in. Most AI tools now let you create a dedicated space for one area of your work or life, with its own files, its own instructions, and its own conversations, all in one place.
"Custom instructions tell AI who you are. A project tells it what you're working on."
What a Project Actually Is
Think of a project as a drawer in a filing cabinet. Inside it, you keep everything related to one area: the key documents, a short set of instructions about what this area is for, and every conversation you've had about it. When you open a conversation inside the project, your AI tool already has all of it at hand.
I use one for my business. It holds my business plan, my guides, and instructions about how I want to be advised. When I open a conversation there, I don't explain anything. We just pick up the work.
Where to find it
Look in your AI tool for a feature called something like projects, spaces, or workspaces, usually in the sidebar or main menu. Some tools offer it only on certain plans. If you use AI at work, your company may control which features are available.
Going Deeper: 5 Ways to Build Your First Project
Tip 01 of 05
Choose one area that deserves its own drawer
Not everything needs a project. The best candidates are ongoing, come up week after week, and require a lot of background to explain: a big initiative at work, the team you lead, a job search, a home renovation, or a trip you're planning. Start with one.
Try this prompt
"Here are the ongoing areas of my work and life right now: [list them]. Which one would benefit most from having its own AI project, where the files and background are always available? Explain your reasoning in two or three sentences."
Tip 02 of 05
Give the project its own instructions
In Issue 01, you told your AI tool who you are. Project instructions go one level deeper: what this particular area is about, what you're trying to accomplish, who's involved, and what a good answer looks like here. Your custom instructions still apply. These add the specifics.
Try this prompt
"I'm setting up a project for [area]. Ask me five questions about its goal, the people involved, my role, the timeline, and what good results look like. Then write short project instructions I can paste into the project settings."
Tip 03 of 05
Add the files you keep re-explaining
This is where the filing cabinet earns its name. Add the documents you'd otherwise paste in or describe again and again: a project plan, meeting notes, a style guide, a budget, an itinerary. Choose current, relevant files rather than everything you have. A tidy drawer works better than a stuffed one.
Try this prompt
"I'm adding files to my project for [area]. Here's what I have: [list of documents]. Which three to five would give you the most useful context, and which ones would just add noise?"
Tip 04 of 05
Make your brain dump remember
Remember the Monday brain dump from Issue 02? Inside a project, it gets smarter. Your AI tool already knows the goal, the people, and the history, so your priorities come back grounded in what's actually happening, not just in the list you typed that morning.
Try this prompt
"Here's my brain dump for [area] this week: [everything on your mind]. Using what you know from this project's files and instructions, what should I prioritize, what am I forgetting, and what has changed since the plan was written?"
Tip 05 of 05
Close the week with a quick update
A filing cabinet only helps if it stays current. At the end of the week, ask your AI tool to summarize what was decided and what changed, then save that summary to the project. Next Monday, you start from where you left off instead of from memory.
Try this prompt
"Summarize this week's conversations in this project in five bullet points: decisions made, open questions, and next steps. Write it so I can save it as a project file and pick up here next week."
Your 20-Minute Project Setup Routine
Set up one project this week. Once you've built one, the second takes half the time.
Choose your area (2 minutes)
Pick the one ongoing area where you explain the same background most often. Give the project a clear name, like “Q4 Launch” or “Spain Trip.”
Write the instructions (5 minutes)
Use the full prompt below, or fill in the template, and paste the result into your project's instructions.
The full prompt
"I'm creating an AI project for [area]. Interview me one question at a time about its purpose, my role, the key people involved, the timeline, what good results look like, and anything to avoid. After six to eight questions, write clear project instructions under 200 words that I can paste into the project settings."
Add three to five files (5 minutes)
Upload the documents you'd otherwise keep re-explaining. Current and relevant beats complete.
Have your first conversation (8 minutes)
Ask something real, like this week's priorities or a draft you need. Notice what you didn't have to explain.
Prefer to write the instructions yourself? Fill in the blanks below.
Your project instructions template
Purpose: This project is for [area], and the goal is [what you're trying to accomplish] by [timeline].
My role: I'm [your role in this area]. The key people involved are [names or roles, and what each cares about].
What good looks like: Helpful answers here are [e.g., concise, action-oriented, grounded in the files]. Always check the project files before answering.
What to avoid: [e.g., assumptions about the budget, overly formal language, suggestions outside our timeline].
A note on privacy: before you upload work files to any AI tool, check your company's AI policy. Many organizations have rules about which tools can hold company documents. For personal projects, leave out sensitive details like account numbers, passwords, or medical records.
What Actually Changes
Without a project, you are the memory. You carry the plan, the history, and the people in your head, and you hand them over one conversation at a time.
With a project, the context lives somewhere else. You stop starting from zero, and your AI tool's answers start sounding like they come from someone who's been in the room.
But the most valuable thing in that drawer is still you: the goal you set, the files you chose, and the judgment you apply to every answer. The project holds the context. You still make the calls.
This week's challenge
Build one drawer.
Choose one ongoing area of your work or life and set up its project this week: instructions, three to five files, and one real conversation. Then notice the moment you realize you didn't have to explain anything.
If you try this this week, hit reply on any of my emails and tell me which area you chose. I genuinely read every one.
