Going all-in on Claude

ChatGPT for writing. Gemini for research. Copilot for code. Claude when I felt like it. I thought I was being strategic, using the "best tool for the job."

In practice I was creating extra work for myself.

The problem with switching between AI tools

Every AI tool starts from zero. It doesn't know you, your projects, your clients, or how you like to work. Every time you switch, you spend the first few minutes re-explaining context the other tool already had.

Multiply that by ten times a day and it becomes a real drag.

There's decision fatigue too. "Which tool should I use for this?" is a question I shouldn't have to ask.

Why I went all-in on Claude

The system you build around your tools is worth more than the small quality differences between them.

Here's what that system looks like for me:

• A second brain that Claude reads at the start of every session: my projects, my clients, my priorities, how I like to communicate
• Custom skills for things I do repeatedly (writing landing pages, drafting emails, planning my day, building HubSpot pages)
• Direct MCP connections to the tools I use: HubSpot, Notion, Google Calendar, and Todoist

Claude knows the difference between a mode40 brief and a client email. It knows I have ADHD and structures things accordingly. It remembers decisions I made last month.

Claude Code

Claude Code is a version of Claude that runs locally on your computer. Instead of just chatting in a browser, it can read files, run commands, connect to your apps, and take actions, all from a conversational interface.

Most of what I've built, the MCPs, the custom skills, the second brain, runs through Claude Code.

The compound effect

The longer I used one setup and the more I invested in it, the faster and better it got at helping me.

It's the difference between a contractor who shows up every day and knows your house and a rotating cast of people who've never been inside.

The system is what gets smarter.

The files matter more than the tool

Claude is my main tool, and most of my work runs through it. The part that holds my setup together is the files. My brain is a set of plain files, so other tools, like Grok, can read the same ones. What I stopped doing was starting from zero every time.