Growing with AI — you don't need an elaborate setup

There's a pattern I've noticed a lot — including in myself — when first getting acquainted with something new in the AI world: the immediate urge to nail down the perfect setup first. Buy the premium subscription, configure an agentic workflow, install MCP server A, B, and C, connect it to Notion, Obsidian, your calendar, and so on.

The result? Exhausted before you even start. And in the end, you don't use it at all.

---

"Use it first. Then wire in the features, little by little."

---

The perfect setup syndrome

The AI world moves incredibly fast. Every week there's a new tool, a new framework, a new way to "maximize" AI. And we, as people who want to be efficient, are immediately tempted to chase all of it at once.

But what often gets forgotten is this: skill in using AI comes from habit, not from configuration. You don't need a sophisticated agentic pipeline to start growing. You just need to: begin.

---

A more sensible way to grow

This isn't about dumbing things down. It's about getting the order right.

1. Use it in real work first Use AI for tasks you already do every day. Writing emails, debugging code, drafting content, summarizing documents. Feel out what actually helps.

2. Find the friction points Is there something repetitive? A workflow that feels like it could be automated? That's when you actually need to think about "more features."

3. Wire in features one at a time Only then do you connect things — if you genuinely need to. Web search, memory, calendar integration, or even agentic tools. One at a time, based on real needs.

---

Why does this matter?

Because if you set things up before you understand your own needs, you'll end up building a system for needs you imagine you have, not the ones you actually feel. And systems built on imagination don't last.

On the other hand, if you start by using it first, you'll have real data: which parts eat up your time, which parts AI can help with, which parts still need a human touch.

A great agentic workflow isn't designed from the start. It grows out of habits that have already taken shape.

---

Not everything needs to be sophisticated right away

There's a quiet peace that comes from stopping the race to keep up with the hype. AI isn't a competition for who has the most complex setup. AI is a tool — and a good tool is one that gets used, not one that sits on display.

So start simple. Open it, type something, use it. Let your needs determine how far you need to configure it. Growing with AI doesn't have to be dramatic — it just has to be consistent.

---

One small step today

Pick one task you're going to work on today. Try doing it with AI's help — no new setup, no installing anything. Just: open it, try it, see what happens. That's enough.