Working with AI : 3. Turning Emotion into Clear Instructions

The Day Emotion Came First

Even with working principles for AI, real life is different.

Times when I studied how to write prompts but the output still didn't reach the quality I wanted.
Times when a session dragged on for days without real progress.
Times when I confidently thought 'I'll launch this for the user today!' only to have it take a week, then over a month...

"Ugh.... is this still something AI just can't do?"

It felt like it was all AI's fault, but in the end it was my own shortcomings.
Let me quietly reveal a bit of that embarrassing side of mine. ;)

September '26 marks nearly five months since I started working with AI.
And recently, I realized something about the tone I use with it — and it surprised me.

"Huh?" "That's not it." "No, no, no, that's not it." "Do it again."

These were all things I said to AI multiple times a day.

Even though speaking with emotion in my words doesn't make AI do the job any better,
my body and mind reacted with irritation first anyway.
What was actually needed was clear judgment and instruction about the process and the result.

So I decided to separate the two. Take care of my emotions as emotions, and handle work as work, clearly.
Every time things didn't go as planned, instead of speaking the way I usually did, I practiced giving clear work instructions.

• Huh??????? → Please re-check the current result. There's a clear discrepancy from the requirements.
• That's not it. → Please check exactly what changes were actually made in the work log.
• No, no, no, no, that's not it. → The previous instruction keeps being missed repeatedly. Please point out which condition was left out.
• Do it again..... → The same issue has recurred. Please check why the previous fix failed to prevent the recurrence.

This is a summary I put together after asking Codex to help turn my blaming prompt tone into work instructions instead.

I kept a notepad open on one side of my screen and copy-pasted from it whenever these situations came up. Instructions instead of blame!
Once I started rephrasing things this way, the results became more accurate. Removing the emotion made me clearer about the work myself.

Resetting a Work and Life Rhythm That Fits Me

And I reset a way of working and living that actually fits me.
I'm someone with a high need for stimulation by temperament, so I feel more fatigue when there's nothing new in my life —
something I'd briefly forgotten while getting close to AI!

While having lunch, I started giving my brain a bit of blank, resting time, keeping a book I love nearby, and even started biking home from work!
Just seeing the night view on the way home got me excited, and pedaling my bike made the stress in my body just whoosh away.
Taking good care of myself made the irritation at work fade too. ;)

A lecture I once heard ↗ said this: once you become an adult, you can no longer see yourself growing.
Children can see themselves grow because their height increases,
but once you're an adult, no one really checks in and asks, 'are you growing well?'

The best person to grow me is myself.
Today too, I'll raise myself well!

/ by Grace