The Claude Setup

What it does

Takes Claude from "stranger you re-brief every morning" to a configured workspace: memory on, context saved once in projects, your tools connected, repeat prompts saved as skills, and routine work on a schedule. One pass, then it compounds.

What you need

A Claude account (works on free; some features depend on plan and platform)
The list of 3–5 things you actually use Claude for weekly
Menu names below are current as of July 2026 — locations shift between app versions and platforms, so if a setting isn't where we say, search settings for the name instead

Setup (one time)

1. Turn memory on. Settings → Capabilities → enable "Search and reference chats" and memory generation from chat history. Then, in your profile settings, write a few lines about what you do and how you want answers. Without this, every chat starts from zero.

2. Learn the two modes. Chat is for thinking out loud; Cowork is for producing a finished thing (document, spreadsheet, multi-step task). Rule of thumb: if the output is a file or a series of steps, start in Cowork. In your recents: chat bubble = chat, checklist = Cowork.

3. Make one project per recurring context. Projects → New Project. In the instructions: "This project is for [task]. Reply in [tone]. Format as [format]. About me: [key facts]." Upload the files you keep re-attaching. Now the background briefing happens zero times instead of every time.

4. Connect the tools you touch daily. Settings → Connectors → add what you actually use (mail, drive, calendar, notes). Claude can only work with what it can see. Test with a task that spans two tools.

5. Save what worked as a skill. Right after a good result: "Turn this into a skill so every time I ask for [task], you handle it the same way." Next time, type "/" and the skill name. A prompt is a favor you keep asking; a skill is standing instructions.

6. Schedule the routine ones. Where a workflow ran well: "run this every morning at 8." Approve it. Manage under Scheduled. Only schedule things you've run manually at least twice — automating an untested workflow just automates the mess.

The workflow (daily use)

Start work in the right mode (talk → chat, produce → Cowork) inside the right project.
Pick the model by the task: small/throwaway → the fast cheap one; normal work → the default mid model; genuinely hard or high-stakes → the top model. Escalate deliberately, don't default up.
Know where your task lives: cloud tasks (connected tools, web work) continue when you close the laptop; tasks touching local files need your desktop app open. Check the task's cloud indicator before walking away.

Maintenance habits

When you notice yourself re-explaining something for the second time → it becomes a project instruction or a skill, that day.
Monthly: prune skills and scheduled tasks you stopped using; stale automation is clutter with a cron.
When a scheduled task's output drifts, fix the skill it runs on — not the schedule.