# Start here

Five short steps that leave you with tasks AI already helps with, a privacy rule, a file that tells it who you are and a check routine. Then pick the page for the job in front of you.

Start here · v1.2 · draft · https://hayzlabs.com/start/start-here/

In short:
- Work through five short steps: three first tasks, prompting, what not to paste, a file about you, and a check routine.
- If you already use AI most days, skim the privacy and checking steps, then go to the page for your task.
- All five steps take about 2 hours, and you can spread them over a week.

This site is short on purpose. Every page answers one question and gives you steps, a prompt (a message to type to the AI) or a hands-on tool that works on the page. Nothing is for sale.

## The five steps

1. **[Your first useful hour](https://hayzlabs.com/start/your-first-useful-hour/).** Three everyday tasks: tighten an email, turn notes into a to-do list, get the case against a decision.
2. **[Prompting in one page](https://hayzlabs.com/start/prompting-in-one-page/).** How to ask so the first answer is usable.
3. **[What not to paste](https://hayzlabs.com/start/what-not-to-paste/).** A three-tier rule: fine, redact first, never.
4. **[Tell it who you are, once](https://hayzlabs.com/start/tell-it-who-you-are/).** A short text for your assistant's custom instructions (a settings box it reads before every chat), so you stop repeating yourself.
5. **[Check before you trust](https://hayzlabs.com/start/check-before-you-trust/).** A five-minute routine before you act on an answer.

Already use AI most days? Skim steps 3 and 5, then pick from the list below. Wondering whether to pay for a plan? Read [Do I need to pay for AI, and for which plan?](https://hayzlabs.com/setup/do-i-need-to-pay-for-ai/) first.

## Then pick the job in front of you

**Work and writing**

- [Writing: brief, draft, check](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/writing-brief-draft-check/)
- [Make a presentation with AI: your outline first, then check every slide](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/presentation-with-ai/)
- [Make an image with AI: describe it well, check it, and know what you can use it for](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/make-an-image-with-ai/)
- [Research a topic with citation checking](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/research-with-citation-checking/)
- [Read the source, use the summary as a map](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/read-the-source/)
- [Meeting notes to decisions and owners](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/meeting-notes-to-decisions/)
- [Transcribe a recording, then check it before you quote it](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/transcribe-then-check/)
- [Job search and interview prep](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/job-search-and-interview-prep/)
- [Prepare for a negotiation with AI: a pay rise, a job offer or a price](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/prepare-a-negotiation-with-ai/)
- [Write a speech, toast or eulogy with AI that still sounds like you](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/write-a-speech-with-ai/)

**Home and life admin**

- [Personal admin with AI: inbox, letters and bills](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/inbox-letters-and-bills/)
- [Taxes with AI: what it can help with, and what you check on the official site](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/taxes-with-ai/)
- [Read a contract, lease or terms with AI before you sign](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/read-a-contract-with-ai/)
- [Complain about a faulty product or poor service, with AI drafting and you checking your rights](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/complain-and-get-it-fixed/)
- [Fix a computer, phone or app problem with AI, safely](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/fix-a-tech-problem-with-ai/)
- [Plan a week of meals and a shopping list with AI, and check what matters](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/plan-meals-with-ai/)
- [Plan a trip, then verify every stop](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/plan-a-trip-then-verify/)
- [Point your phone at it: what AI can and can't tell you from a photo](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/point-your-phone-at-it/)
- [Photos in, data out: forms, receipts, whiteboards](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/photos-in-data-out/)

**Data and spreadsheets**

- [Asking questions of your data when you're not an analyst](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/asking-questions-of-your-data/)
- [Get a spreadsheet formula from AI, then test it](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/spreadsheet-formula-then-test/)
- [Reconcile two exports](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/reconcile-two-exports/)
- [Run one prompt over hundreds of rows, then measure how often it's wrong](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/one-prompt-many-rows/)
- [Find near-duplicates and group a long list by meaning](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/group-a-list-by-meaning/)

**Using it well**

- [Getting disagreement instead of agreement](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/getting-disagreement-instead-of-agreement/)
- [Learning with AI without losing the learning](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/learning-without-losing-the-learning/)
- [Learn to code with AI without skipping the learning](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/learn-to-code-with-ai/)
- [When not to use AI](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/when-not-to-use-ai/)
- [Health, money and legal questions: green lights and red lines](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/health-money-and-legal-questions/)
- [Talking to AI when you're struggling: what it can help with, and where it stops](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/talking-to-ai-when-struggling/)
- [Kids, homework and a family AI plan](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/kids-homework-and-a-family-ai-plan/)
- [College and university applications: what AI use is allowed, and how to use it honestly](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/college-applications-and-ai/)
- [Help an older relative start using AI, safely](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/help-an-older-relative-start-with-ai/)
- [AI detectors: what they can and can't tell you](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/ai-detectors/)
- [Writing in a second language, or with dyslexia](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/second-language-and-dyslexia/)
- [Talk, then edit: dictation and voice mode](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/talk-then-edit/)
- [Translating with AI: when it's good enough, and how to check](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/translating-with-ai/)
- [Practise a new language with AI: speak daily, get corrected, track progress](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/practise-a-language-with-ai/)
- [AI answers or search results: when to use which](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/answers-or-search-results/)
- [Check a claim you saw online, with AI as a helper, not the judge](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/check-a-claim-you-saw-online/)
- [Ads and sponsored answers in AI chats: how to spot them and get a straight recommendation](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/ads-in-ai-answers/)
- [Where could AI help this week?](https://hayzlabs.com/tools/where-could-ai-help-this-week/), a hands-on tool that finds candidates in your own week
- [Am I actually faster?](https://hayzlabs.com/tools/am-i-actually-faster/), a hands-on tool that compares your timings

**Agents and tools**

An agent is an AI that carries out steps for you, such as clicking or running code, rather than only answering.

- [Coding agents for people who don't write code](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/coding-agents-for-non-coders/)
- [Letting an agent near your email, browser and files](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/agents-near-your-email-and-files/)
- [Test any new model on your own tasks](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/personal-eval-set/)
- [Describe the failure: reports an agent can act on](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/describe-the-failure/)
- [Your first API call, with a spending cap](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/first-api-call-with-a-spending-cap/)
- [Build an assistant other people will use](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/build-an-assistant-others-will-use/)
- [Prompt, retrieve or fine-tune? Getting a model to use your material](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/prompt-retrieve-or-fine-tune/)
- [Get data you can trust from an API: schemas, validation and retries](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/structured-output-you-can-trust/)
- [Script, workflow or agent: how much to automate](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/script-workflow-or-agent/)
- [Build a small agent yourself: one tool, a step limit and a log](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/build-a-small-agent/)
- [Long agent jobs: pieces, milestones and stop rules](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/long-agent-jobs/)
- [Checking agent work you didn't watch](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/checking-agent-work/)
- [Local or cloud: when a model on your own device is enough](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/local-or-cloud/)
- [Open-source AI tools: one pick for each job](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/open-source-ai-tools/)

**Safety and privacy**

- [AI voice scams: hang up and call back on a number you know](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/hang-up-and-call-back/)
- [Payment changes at work: check the request, not the voice](https://hayzlabs.com/workflows/payment-change-check/)
- [Was this image made or changed by AI? A five-minute check](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/check-an-image-or-video/)
- [AI-written phishing: stop looking for typos, set up passkeys](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/ai-phishing-and-passkeys/)
- [Privacy settings pass: 15 minutes, once a quarter](https://hayzlabs.com/setup/privacy-settings-pass/)
- [The AI already in your phone, email and office apps: what it reads, and how to turn it up or down](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/ai-built-into-your-apps/)
- [AI memory: what it keeps, and a ten-minute audit](https://hayzlabs.com/guides/ai-memory-audit/)

## Who keeps this site

Hayz Labs is a small lab led by Ben. We add a page only when it helps someone do something, and we update pages when the tools change. Every page carries the date it was last checked.