Thinking at Half Speed

Tag: assistive technology

  • Using AI to log your reading and get better recommendations

    I’ve been using AI to help me keep track of books I’ve read across multiple platforms — Audible, Kobo, and my local library’s BorrowBox service — and then use that record to make better reading recommendations. What surprised me was how straightforward it turned out to be once the right tools were in place. This…

  • The honest truth about setting up WordPress before you start writing

    The honest account of what makes WordPress tricky for novices — setup order, navigation, templates, phone limitations — and what the mobile app can do once the hard work is done. Includes alternatives.

  • Your starter prompt to build a blog with Claude

    A copy-and-paste prompt to start building a blog with Claude, plus five things to decide before you begin and what you need set up beforehand. Built from real experience.

  • What Claude can and cannot do for your blog

    An honest account of what Claude can do directly for your blog — writing, publishing, creating pages, setting up categories — and what still needs you to do it yourself.

  • Glossary — plain English guide to the terms used in this blog

    Plain English definitions of the technical words and phrases used in this blog — AI, Claude, Craft, WordPress, categories, tags, and more. A reference guide for anyone new to these tools.

  • AI Tip — Know your platform limits

    15 April 2026 What happened Mid-conversation, Craft stopped letting us create new documents. No warning, no explanation, just errors. We diagnosed it during the conversation — the free plan has a ten document limit and we had hit it building out the blog. Subscribed to Craft Plus on the spot. Back working within minutes. The…

  • Troubleshooting AI — when to say simpler

    15 April 2026 When AI is going round in circles trying to fix something, say stop. Then say: simpler. AI will often try increasingly complex solutions when the simple one was available all along. Left to its own devices it can burn through your energy trying clever approaches when the straightforward answer was sitting there…

  • The two tool strategy — what I use and why

    April 2026 One of the first things I learned when I started losing cognitive capacity is that complexity is the enemy. Every additional app, every new interface, every extra subscription is another thing to remember, another thing to manage, another drain on the limited reserves I’m trying to protect. So I made a deliberate decision…

  • How to build your own AI tools plan

    April 2026 The previous post described my own two tool setup – Claude for thinking, Siri for hands-free control. But your situation may be different to mine, and what works for me may not be the right answer for you. This post is a practical guide to working out what your own setup should look…