I Automated 70% of My Job in Two Weeks.

From Josh · March 2026 · And I'm not shutting up about it

You know I've been yelling about this. I'm not going to stop. The people who figure out AI tooling right now are going to be miles ahead of everyone else in 6 months. Not incrementally. Miles. And I'd rather you be ahead of it than behind it.

I set up something called Claude Cowork a few weeks ago. It makes you a literal internet wizard. I'm not being dramatic. It turns you into the person who always has the answer, always has the research done, always shows up prepared, and does it all in a fraction of the time.

This is the future of work. It's happening right now. And the setup takes 2 hours. Skip 2 episodes of some dumbass Netflix show, or 3 games of League (looking at you, Ben), and your life changes. For real.

What Is This Thing?

This is the first time we actually have real AI agents. Not chatbots. Not "ask it a question and get a paragraph back." Agents.

Think of it like this: you now have something that can go out and gather information for you from the web, from your emails, from your texts, from your calendar, from your documents, from literally anywhere you work and any app you use. It pulls all of that into one place, figures out how to solve whatever problem you're dealing with, and then actually does the work to get you what you want.

You just set up a folder, give it some basic instructions about who you are, and start telling it to do things.

This is that Star Trek moment. For normal people. Right now. It's not a demo. It's not a concept video. It's running on my laptop as I type this.

Things I've Actually Done With This

And that's just what I've done so far. Someone in the community made a version of Pokemon FireRed with higher difficulty levels and a Skyrim-style inventory system. Another person automated their entire freelance invoicing pipeline. You can build anything you can describe.

This Isn't Just for Work

I keep talking about my job because that's where I started. But this works for your entire life.

Ever felt overwhelmed trying to figure out your finances? Confused by a tax situation or a legal question you didn't even know how to start Googling? Claude walks you through it. Step by step. Not "here's a wall of text, good luck." It works through the problem with you like a patient, ridiculously smart friend who happens to know everything.

You can send it screenshots of anything. Confused by a complicated website or form? Take a picture, send it over. It tells you exactly what to do. And if you give it browser access, it can literally take control of your browser and click through things for you. Fill out forms. Navigate workflows. I had it create a server, authenticate itself, and build me a website. I didn't touch the keyboard.

Oh, and I successfully played an entire game of Slay the Spire using only Claude's decisions. We won. It was awesome.

Anything that feels complicated, confusing, or tedious? Just talk to it.

Okay, How Do You Actually Use It?

Best advice I've gotten came from the OpenClaw creator:

Don't overthink it. Don't try to craft the perfect prompt. Just say what you need like you're talking to a coworker. "Help me figure out my budget." "What happened in my email while I was gone?" "Explain this legal document to me like I'm 12." That's it.

Here's the playbook. Three steps. Each one builds on the last.

This is your foundation. Two videos, two creators who mapped out the patterns I built on top of. Don't just watch them. Pause and do what they do. By the end, you'll have your folders set up, your workspace scaffolded, and Claude actually running.

• 1 How I Use Claude Cowork to Automate 99% Of My Life (Paul J Lipsky) Start here. Follow along and build your workspace as you watch. Pause, do what he does. This is your foundation. By the end of this video, you should have your folder structure and Claude running.
• 2 How to Use Claude Cowork Better Than 99% of People (Ben AI) The full deep dive. Fills in the gaps and shows you what's really possible. Watch this second and do everything he says too.

That's it for Step 1. Two videos, both followed to the letter. You now have a working Cowork setup.

Structure is in place. Before you go optimizing anything, just use it. Go about your normal life and every time you hit friction, ask Claude. Get comfortable talking to it like a person.

Here's what I'd try first:

The more you use it, the more your memory builds, the smarter it gets about your world. Every week it knows more about you. That compounds. Don't skip this step. Play first, optimize second.

You've been using it for a bit. You're getting comfortable. Now it's time to turn it from a generic assistant into your assistant. This is where the real magic happens.

What People Are Saying About This Stuff

I'm not the only one losing my mind over this. Here's some of the best writing and research I've found on how AI is actually changing how people work. Not hype pieces. Real people, real results.

Quick tip if you're not techy: On Mac, right-click a file + hold Option to copy its path. On Windows, click the address bar in File Explorer or Shift + right-click > "Copy as path." You'll need this to point Claude at your files.