How I Leverage AI for Personal Growth 🧠

January 28, 2025

If you're reading this, chances are you're big on productivity — in some form or another.

Whether it be Notion, Obsidian, Todoist, or the G-Suite, you have your productivity power tools and have been using them for work, school, uni, and side projects for a good while.

And since late 2022, some new tools have appeared on the scene, with the rise of AI and LLMs. At that early stage, I personally stuck to what I was used to — my trustworthy Notion workspace and Google Calendar for all time-blocking needs.

However, now more than ever, I take full advantage of the AI tools available to me, and I feel like everybody should consider adding them to at least some parts of their workflow. From prototyping & brainstorming to design & automation, these tools have been pivotal in the past few months for me. I believe they have 10x-ed my productivity and expanded my skill set. 🚀

1. ChatGPT — The Brain You Can Talk To

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Not unexpectedly, GPT comes on top of the AI tools I use in my everyday life. It started with very simple things, like summaries of long texts and code reviews for minor stuff. However, as the tool became better over time and I started using the premium ChatGPT 4o version, I've been using it for more and more things, including:

• Creating full layouts and architecture for new web projects
• Being a smart journal, where I can pour my thoughts about everyday stuff, good and bad, and have it provide immediate feedback — very curated to me, quite like a therapy session
• Using its memory feature for advanced goal-planning and keeping me accountable

2. Cursor — A Code Editor That Codes Back

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This may be more of a niche find, as it's solely made for programming. Cursor is an advanced version of GitHub Copilot — simply put, it's a wrapper around your code editor that gives an LLM (Claude, GPT, depending on your preference) full read/write access to your codebase. This turns you from a coder into a product manager of sorts, as you can simply request features in plain English and navigate the AI to write, design, and structure the code as you like.

3. Midjourney — Generative Art on Tap

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Midjourney is the only non-textual model on this list — a generative image service that, in my opinion, is currently the highest echelon for visual output, producing much better results than ChatGPT 4o can, for example. I use it for everything from wallpapers and art to thumbnails and icons — basically the visual-design part of my workflow is fully handled by Midjourney.

Exhibit A: this wallpaper, inspired by the newest series I started, which we'll talk about later in this issue. 👇

What are some of the ways you use AI in your life? I'm curious to know. 🤯

A Turbulent January

• This week I did some retrospective of the month that has passed so far — it was a turbulent January, with me changing jobs, getting closer to buying my first car, and making progress on my fitness goals.
• Apart from the positives, I noticed a few trends of what usually derailed me from doing what I told myself I'd do in a given week — mainly managing my energy, overextending myself, and not leaving enough buffer room in between tasks.
• Well, hopefully, this should improve the February experience, with some lessons learnt and new mini-goals to aim at — including a complete revamp of one of my projects that you may find interesting, Pokemon Palette. Stay tuned! 🎵

Series of the Week: Peaky Blinders

Peaky Blinders is the series I want to highlight this week, and it's the most recent media on my roster. It's been sitting in my to-watch list for a good while, and after finishing my rewatch of the Bulgarian criminal TV series Undercover, it felt like the most logical thing to follow it up with something of a similar vibe — this time in the British criminal underworld for a change. 🇬🇧

The plotline is relatively straightforward in the beginning and later gets more intricate as the Shelby family rises to power through any means possible in post-WWI Birmingham. Led by Thomas Shelby, the gang of the Peaky Blinders expands their business throughout the country.

While on the surface it appears to be a story about crime and violence, and surely it has plenty of those flavours, it boils down to the story of one family trying to rise up the ranks of society. It reflects the ruthless drive of the main character, Thomas, whose rule-breaking mindset and out-of-the-box thinking get them out of numerous situations.

I'm still at the beginning of the series, but it's already on track to become a personal favourite. There's something about such driven and cunning protagonists that makes you follow the plot, if not for the rest of the cast, then just to see how they will deal with the next obstacle.

Worth Watching This Week

My Notion Life Operating System Overview by August Bradley — a deep tour of arguably the most fleshed-out Notion setup out there. Heavy, but full of ideas you can steal.

How I Automate My Finances by Odysseas — a clean walk-through of automating the boring-but-critical money admin so you don't have to think about it every month.

Closing Thoughts

Till next week, stay safe, stay curious, and keep kicking. ✌️