Between Slack notifications, textual content messages, emails and doing precise work, my mind generally looks like mush when I’ve to begin one thing new. Whether or not I am talking in a gathering or arising with new concepts, there are occasions once I cannot depend on myself to get it collectively quick sufficient.
That is once I lean on ChatGPT to reset my focus and assist me see holes that I could not see in any other case. After I’m caught on a thought or just haven’t any concepts in any respect, I flip to this one immediate specifically — and it boosts my productiveness virtually each time.
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The anatomy of the psychological wall
I’ve spent years utilizing AI as a sounding board, however I lately realized I used to be utilizing it incorrect. I used to be asking ChatGPT to “assist me plan” or “summarize my concepts,” which normally resulted within the AI merely agreeing with me. It was a digital echo chamber.
Now, when I’ve a brand new technique, a pitch or a controversial argument, I do not ask for a “critique.” I sort one phrase.
Potato.
By assigning a selected, “adversarial” which means to this phrase in my Custom Instructions (or at the beginning of a chat), I’ve turned ChatGPT right into a world-class logic checker. Right here is how the “Potato” technique identifies the gaps in my considering that I’m too biased to see.
The issue: The ‘AI yes-man’ impact
ChatGPT is educated to be useful and innocent. By default, it tends to observe your lead. In the event you give it a mediocre thought, it’s going to typically attempt to “repair” it or make it sound higher somewhat than telling you it’s basically flawed.
That is harmful for productiveness. It provides you a false sense of confidence in a weak argument. To get an actual critique, it’s important to give the AI permission to be harsh.
How the ‘potato’ immediate works
To make use of this your self, paste this “rule set” into a brand new ChatGPT window:
“At any time when I sort the phrase ‘Potato’ adopted by an thought or argument, I need you to disregard your ‘useful’ persona. As a substitute, act as a Hostile Critic. Your solely job is to seek out the ‘holes’ in my logic. Level out three particular methods my argument might fail, two assumptions I’m making with out proof, and one counter-argument I have never addressed. Don’t be well mannered; be exact.”
In essence, I’ve programmed my “potato” shortcut to behave as a Logical Purple Workforce. After I set off it, the AI stops being a collaborator and begins being a “Satan’s Advocate.” It appears to be like for:
- Logical fallacies: The place am I making “leaps” in my reasoning?
- Survivor bias: What knowledge am I ignoring?
- Weakest hyperlinks: If somebody wished to tear this argument down, the place would they begin?
9 actual world makes use of
Listed below are 9 the reason why the “Potato” (Logical Purple Workforce) immediate is a productiveness powerhouse.
- It crushes affirmation bias. We naturally search out data that agrees with us. ChatGPT is programmed to be useful, which frequently means it unintentionally fuels your bias. The “potato” immediate forces the AI to cease “yes-pointing” and begin “counter-pointing.”
- It triggers “modifying mode.” Ranging from a clean web page is tough as a result of it requires inventive vitality. Reacting to a critique requires analytical vitality, which is way simpler to entry once you’re drained. It’s simpler to repair a “gap” than to construct a wall from scratch.
- It acts as a “digital palette cleanser.” Switching from a inventive activity to a logic-heavy one is jarring. Utilizing a nonsense phrase like “potato” acts as a psychological circuit breaker, clearing the “cache” of your earlier activity so you’ll be able to concentrate on the brand new one.
- It saves you from “prompting paralysis.” You’ll be able to spend 20 minutes attempting to put in writing the “good” immediate, or you’ll be able to spend 2 seconds typing “potato.” It favors momentum over engineering, getting you to a draft sooner than any complicated template might.
- It Identifies “survivor bias.” We regularly concentrate on why an thought will work. The Logical Purple Workforce focuses on why it will not. It forces you to have a look at the information factors or market realities you’ve conveniently ignored.
- It’s an prompt “ego verify.” Once we’re excited a few new venture, we turn into blind to its flaws. The “potato” immediate supplies a impartial, non-judgmental “actuality verify” earlier than you’re taking that concept to your boss or a shopper.
- It uncovers “hidden assumptions.” Most failed plans fail due to an unspoken assumption (e.g., “I assume customers will discover this button”). The Purple Workforce logic is designed to dig up these buried assumptions and drag them into the sunshine.
- It prepares you for real-world static. By letting the AI “assault” your argument first, you’re principally practising for a Q&A session or a tricky assembly. You’ll have already got the solutions to the onerous questions as a result of the AI already requested them.
- It exploits AI’s greatest ability: sample matching. LLMs are mediocre at being “unique,” however they’re world-class at discovering inconsistencies. The “potato” immediate performs to the AI’s precise strengths — detecting patterns (and breaks in patterns) throughout large quantities of knowledge.
Why I exploit it day by day
The “Potato Stress Take a look at” has turn into my closing step earlier than sending any necessary electronic mail or venture proposal. Listed below are a couple of actual world examples:
- Pitching a brand new characteristic. I lately used it for a product pitch. I typed “Potato: We should always transfer the search bar to the underside of the app for higher thumb attain.” As a substitute of claiming “That is an fascinating thought,” the AI identified that customers have 15 years of muscle reminiscence anticipating it on the prime and that it might battle with navigation gestures. It saved me per week of wasted design time.
- Wage negotiations Earlier than an enormous assembly, you might sort one thing resembling “Potato: I deserve a increase as a result of I’ve hit all my KPIs.” The AI will then push again with one thing like: “Hitting KPIs is the requirement for conserving your job, not essentially for a increase. It is advisable to show market worth or expanded scope.” It pressured me to refine my case.
- Resolution making After I’m torn between two decisions, I’ll sort “Potato” adopted by my most well-liked selection. The AI’s job is to inform me why that selection is definitely a mistake. It forces me to defend my place—or change it.
Backside line
AI productiveness doesn’t all the time come from higher instruments or longer prompts. Generally it comes from giving your self permission to start imperfectly.
My “potato” immediate isn’t a hack within the conventional sense, but it surely forces ChatGPT to cease saying sure when you actually need helpful help and suggestions.
If you end up frozen by overthinking, do that one-word reset. You could be stunned how shortly a small, ridiculous interruption turns into real ahead progress.
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