A FREE PRACTICAL GUIDE · BY MOLLY
Give Your AI a Filing Cabinet, and Pick Up Where You Left Off
Keep your project files together and pick up where you left off.
Let’s try one
Every new chat starts from zero, and so do you after a week away. One short note fixes both.
Who it's for
Anyone with a project they keep coming back to and losing track of: which file is the latest, what's already decided, what was next. It might be something you make by hand, a class, a service, an event, a local business or something digital.
Use it when
- Every new Claude chat starts with you explaining the whole project again.
- You have three files called “final” and can't tell which one you changed last.
- You make things by hand, like candles, cakes or class plans, and the notes are spread across photos, paper and old texts.
- You stepped away for a week or a month and can't remember where you got to.
You'll get: A START HERE note for one project, one home for its pieces, and three lines to add each time you stop.
How to do it
Give the project one home
Pick one place where everything for this project lives: a folder in your phone's Files app or Google Drive, or a paper folder or box if your work is physical. Inside, keep three parts: Originals (things you never change, like first photos, the recipe as written or customer feedback), Working (drafts and tests) and Finished (what you sell, send or hand out).
What good looks like: You could find any piece of the project in one place. For handmade work, that can be a box with the notebook in it and a phone album for the photos.
Watch out for: Building a big system first. Three parts is enough, and a new app is the last thing you need.
Keep the originals, and name one version current
Never edit an original. Make a copy and work on that. Name versions with a number, like label-v1, label-v2, label-v3, and decide which one is current.
What good looks like: You can tell the latest version from its name, and the first version is still there if you need to go back.
Watch out for: Calling it “final”. There's always another final, and then nobody knows which one to open.
Write a START HERE note
Write a short note and keep it at the top of the project's home, or pinned in your notes app. Six short lines: what it is and who it's for, what's already decided (like the name, price or where you sell), where things live, the current version, where you stopped, and the next step.
What good looks like: Someone else could read it and know what to open and what to do next. Molly's Ready to Sell connector does something similar for challenge members: it saves each day's result, so nobody has to remember it.
Watch out for: Writing a diary. Keep it to what you'd need to start again, not everything that happened.
End each session with three lines
Before you stop, take two minutes and add three lines to the note: Done today, Where it is, Next. The next step is one action, like “pick the winter scent from the last two tests”.
What good looks like: A next step you could start without thinking.
Watch out for: Stopping mid-task and meaning to write it up later. By later, it's gone.
Start the next chat with the note
In a new Claude chat, paste your START HERE note first and attach only the current file, if there is one (use the + in the chat box). Ask Claude to say back in three lines what it understood before it does anything.
What good looks like: Claude gets the project right in its first reply, and you spend your time on the next step instead of explaining.
Watch out for: Typing “use the latest file” or counting on a new chat to know what you did last time. Give it the note.
Do it with Claude in 10 minutes
This prompt asks you a few quick questions about one project, one at a time, then writes your START HERE note, a simple home for its pieces, a way to name versions and the three lines to add each time you stop.
Write my START HERE note
Get one project organized and a short note that lets you, or a new chat, pick up where you left off. Paste it into Claude and answer its few quick questions. The result comes back in the same chat.
Read the prompt + an example
I have a project I keep coming back to, and I keep losing track: which file is the latest, what I already decided and what I was going to do next. It might be something I make by hand, a service, a class, an event, a local business or something digital. Help me write a short START HERE note so I, or a new Claude chat, can pick up where I left off in a minute. Find out these things. Each has a purpose. I may not be able to answer the direct version, so start with easier, concrete questions that get to the same place: - what the project is and who it's for (purpose: the first line of the note; try “if a friend asked what you're working on, what would you say?”) - where its pieces live now: files, photos, notes, paper, texts (purpose: to give it one home; try “if you had to find your latest version right now, where would you look first?”) - what's already decided, like the name, price, where I sell or my own rules (purpose: so I stop deciding it again and Claude stops guessing; try “what do you keep having to explain again?”) - which version is the current one, only if I mention several (purpose: so nobody works on an old copy; skip it otherwise) - where I stopped and the next small thing to do (purpose: so the next session starts straight away; try “what were you about to do when you last stopped?”) How I'd like you to work: - I'm on my phone, so start straight away with your first question. No introduction. - Ask one short question at a time and wait for my answer. Say in a few words why you're asking. - Start with the easier, concrete version of each question. Only ask the direct version if I seem ready. - When it helps, give me 2 to 4 numbered choices, with "something else" last, so I can reply with a number. - If an answer is vague, ask for one real example instead of guessing. Use what I've already told you, and skip anything you can work out. - Stop once you know enough. That's usually three to five questions. If I've already told you something, build on it and skip that question. If I say "just do it", make your best guess and tell me what you assumed. - Write for a phone screen: plain words, short lines, no tables, no jargon. When you have enough, give me: - My START HERE note in one block I can copy, in about six short lines: what it is and who it's for, what's decided, where things live, the current version, where I stopped, and the next step. Write "not decided yet" for anything I haven't told you. - A simple home that fits how I work: one folder (or album, notebook or box) with three parts: Originals (never change these), Working and Finished. Use my own examples. If some of my things are physical or on paper, say how they fit in. If I have almost nothing saved, skip the three parts and just tell me where to keep the note. - If I have more than one version of anything, a naming rule shown with one of my real pieces (like label-v2), and which one to mark current. If not, skip this. - Three lines to add each time I stop: Done today, Where it is, Next. - One sentence to paste with the note at the start of my next Claude chat, asking Claude to say back what it understood before doing anything. Don't invent facts, files or decisions. Don't say you've saved, moved or renamed anything: I'll save the note myself. Don't suggest new apps, paid tools or a website. Leave out passwords, card numbers and customers' private details.
A filled-in example
These are illustrative details. Use your own information.
I have a project I keep coming back to, and I keep losing track: which file is the latest, what I already decided and what I was going to do next. It might be something I make by hand, a service, a class, an event, a local business or something digital. Help me write a short START HERE note so I, or a new Claude chat, can pick up where I left off in a minute. Find out these things. Each has a purpose. I may not be able to answer the direct version, so start with easier, concrete questions that get to the same place: - what the project is and who it's for (purpose: the first line of the note; try “if a friend asked what you're working on, what would you say?”) - where its pieces live now: files, photos, notes, paper, texts (purpose: to give it one home; try “if you had to find your latest version right now, where would you look first?”) - what's already decided, like the name, price, where I sell or my own rules (purpose: so I stop deciding it again and Claude stops guessing; try “what do you keep having to explain again?”) - which version is the current one, only if I mention several (purpose: so nobody works on an old copy; skip it otherwise) - where I stopped and the next small thing to do (purpose: so the next session starts straight away; try “what were you about to do when you last stopped?”) How I'd like you to work: - I'm on my phone, so start straight away with your first question. No introduction. - Ask one short question at a time and wait for my answer. Say in a few words why you're asking. - Start with the easier, concrete version of each question. Only ask the direct version if I seem ready. - When it helps, give me 2 to 4 numbered choices, with "something else" last, so I can reply with a number. - If an answer is vague, ask for one real example instead of guessing. Use what I've already told you, and skip anything you can work out. - Stop once you know enough. That's usually three to five questions. If I've already told you something, build on it and skip that question. If I say "just do it", make your best guess and tell me what you assumed. - Write for a phone screen: plain words, short lines, no tables, no jargon. When you have enough, give me: - My START HERE note in one block I can copy, in about six short lines: what it is and who it's for, what's decided, where things live, the current version, where I stopped, and the next step. Write "not decided yet" for anything I haven't told you. - A simple home that fits how I work: one folder (or album, notebook or box) with three parts: Originals (never change these), Working and Finished. Use my own examples. If some of my things are physical or on paper, say how they fit in. If I have almost nothing saved, skip the three parts and just tell me where to keep the note. - If I have more than one version of anything, a naming rule shown with one of my real pieces (like label-v2), and which one to mark current. If not, skip this. - Three lines to add each time I stop: Done today, Where it is, Next. - One sentence to paste with the note at the start of my next Claude chat, asking Claude to say back what it understood before doing anything. Don't invent facts, files or decisions. Don't say you've saved, moved or renamed anything: I'll save the note myself. Don't suggest new apps, paid tools or a website. Leave out passwords, card numbers and customers' private details. --- HOW IT GOES (a made-up example) Claude: If a friend asked what you're working on, what would you say? (That's the first line of your note.) You: Soy candles I sell at the Saturday market. Claude: Where would you look for your latest label right now? 1. Phone photos 2. Canva 3. A notebook 4. Something else You: 2, and scent tests are in a paper notebook …two more short questions, then a START HERE note, a three-part home and the three lines to add each time you stop. THE PROMPTDownload the original prompt (.txt)
See it in action
A candle maker gets back on track (made up). Four quick questions, then a note they paste at the top of every new chat.
If a friend asked what you're working on, what would you say? (That's the first line of your note.)
Soy candles I sell at the Saturday market. I want to add a winter scent.
Where would you look for your latest label right now? 1. Phone photos 2. Canva 3. A notebook 4. Something else
2 for labels. Scent tests are in a paper notebook. There are three labels called final.
What do you keep having to explain again? 1. Prices 2. Scents and sizes 3. Where you sell 4. Something else
1 and 2. $14 small, $22 large. Four scents.
What were you about to do when you last stopped? (So next time starts right there.)
Pick the winter scent from my last two tests.
START HERE: Soy candles for the Saturday market. Decided: four scents, $14 small, $22 large. Labels in Canva, scent tests in the paper notebook. Current label: open the three “final” labels and rename the newest label-v3. Next: pick the winter scent from your last two tests. Each time you stop, add: Done today, Where it is, Next.
What to do next
Save the note today: at the top of the project's folder, or pinned in your notes app. Next time you sit down, paste it into a new Claude chat first. Before you stop, add your three lines. Each round, the note gets a little better and picking up gets quicker.
Your answer stays in your Claude chat. To find it faster, screenshot it or copy it into your notes.
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