How I Turned AI Into a Second Brain Using One Simple Context File
A step-by-step guide with the real workflows I use to build a personal context file and use it to write, learn, and make decisions.
Let me be honest, when I started using AI, I used to think I needed a “secret prompt library” to get better results from AI, and maximise my productivity.
You know the vibe.
Use this exact 3,217 word mega prompt
Paste this and you’ll unlock god mode
Say you are a world class XYZ who… and then magic happens.
Honestly, I tried a lot of those.
Sometimes they worked a bit. But most of the time, I still got the same problem you probably see every day: Generic answers.
I mean to say the response that sounds smart, but if you remove the fancy words, it is the same advice everyone else is getting.
And that’s where I learned that I don’t need more prompts instead I just need to provide more context.
Once I understood that, AI stopped being a noisy search engine and started becoming something closer to a second brain that actually knows me.
And now, in this post, I am going to show you exactly how I use context in real ways so AI stops guessing and starts being actually useful.
What “Context” Really Means When You Use AI Alone
When I say “context”, I literally mean:
What does the AI already know about you and your situation before you ask the question?
Let me give you an example to explain this in more simple terms.
Most people prompt like this: Give me 10 ideas for side hustles.
You see, AI has to guess:
Who are you?
What skills do you have?
How much time do you have?
What do you refuse to do?
What do you actually want from life?
And so it gives you a response that could apply to a 17 year old student in India or a 55 year old manager in Germany.
The only reason is that there is “no context”.
Now look at this:
I am a full time MERN stack developer with 4 years of experience. I enjoy writing online and I am already making around $5K per month from content. I hate sales calls and I do not want to manage a big team. I can give 2 hours per day consistently. Suggest 10 side hustle ideas that fit this exact profile, and for each one tell me what a realistic income could be after 6 months if I execute properly.
Same question but now with context.
And you need to understand that context is not about writing a 40 line prompt.
It is about feeding AI the 3 to 7 things that actually matter:
Who you are
What you already have
What you refuse to do
What constraints you live in (time, money, skills)
What success looks like for you
Once you understand that, you can use context in almost any area of your life.
Now, let me show you how I do it in practice.
Step 1: Build Your Personal Context File (Once)
Before you try any fancy workflow, you need to build one simple thing: A personal context file.
I literally have this saved in a note.
You can keep it in Notion, Google Docs, or even inside ChatGPT, or wherever you like.
Here is a simple structure you can steal:
Who I am (short version)
What I am working on right now
My skills
My constraints
My non negotiables
My goals for the next 6 to 12 months
Here is a real style example, so you see how specific it should be:
Who I am
I am a web developer with MERN stack experience and a content creator. I write long form, practical posts about AI, productivity, and online business. I care a lot about depth and hate generic advice.
What I am working on right now
Growing my Substack and newsletter income
Creating digital products around AI workflows
Improving my writing speed without losing quality
My skills
Writing long, detailed posts
Technical understanding of web dev
Comfortable with most AI tools and prompts
My constraints
I do not want a 20 person agency
I prefer deep work blocks over meetings
I have around X hours per day that I can invest
My non negotiables
I do not want to do hard selling on calls
I want location freedom
I want the work to feel interesting, not soul crushing
My goals (6 to 12 months)
Hit $X/month from content and products
Build simple systems so I am not working 12 hours daily
Build a small but high quality audience that trusts me
This is your “base context”.
Now here is how I use it.
How I feed this to AI
Every time I start a new session for something serious, I paste this and say:
This is my base context. Read it and ask me 3 follow up questions to clarify anything that feels fuzzy. Summarize it in a way you can use for future answers in this chat.
This does two things:
Forces the model to really internalize who you are.
Forces you to answer the questions you usually skip.
Once you do this once for a session, every other prompt becomes easier and 10 times more specific.
Now let us plug this into real workflows.
Workflow 1: Context For Learning Anything 5 Times Faster
Let’s say you want to learn “applied AI as a developer”.
Normal way: Teach me AI or I want to learn AI so give me the resources.
And AI vomits a course outline that jumps from history of AI to gradient descent to LSTMs.
What next? Well, you get bored in 3 minutes, and do something else.
Here’s the context way:
1) Tell AI how you learn
Here is how I learn best:
I already know JavaScript and basic Python
I learn faster when I have small projects, not theory
I have 1 hour per day for the next 30 days
I get bored if I do math proofs, but I am fine with intuition
Based on this, ask me 5 questions to understand my current level in AI and what I want to build.
Later, please answer the questions honestly what the ChatGPT gives.
2) Ask for a tailored roadmap
Then ask:
Using everything above, design a 30 day learning plan for me to go from ‘basic intuition’ to ‘can build small AI powered features in my apps’.
Constraints:
Max 1 hour per day
Every week should end with a tiny project
Suggest very specific resources, not just ‘watch YouTube’
Keep the plan focused on things I will actually use as a MERN dev.
You see, suddenly the plan become so better, and useful that I can go with thanks to context. It fits your time, your skills, your brain.
Workflow 2: Context For Writing That Does Not Sound Like Everyone Else
Let me be honest, most people use this prompt to generate a post: Write me a blog post about how to use AI for productivity.
Then they wonder why their draft sounds like every Medium article from 2020.
Here is how I use context instead.
1) I load my base context
In short, I paste the personal context file, and let AI summarize it.
2) I add project specific context
I then add something like:
Now some extra context for this specific piece:
I am writing for people who already know basic AI stuff like ‘ChatGPT can write emails’.
They are tired of generic content and want real examples and workflows.
I want this piece to feel like a practical conversation, not some random theory.
I will add my own stories later, so focus on structure, angles, and specific examples, and learn my writing style and tone.
3) I ask for angles, not to generate complete posts
Instead of “write the whole article”, I ask:
Given all this context, give me 7 non generic angles for a post about context in AI, that would make an AI heavy reader stop scrolling and think ‘wait, I have not seen this take before’.
Now the ideas that come back are filtered through:
Who I am
Who my readers are
What I care about
From those 7, I pick 1 or 2 and then ask:
Take angle number 3 and outline a full post. I want:
A strong hook that attacks a common belief
4 to 6 main sections each built around a practical workflow
For each section, give me a real example of a prompt and the context needed
Do not write the article yet, just give me the backbone.
Only after I am happy with the outline, I ask it to help me draft specific parts, not the whole thing:
Write the first section only, in my voice, using short stories and specific examples. Then stop.
I always edit heavily.
But because the whole thing is built on my context, I am not fighting the model. I am just sharpening it with my context, and later edit it based on my expertise.
That is the difference.
Workflow 3: Use Context Stack To Make Clear Decisions in Minutes
Let me be honest, most people use AI to “get opinions”, and even I’m one of them.
I ask multiple questions like: Should I start a YouTube channel or a newsletter?
Just think for a second, LLM doesn’t know who you are , what you are doing, the expertise you have, and the time you can spend and so on.
So how can LLM provide the accurate answer without knowing the exact content. And so, the model will give the response as pros and cons that apply to any human on earth.
Here is how I use context for decisions:
1) Write a decision brief
I literally brain dump into AI:
I am deciding between focusing the next 12 months on Substack vs YouTube.
Context:
Current skills: I am comfortable writing, I am average on video editing and presenting
Audience: Most of my current audience discovered me through writing
Energy: Writing feels natural, video feels exciting but also heavy
Money: I want to get to $X/month
Time: I can commit around X hours per week
Non negotiables: I do not want to be tied to a strict upload schedule that destroys my sleep
Given all this, ask me 7 uncomfortable questions that will help clarify this decision. Do not give me advice yet.
Later, simply answer the questions so AI knows every detail about you, and this step is more important than the final answer.
2) Ask for a recommendation inside your reality
Only after that, I ask:
Now that you know my context and you have my answers, give me a recommendation.
Which one should I focus on for the next 12 months and why
Where is the biggest upside for someone like me
What risks am I underestimating
What would you do if you were forced to decide today with my exact constraints
Be specific and blunt, do not be diplomatic.
This feels less like “AI giving random advice” and more like a very logical friend who actually knows my situation.
Is it perfect? No.
But it is way better than asking strangers on X or Reddit who have zero context about you.
Workflow 4: The Exact Context Framework To Get Hyper-Specific Content Ideas
If you create content, you know the feeling: “I have no idea what to write about”.
So you ask AI: Give me 50 content ideas about AI.
And you get a list where 45 of them are topics every other AI creator has already posted.
And that’s where, here is how I use context.
1) Feed AI your existing work
I tell AI:
I am going to paste 5 of my recent posts. I want you to deeply analyze:
My tone and style
The kind of posts I write
The topics that get the most engagement
The phrases I repeat
Then summarize ‘what my content is really about’ in one paragraph.
Paste the posts, and this is your “content context”.
2) Tell it who you want to attract
Then I add:
Now some context about the audience I want:
People who already use AI at a basic level and want deeper, more practical stuff
Writers, developers, solo founders
People who hate generic content and like long, honest, and practical breakdowns
I do not want mainstream viral ideas. I want ideas that make this specific group share it with their friends.
3) Ask for ideas with constraints
Then I ask:
Using all this context, give me 30 content ideas that:
Fit my style
Are specific and non generic
Could include my personal story
Are practical enough that I can show screenshots and real workflows
For each idea, add 2 or 3 bullet points of what I would actually talk about in the post.
Now I get things like:
How I use one context file to make every AI tool feel like it has worked with me for years
The exact prompts I use to turn messy research into one clear decision memo
How I use AI to argue against my own ideas before publishing them
You see, this is much more interesting, informative, and specific than “10 ways to use ChatGPT”.
The key again here is context since AI is not guessing what you write about, it has seen it.
Workflow 5: Context Packs For Different “Versions” Of You
Now, let’s be honest, you are not just one identity.
Sometimes you are:
The developer
The writer
The solo founder
The learner
Each of your identity has different constraints and goals, and so you need to act different.
That’s where, instead of one giant blob of context, I create small “context packs” for each version of me.
Example:
1) Developer context pack
I build with MERN
I care about shipping simple things fast
I do not want “over engineered” solutions
My typical projects are X and Y
My coding habits and weak spots are these
2) Writer context pack
I write long form, practical and non generic AI posts
I want my writing to feel like a conversation with a friend
My readers are already smart and tech savvy
I care about showing real examples and numbers
Whenever I am working in that mode, I load the relevant pack and say:
In this chat, treat me as [identity] and use only this context pack plus the base context. If something from another identity conflicts, ask before assuming.
This keeps AI focused, and you see:
If I am debugging code, it should not talk to me like a corporate content marketer.
If I am writing, it should not assume I want extremely technical explanations.
Sure, it’s not that great, or something insane but it provides big impact to the responses you get.
How To Start Using Context Today Without Complicating It
You do not need a massive system to start.
Here is what I would do if I were you reading this, and wanted something practical to try in the next 30 minutes.
1) Create a simple base context file
You can use the below template and fill it honestly to create your base context file:
Who I am: [one short paragraph]
What I am working on right now: [3 to 5 bullet points]
My skills: [3 to 7 bullet points]
My constraints: [time, money, energy]
My non negotiables: [things you refuse to do]
My goals for the next 6 to 12 months: [3 bullet points]
After filling the details, save it somewhere easy to access and copy.
2) Pick one area of your life
Writing, learning, career decisions, side hustles, fitness, anything.
In your next AI session:
Paste the base context file
Add 3 or 4 lines of extra context about that specific problem
Ask the model to ask you questions before giving advice
And you will instantly see the difference to the response you get.
3) Keep updating your context
I know that sometimes you may not need the above base context file.
Even sometimes AI misunderstands you, and that’s where instead of getting frustrated, you just need to update your context.
I actually hate video calls
I am not comfortable managing more than 2 people
I prefer solo projects
And that’s how you are making context working for you, and more precisely, you are training your second brain.
Let’s Wrap Up
I know most of you may think that AI is not good enough yet.
Well, in a lot of cases, the opposite is true.
AI is good at generating infographics, building websites, and apps, writing content for 90% of the individuals, and so on.
And the trajectory will only move in the upward direction in the coming months or years.
Even then the AI gives generic answers to 99% of individuals because they give not-so-useful prompts.
Well, Context fixes that.
When you teach AI:
Who you are
Where you are going
What you are willing to do
What your real constraints are
The model stops trying to please everyone, and it starts helping one person i.e., “You”. And that is where the unfair advantage shows up.
You see, this way you are not just “using AI”, you are building your own second brain that understands your reality.
And the best part? If you do that, every AI tool you use becomes more powerful without you upgrading any plan.
Hope you like it.
That’s it—thanks.
Do we need to build a personal context file if we can feed it into the personalization setting if available in the AI engine?