Hey Reader

I met my yoga BFF Louise for lunch in London. To be more precise, it was the hustle and bustle of Borough Market, at a Middle Eastern cafe called Arabica.

We met at yoga teacher training six years ago and became fast friends. I was telling her that I'd recently been on a panel discussing women in AI and how much I dislike public speaking.

Actually, I hate speaking in public (it's sooo different than teaching yoga). I do it anyway.

But here's what I've figured out: The scary stuff only gets done if there's energy left for it. So I'm building Brand & Bloom with AI handling the admin, and keeping my energy for the parts that matter the most to me.

A lot of that admin now happens in Claude, on my laptop. And if the word AI makes your shoulders creep up, this one's for you. You don't need any tech skills to start.

Here's how 👇

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3 simple ways to start with Claude

Think of it as a new assistant who's very clever and knows nothing about you yet. These three things change that.

1. Give it one folder

In the Claude desktop app, click the + beside the message box and choose Add folder. Now it can read the files in there, and only there. One tidy folder means less to rummage through and fewer surprises.

→ Try this: Make a folder called Workspace. Pop in three or four files for one job, like your bio, a few recent posts and your offer page. Add that folder and nothing else.

2. Tell it who you are, once

Claude can remember things about you between chats, so you're not explaining yourself from scratch every time. Check memory is switched on in Settings, then just tell it. Remember last week's "Not like that, like this" list? Tell it that too.

→ Try this: Type "Remember this about me:" and add five lines. What you do. Who you help. Three words that sound like you. Three you'd never say. One thing to always check with you first.

3. Hand it one boring job

Not the big scary project. The dull one you keep putting off. And before it moves a thing, ask for the plan. You read it, you change what's wrong, then you say go. You stay the one in charge.

→ Try this: Ask, "Sort this folder into sub-folders by topic. Tell me your plan before you move anything."

That's all you need to start.

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2 things for your second spring

October is Menopause Awareness Month, and every year it reminds me how many of us go through menopause quietly.

Around 8 in 10 women get symptoms. For many, they last more than seven years. That's a long time to go it alone.

✦ Midlife Field Notes

My Substack has a new name. It's Midlife Field Notes now: notes from the middle, about what this season is really like and the changes happening in my body, my work and my confidence. This week's note is about the days I feel invisible at 56, and why I show up anyway.

→ Read this week's field note

✦ Kollo Balance+

I take this myself. One sachet in the morning, and I feel more balanced, like my body is finally getting the vitamins it's been crying out for. Some days that's the difference between running on empty and feeling like me.

It's half price for your first 12 weeks this month. It's a subscription, so pop a reminder in your diary if you just want to try it.

→ Have a look here

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