← Back to all free guides
A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

The 7-Day
AI Starter Plan

The exact 7 days I’d run if I were learning AI from zero today. Every step. By Sunday night, you’ll have done something you couldn’t have done a week ago.

If you’ve been "meaning to start" with AI for months, this plan fixes that. By the end of the week you’ll have installed Claude, connected your real tools, built your first Project and skill, and used them to ship something real.

What You Need

A Claude account and 30 to 60 minutes a day for a week. The free plan covers every step here. Upgrade to Pro if you hit the usage limits.

Days 1 And 2 · Install And Connect

01

Day 1 · Download the Claude desktop app

Go to claude.com/download, install it and sign in. The web version is fine for quick stuff, but on a paid plan the desktop app can also work with files on your computer.

02

Day 1 · Decide on your plan

Free gets you chat, web search, up to 5 Projects, skills and connectors. Pro is $20 a month (or $17 a month billed yearly) and gives you much more usage plus Cowork, where Claude runs longer tasks for you. See current plans. I’d start free this week and upgrade the day you hit a limit.

03

Day 2 · Connect 3 tools

Go to Customize, then Connectors (on newer accounts Customize is called Plugins). Connect Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive. They hold the most signal about your day. By default Claude asks for your OK before it sends, edits or deletes anything. Don’t connect everything yet.

Test It

Ask Claude, "What’s on my calendar tomorrow?" If it answers, you’re ready for Day 3.

Day 3 · Build Your First Project

30 minutes. Give Claude a workspace that knows who you are and what you do.

04

Create a Project called My Work

Click Projects in the sidebar, then + New Project, and name it My Work.

05

Write your About me

Click Set project instructions, paste the template below, fill in the brackets and save. Plain English is perfect. You can edit it anytime.

About Me Template
# Who I am Name: [Your name] Role: [Your job title] Company: [Where you work, plus 1 sentence on what they do] Years in this role: [number] Timezone: [your timezone] # What I'm working on right now - [Project or responsibility 1, plus the goal] - [Project or responsibility 2, plus the goal] - [Recurring task I do every week] # How I want you to work with me - Tone: [direct, conversational, formal] - Length: [short bullets / short paragraphs / fully written] - What I hate: [filler phrases, flattery, hedging] - What I love: [opinions, pushback, concrete examples] - If my request is unclear, ask me one question before you start. # What I'm trying to get better at - [Skill 1] - [Skill 2] - [Habit I'm building] # Goals this quarter - [Goal 1, with the metric if there is one] - [Goal 2]

06

Add 3 to 5 reference files

Documents you go back to often, like your role description, your team’s goals, a recent strategy doc or a project brief. Add them to the Project’s files.

Test It

Open a chat inside the Project and ask, "Given what you know about me, what should I focus on this week?" If the answer is specific to you, it’s working.

Day 4 · Write Your First Skill

30 minutes. A skill is a saved set of instructions Claude uses whenever the task comes up. Automate one boring recurring task. Just one.

07

Pick the task

Status updates, meeting recaps, weekly reports, 1:1 prep or follow-up emails. Pick the one you dread most.

08

Turn on file creation

Go to Settings, then Capabilities, and turn on Code execution and file creation (called "Create and edit files" in the newer layout). Skills need it.

09

Have Claude build the skill

Paste this into a new chat and answer its questions. Claude writes the skill and tests it with you.

Build My First Skill
I want to turn one recurring task into a Claude skill I can reuse every week. Use your skill-creator skill if you have it. The task: [e.g. my Monday status update / meeting recap / 1:1 prep / customer follow-up email] How often I do it: [weekly / after every meeting] What I usually start from: [e.g. my calendar, a pasted meeting transcript, notes, an email thread] What a great result looks like: [paste one past example you were happy with, or describe it] Format: [bullets / short email / table], length [e.g. under 200 words], tone [e.g. direct and warm] Things it must never do: [e.g. invent numbers, use corporate filler, include private details] Steps: 1. Ask me up to 3 questions about anything that's still unclear. Wait for my answers. 2. Write the skill: a short lowercase-hyphen name, a one-line description of when to use it (under 200 characters), then clear numbered instructions, the output format, and one example. 3. Test it on a made-up input and show me the result. 4. Fix anything that's off, then package it so I can save it to my skills.

10

Save it and test it 3 times

If Claude offers a button to save the skill, click it. Otherwise download the ZIP it makes, go to Customize (or Plugins), then Skills, click +, then Create skill, then Upload a skill. Claude uses skills automatically when they fit, or you can ask for it by name. Run it on 3 different inputs and tell Claude what to fix each time.

Days 5 To 7 · Run Something Real

60 to 90 minutes across the weekend. The goal is to ship something you couldn’t have shipped without AI.

11

Day 5 · Pick the stuck project

What’s been sitting on your plate for a month? A doc you’re avoiding writing, a spreadsheet you haven’t built, a decision you keep putting off. That’s the one. If nothing comes to mind, ask Claude.

Help Me Pick
Look at my project files and my "About me" instructions. What's the most valuable thing I could finish this weekend in 60 to 90 minutes? Give me 3 options ranked by impact. For each, tell me: - What I'd ship and who I'd send it to - Why it matters right now - The first step I'd take in the next 10 minutes Then pick the one you think I should do and tell me why in 2 sentences. Base this only on what you actually know about me. If you're guessing, say so.

12

Day 6 · Draft and build with Claude

Open your Project and paste this prompt. For a big decision, click the model name next to the send button, click Effort and pick a higher level like High or Max so Claude thinks harder.

Finish The Stuck Thing
You're my thinking partner for one stuck project. I have 60 to 90 minutes this weekend to finish it and send it to a real person. The stuck thing: [the doc, tracker, decision, or email you've been avoiding] Who it's for: [person and relationship: boss / client / partner / team] What I want them to do or understand after: [the outcome] Tone: [direct / formal / warm] Context: [paste notes, data, or the email thread, or point to the files in this Project] Do this in order: 1. In 3 bullets, tell me what this really needs to accomplish and what would make it fail. 2. Ask me up to 3 questions only if something critical is missing. 3. Build the first version: - If it's a doc: draft it as an artifact, 1 page unless I say otherwise. - If it's data: build a simple tracker or one-page dashboard as an artifact, with the most important number at the top. - If it's a decision: lay out each option with its real upside, risk, and cost, push back on my gut, and end with one recommendation. - If it's a hard email: write 2 versions, one short and one fuller. 4. End with the 3 edits that would most improve it. Rules: Use only the facts I gave you or that are in my files. Flag anything you're unsure of instead of guessing. No filler.

13

Day 7 · Polish it and send it

Edit what Claude built until it sounds like you. Then send it to the person who’s been waiting. The whole point of Day 7 is hitting send.

Week 2 Onward

14

Build a second skill

Pick another recurring task and run the Day 4 prompt again. Two skills is where the time savings start to stack up.

15

Add 2 more connectors

Slack, your CRM, or whatever two tools you use most after email and calendar.

16

Build a second Project

One Project per major part of your life or job. Don’t dump everything in My Work. Separate Projects keep the context clean.

The Honest Truth

Most people give up on AI in week 1 because they don’t have a plan. Now you do. Don’t research more or watch another video. Run it. The version of you that finished this week is the one who actually uses AI now.