# Manage AI Agents: 5 Habits Practice Kit

From Mariah Brunner, learnaiwithmariah.com/guides/manage-ai-agents-5-habits/

## Habit 1: Decision-rights note

Help me write a decision-rights note for a job I hand you every week: [the job, like answering customer emails or drafting my social posts]. Ask me up to 5 quick questions about what I'm comfortable with first. Then sort every decision in this job into three short lists, labeled "Decide on your own," "Check with me first" and "Never do." Write each line so a new hire could follow it, like "You can offer a refund up to $50," never "use good judgment." Keep the whole note under 15 lines so I can save it in my instructions.

## Habit 2: Plan before work

Don't start the work yet. Here's the task: [the big task, like "build a 3-month content calendar for my bakery"]. First, tell me in plain steps how you'd approach it and what the finished result will look like. Then list every piece of information you're missing or would have to guess, starting with whatever would change the result the most. Wait for my answers before you begin.

## Habit 3: Independent task brief (use once per agent)

I'm handing you one task to finish on your own, and nobody else is working on this piece. The task: [e.g. research the 5 closest competitors to my business and what they charge]. Use only [the files, sites or connected apps it can use]. When you're done, give me [the exact deliverable, like a one-page table], plus a short list of anything you had to guess. Don't stop to check in with me unless you're truly blocked.

## Habit 4: Correction to rule

You did something I don't want to correct again: [what it did]. Here's why it's wrong: [your reason, like "my customers are retirees and slang turns them off"]. Redo that part the right way. Then write me one short rule I can save, starting with "Always" or "Never," with the reason in a few words. If this is part of a job I do every week, offer to turn the whole job into a skill instead.

## Habit 5: Sample before batch

I need [200 product descriptions] made from [the attached spreadsheet]. Do only 2 first, picking two items that are as different as possible, then stop and wait for me. Once I approve or correct them, write down the standard you'll follow for the rest based on my feedback. Then finish the rest, and flag any item where you weren't sure instead of guessing.

## Week 1 practice plan

- Monday: Write your decision-rights note for one job and save it in a Project.
- Tuesday: Ask for the plan and the missing info before the biggest task of your week.
- Wednesday: Run two agents at once on two tasks that don't depend on each other.
- Thursday: Turn one correction into a saved rule or a skill.
- Friday: Approve 2 samples, then let it finish a batch of 20 or more.

Friday check: count how many times you repeated a correction this week. Then move one item in your decision note from "Check with me first" to "Decide on your own."