AI Tools That Actually Save Me Time (This Week’s Shortlist)
Just the ones I used (and why I pay for them)
I’m not reviewing every AI tool that exists.
I’m telling you what I used THIS WEEK.
The ones that saved me actual time. On actual projects.
Not the ones I’m “trying out.”
The ones I can’t imagine living without.
Claude & ChatGPT
I pay for both. $20/month each.
Best $40 I spend every month.
Not just for work. For life.
This week I used them for annotations. You know that thing where you finish a design and now you have to write 47 annotations explaining every decision to the dev team?
I describe it to Claude. It writes the annotations.
Clear. Concise. Technical enough.
5 minutes instead of 2 hours.
Every single time.
Here’s the thing about Claude vs. ChatGPT...
I use both. Daily.
Claude for longer, more nuanced stuff - it feels like it “gets” what I’m asking better. ChatGPT for quick hits, faster and more direct.
Could I live with just one?
Probably.
Do I want to?
No.
They’re different enough that I use whichever one feels right for the task.
Figma Make
This one surprised me.
I’ve been using it for moodboard generation… feed it a concept and it generates visual directions.
Not final work. Starting points.
The kind of thing that used to take me an hour of scrolling Pinterest and Dribbble now takes 5 minutes.
I still curate. I still edit. I still make the final call.
But I’m not starting from zero anymore.
Nano Banana
Same energy as Figma Make but different output.
More experimental. More weird.
I like weird.
This week I used it to generate some visual concepts I wouldn’t have thought of.
Did I use them as-is? No.
Did they spark better ideas? Yes.
That’s the value.
The honest part...
I pay for Claude and ChatGPT.
$40/month total.
I cannot imagine living without them now.
Not just work. Life.
Writing emails. Planning stuff. Thinking through problems.
They’ve become extensions of how I think.
This week specifically:
Claude: 2 hours of annotation work → 10 minutes
ChatGPT: Probably 20 quick tasks (emails, prompts, thinking through problems)
Figma Make: 3 moodboards → 15 minutes total instead of 3+ hours
Nano Banana: Visual exploration I wouldn’t have done otherwise
Total time saved: Probably 5-6 hours.
In one week.
That’s conservative.
Next week I’ll probably use the same tools.
Because they work.
Because I’m not chasing new shiny things.
Because good enough tools used well beat perfect tools you never learn.
If you’re not using AI yet...
Start with ChatGPT. Free version works.
Use it for one annoying task - documentation, emails, whatever you hate doing.
See if it helps.
If it does? Pay the $20/month.
Worth it.
(And if you want to see exactly HOW I use these tools, I’ve got 5 free prompts that’ll show you my actual workflow.)
That’s it.
That’s the list.
Four tools. This week. Real work.
Not comprehensive. Not exhaustive.
Just honest.
I’m Jon - “happily paying $40/month” - Wiggens
What AI tools are you actually using? Drop a comment and tell me. I’m curious.
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