Newsletter

Proper Productivity

One useful AI idea a week. Tested before we send it, no hype, no filler.

Issue archive

13 April 2026

The AI Company That Said No

I've been using Claude daily for over a year now. It handles my emails, manages my tasks, drafts my documents.

8 March 2026

What Happens When Your AI Stops Working

Last week I wrote about AI becoming a teammate. This week I learned what happens when that teammate goes offline.

1 March 2026

AI is joining your team. Here's what actually happens.

The shift from "AI as tool" to "AI as teammate" happened this week. Not in a press release or a keynote, but in Jira.

22 February 2026

The RFP Problem (And Why I Built Something About It)

Every business has been there. A promising RFP lands in your inbox.

15 February 2026

The LLM Flow State: Why AI Makes Work Addictive

I used to pester my wife about when dinner would be ready. Now, when it's her turn to cook, she has to shout me up from my office. I'm not sure that's progress.

8 February 2026

I Hired an AI Employee. Here's What Actually Happened.

I gave an AI my inbox, calendar, and task list. A month later, I'm keeping it. But it hasn't been clean.

1 February 2026

The Boring Bit That Actually Works

Everyone wants to talk about agents. Nobody wants to talk about governance. Which is exactly why the companies getting governance right are the ones actually shipping.

25 January 2026

Is AI Coming for Your Job? The Predictions vs. The Reality

Two of the most powerful people in AI sat down at Davos last week and made a prediction that sent ripples through LinkedIn.

9 January 2026

2025: The Year AI Got a Reality Check (And What's Coming in 2026)

Remember how 2024 ended?

11 December 2025

Minimal AGI by 2028: DeepMind's Bold Prediction

DeepMind's co-founder puts 50% odds on Minimal AGI in three years. BBVA rolls out ChatGPT to 120,000 employees, the $644 billion ROI gap, and space-based AI data centers.

4 December 2025

The Calculator Problem: Why Creatives Are Hiding Their AI

Why seven in ten creative professionals keep their AI use secret. Copyright battles intensify, agents that lie, Claude Code comes to Slack, and a practical look at n8n automation.

20 November 2025

The Invisible Interface

Why the future of AI is screenless, tactile and weirdly edible. Google takes performance crown with Gemini 3, insurers panic over AI risk, and Nano Banana Pro finally useful for work.

13 November 2025

The Great Intellectual Property Heist: Who Owns Your Creative Work Now?

Hollywood voice deals, Japanese manga artists fighting back, Amazon vs Perplexity shopping bots, and a practical look at Gamma presentation maker.

23 October 2025

The Great Data Devaluation: Why AI Is Eating Junk Food

Large language models are only as good as their polluted training data. Samsung-Nvidia AI mega factory, UK skills shortage, and no-code tools creating new developers.

16 October 2025

The Problem with Smart Hammers: Should We Give AI the Keys to the Car?

Exploring the switch from AI as passive helper to autonomous agent. Walmart starts agentic commerce, Anthropic launches Claude Skills, and only 13% of companies have a solid AI strategy.

9 October 2025

Digital Ghosts: Where Do We Draw the Line With AI-Generated Content?

From deepfaked celebrities to made-up quotes on Twitter, AI gets over half of all VC money, OpenAI hits $500B valuation, and a self-review of AI Cook-a-Long workshops.

2 October 2025

Even I Can't Keep Up (And This Is My Job)

OpenAI launched 15+ major products in September alone. MIT finds AI reduces brain activity, ChatGPT switches models when emotional, and reviewing Perplexity's Comet browser.

25 September 2025

Too Much Length: When More Becomes Less

Stanford researchers coin 'workslop' for AI content that looks professional but lacks substance. Plus NotebookLM review and the latest AI news.

1 September 2025

A New Hope for AI Images

Nano Banana image generation breakthrough, Lloyds performance reviews, Klarna's office return, MIT's State of AI report, and Lovable tool review.

15 August 2025

The Machines Aren't Just Ranking Our Content Anymore

LLMs show bias toward AI-generated content, Google's war on AI slop, the rise of GEO optimisation, and an AI-optimised version experiment.

1 August 2025

Half Your Job is Changing: The Rise of Strategic AI Marketing Operators

The rise of Strategic AI Marketing Operators, free AI readiness assessment, latest research on AI penalties and advice gaps, and free Gemini guides.

1 July 2025

The Great Unbundling

How AI is redefining productivity, the rapid shift in AI implications, news roundup, AI news highlights, and architecting your productivity.

16 June 2025

Open Your Eyes to AI

Free AI transformation session offer, the AI efficiency trap, latest research on sales AI and SME survival mode, and reclaiming focus.

2 June 2025

The Evolving AI Productivity Conversation

Free Productivity Breakthrough Report, the evolving AI productivity conversation, why rest makes you more productive, and beating interruptions at work.

19 May 2025

Hidden AI: Why 1 in 3 of Us Hide Our Tech Wins

The AI productivity debate, the power of deadlines, standout firms driving productivity, and stop wasting time looking for stuff.

2 May 2025

The Office Return Conundrum

The complicated office return debate, manager engagement crisis, AI productivity reality check, the interruption economy, and embracing single-tasking.

24 April 2025

Meeting Mastery, Perception Problems, and the Power of Time Boxing

Reclaiming control of meetings, Gen Z's streaming habits, flexible working barriers, daily planning research, and mastering timeboxing.

10 April 2025

Proper Productivity #1

Debunking productivity myths, the accuracy problem in WFH evaluation, phone bans, meeting evolution, and introducing the Productivity Library.

Got a process you want rid of?

Tell me what eats your week and I will tell you whether AI can take it off you. If it cannot, I will say so and you have lost half an hour.

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