The Capstone Challenge: One Real Week

You've done the learning. This course is where it becomes yours — by using it on your actual work, not a hypothetical. The capstone is simple to describe and genuinely valuable to do: run one real week with AI properly woven in, and pay attention to what happens.

The challenge, in three parts:

1. Pick three real tasks from your genuine workload this week — ideally from your personal sweet-spot list. One drafting task, one summarizing/research task, one planning or "I'm stuck" task is a great spread.

2. Do each one the right way, using the full loop you've learned:

   • Brief it well — role, task, context, format.
   • Refine through dialogue, don't accept the first draft.
   • Verify anything consequential.
   • Keep it in your voice and own the result.
   • Respect the Never-Paste List the whole time.

3. Notice and note — how much time did it save? Where did AI shine? Where did you have to catch a mistake or steer hard? What would you do differently next time?

Why a real week, not an exercise: anyone can follow a tutorial. The skill that matters is doing this amid actual deadlines and messy inputs, where the temptation to skip verification or paste something risky is real. Prove it there and you've proven it for good.

▶️ Try this

Choose your three tasks now and write them down before the week starts. Naming them in advance is what turns "I'll try to use AI more" into an actual, completed challenge. Put them where you'll see them Monday morning.