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Today is a special post.
Because it’s a guest post.
But not from just anyone, it’s from Alesia Zakharova.
An incredible woman, a writer and a AI master!
I discovered her long ago and rememeber reading her article and leaving with so much informations, actions and value.
She test AI tools so newsletter writers can automate the boring parts without losing their voice.
If you are passionate about AI and how to use for growth, you will love her articles.
She’s a real source of inspiration and developpement, which is why I wanted to share her newsletter with you today: Alesia Zakharova.
In this post, you’ll get to know her better and discover what she has to offer.
She also dives into a powerful question that most people never stop to ask themselves, the bridge between AI and self-improvement:
How AI can help you with goals? (I want to know that personnaly)
Let’s get into it!
Hello, Alesia here.
Recently I uploaded a month of my Substack growth journaling into Claude: my plans, what I actually did, and the results I got. Something surprising appeared on my screen.
Claude showed me that yes, I was taking all the necessary actions to reach my goal—but only about 40% of the time.
The other 60% of my working hours I was spending on things I believed were very important but that in reality didn’t move me toward my goals. They just felt comfortable, and in this way I was unconsciously procrastinating.
This became a crucial insight for me.
I saw very clearly where my time and effort were leaking away. But most importantly, I realized that this is very easy to fix.
If you also feel that you work a lot but do not get the desired result, or you are not sure how well your actions match your goals, this AI prompt will help you.
See Your Real Productivity With AI (Without the self-deception)
Very often people complain that they do a lot, but still do not get the desired result. They’re busy all day. They’re exhausted. They’re checking tasks off their lists. But the needle doesn’t move.
This happens because we often do not fully see how much our actions actually match our goals and whether they are really leading us towards those goals.
We confuse motion with progress.
AI will help you see the patterns and understand why you are constantly in motion but still cannot achieve what you want. You can use any of your favorite AI tools - Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini.
A Simple 3-step System To Track Your Productivity
Step 1: Clarify Your Goal
If you already have a clearly formulated goal, just go straight to Step 2.
But if you do not fully understand your goal and only have a vague desire, something like “I want to grow my business” or “I want to be more productive”, then you need to make it concrete first.
Here’s the prompt to use:
“I want to [your vague goal]. Analyze my goal using the SMART technique. Ask me questions to help me clarify exactly what I want to achieve, by when, and how I’ll measure success.”
For example:
“I want to grow my Substack to 2,000 subscribers in 3 months. Currently Ihave [insert your number] subscribers. Analyze my goal using the SMART technique. Ask me questions.”
AI will ask you clarifying questions: What’s your current situation? What resources do you have? Why this specific number? What’s realistic for you? This conversation helps transform a fuzzy wish into a concrete target.
Step 2: Reveal Your Hidden Behavior Patterns
The key to success is always in the actions we take. And this is determined not by how busy we are, but by how wisely we allocate our time: which actions we choose and how much time we spend on them.
How to Reveal Your Own Patterns
You need a record of what you’ve been doing
This can be:
Your journal entries
Your calendar with notes on what you actually accomplished
A simple daily log where you write: “Today I planned to X, I actually did Y, and it resulted in Z”
Time tracking data showing where your hours actually went
The more honest and detailed your record, the more valuable the insights.
I journal daily, noting my plans, what I actually did, and what results came from it. Even two weeks of data is enough to see patterns.
Upload or paste your work log and your goals into the conversation, and use this prompt:
This exact prompt for AI
“Analyze my plans and notes about the work I’ve done and compare them with my goals. If I keep doing what I’m doing, will I reach my goal? Do my actions conflict with my goals in any way? What patterns do you see in how I’m spending my time?”
AI will show you what’s working, critical gaps between actions and goals, what needs to change.
Don’t hesitate to ask additional questions. If you have objections to what the AI has replied, write them to it. This will make it easier to understand what the problem actually is.
It might be:
Productive procrastination
The comfort zone trap
Emotional avoidance cycles
Misaligned effort
The AI didn’t just tell you to “work harder.” It showed you where your effort was going wrong. It revealed the invisible gap between what you thought you were doing and what you were actually doing.
This is the insight you cannot get from yourself. You’re too close to your own work. You’re too invested in the story you tell yourself about your productivity. AI sees the data without ego and without self-deception.
My case
As I mentioned above, I uploaded my journaling for the last month into Claude where I write down my plans, what I actually did, and what results it brought me.
AI showed me that:
40% of my time I spent on writing content, engaging with potential subscribers, testing offers – actions that directly moved me toward my goal.
BUT
60% of my time I spent analyzing metrics and planning strategies. This is what I got used to over many years of working in academia. Comfortable, familiar tasks that felt productive but weren’t essential in my new career path.
To grow my newsletter, I need to spend less time analyzing and more time taking action.
Step 3: Adjust Your Actions
Insight without action is just entertainment.
Now you know the truth about where your time is going. The question is: what will you do about it?
Once AI has shown you the patterns, use this prompt to get specific, actionable changes:
“Based on this analysis, what are the top 3 specific changes I should make to my daily routine to better align my actions with my goals? Be concrete—tell me what to stop doing, what to start doing, and how much time to allocate to each.”
AI will tell you what to start doing and what to stop doing.
In my case the AI (particularly Claude) gave me very valuable advice. And I’m definitely going to follow them.
Any advice, of course, whether from human coaches or from your AI assistant, should be treated critically.
You need to check how well it aligns with your inner sense and your knowledge. AI may miss some nuances.
But if you’re not getting results from your efforts, I think it’s worth experimenting, following the AI’s suggestions, and seeing what happens.
Making the Changes Stick
Here’s the final piece that makes this system actually work: you need to close the loop.
For the first two weeks, repeat this process every week, then do it once a month or as needed.
Every week (or every two weeks), do this exercise again:
Journal your actions and results
Upload to AI with the same prompt
Check: Are you following through on the changes? Or are you slipping back into old patterns?
Adjust again based on what AI shows you
After a few cycles of this, something shifts. You start to catch yourself in real-time. You notice when you’re reaching for the comfortable task instead of the important one. You become aware of your own patterns without needing AI to point them out.
How To Create a Permanent AI Assistant For Productivity
To create a permanent AI assistant for productivity and goal achievement, create a “Productivity AI assistant” project in Claude (in ChatGPT – projects, in Perplexity – space), and upload the data from your trackers, planners, and progress logs as files into this project.
This way, you’ll have a database of your productivity collected in one place. And you won’t have to re-enter your data every time you use this prompt again. In this way, you’ll create a permanent AI assistant that tracks your results.
Your Turn
Try this system this week and let me know what you discover. I’m genuinely curious what patterns emerge when you run this analysis on your own work. Reply to this email or leave a comment with what surprised you most, I read every single one.
Or have you used any AI tools for self-development and tracking productivity before? I’d really love to hear about such an experience.
And if this resonated with you, share it with someone who’s been “busy but not productive” lately. Sometimes we all need that mirror held up to see what’s really going on.
Final Words
If you liked this article, don’t hesitate to go check her awesome page!
Thank you Alesia Zakharova for this amazing piece.
Now I want to hear from you: What do you think of AI helping you achieve your goals?
Let your thoughts in the comment down below!
Thank you for reading BeBetter once again
Let’s grow, consistently and intentionally, together.
— William
BeBetter Week #22
This is really cool. Love how simple but powerful the three-step approach is. The part about revealing the gap between what you think you're doing vs what you're actually doing totally resonates - I've definitely fallen into that trap of staying busy without making real progress. Gonna give this a shot with my own stuff!
Thanks to you two! This is really helpful and well detailed. 👏👏