Most people open Claude, ask a random question, and give up. Here's how to set it up around your actual work using Cowork, so it's genuinely useful by the end of the day. (The desktop UI can vary by rollout, use the labels you see in your app.)
Open Cowork and pick a folder
Download the desktop app and open Cowork. Choose the folder you want it to work from, that gives it access to the documents and spreadsheets for that job. Installing the app doesn't give it your whole computer; you're pointing it at one folder.
Set your global instructions
Go to Settings, then Cowork, then Global instructions. Tell it what you do and how you want it to work, and put the things you keep repeating here. For example: “I run a small business. Give me your advice first. Tell me if my numbers look wrong. Check my files before you guess.”
Connect your apps
Open Customize and connect the apps you actually use, Google Drive for documents, Gmail for email, whatever your business runs on. Then ask it to find one specific file or email so you know the connection works.
Create a project
Make a project for one part of your work. For a product launch, add customer reviews, prices, your style guide, and key dates. In the project's instructions, say who you sell to, what you sell, and your goal.
Use it on a real task, then save the steps
Ask it to turn those files into a launch plan. Make your changes and explain why. Once you like the result, ask it to save the steps as a skill, a set of instructions it can reuse. Next time you have a new product, you reuse the process with new information.
Copyable starter instructions
Paste this into your global instructions, adjusting the brackets:
I run [business] for [customer]. My current priorities are [priorities].
Give me the recommendation first, then the reasoning I need to act.
Use the files and connected sources I identify. Link the source behind
factual recommendations. Push back when a claim or calculation doesn't
follow from the evidence. Ask before sending, publishing, buying, or
changing a live customer record. General preferences belong here;
specific project facts belong in the relevant project.Use the files in this project to create a launch brief. Include the
customer problem, the offer, positioning, launch channels, budget
allocation, and next actions. Reference the research behind the choices.
Flag missing inputs rather than inventing them. Give me a draft I can edit.Do the setup while you watch, starting with the files and apps you already use. Prefer a different assistant? The same idea works for setting up Grok in a day.