After months of daily Claude Code usage, here are the 6 practices that made the biggest difference.
1. Be Explicit
Don't: "Create an analytics dashboard"
Do: List exactly what you need with bullet points
Why it works: Claude fills in gaps with assumptions. More specifics = fewer surprises.
2. Give Context for Rules
Don't: "NEVER use ellipses"
Do: Explain WHY - "Your response will be read by text-to-speech, so never use ellipses since the engine won't know how to pronounce them."
Why it works: Claude follows rules better when it understands the reason.
Pro tip: Use CLAUDE.md for persistent context across sessions.
3. Long-Horizon Reasoning
Don't: Just say "Build this feature"
Do:
- Use git commits for state
- Write tests FIRST
- Tell Claude NOT to wrap up early
Why it works: Complex tasks need checkpoints. Git commits let Claude recover context.
4. Avoid "AI Slop" in Frontend
Don't: "Build me a landing page"
Do: "No generic gradients, no excessive shadows. Reference: [screenshot]"
Why it works: Screenshots > descriptions. Show Claude what good design looks like.
5. Parallel Tool Calling
Don't: Let Claude run tools sequentially (8 seconds)
Do: Say "run these in parallel" (2 seconds - 4x faster!)
Why it works: Claude can execute multiple independent operations simultaneously.
6. Deep Research
Don't: "Research this topic" (lazy summarizer mode)
Do: "Search broadly, verify claims, triangulate sources. Don't stop at the first answer."
Why it works: Default behavior is to stop early. Explicit instructions unlock thorough research.
Bonus: Persistent Memory with Memento
Want Claude to remember these practices automatically? Check out Memento - it extracts session learnings into CLAUDE.md so you don't repeat yourself.
Follow me for more Claude Code tips: @_sean8
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