Every few weeks, a new AI tool launches.

Every few days, someone posts about their AI-powered workflow on X or LinkedIn.

And if you’re anything like me, there’s this nagging feeling that you should be doing more. Using these tools better. Learning faster.

I use Claude Desktop with AutoMem for the majority of my work as a Product Manager at WooCommerce now. I’ve got integrations with Linear for issue management, GitHub for triage context, Enterpret’s Wisdom for user feedback synthesis. I can execute faster and more effectively than I could previously, when I was manually opening dozens of browser tabs to analyse feedback patterns.

And I still feel like there’s more I could be doing.

If that resonates with you, good. That means you’re paying attention.

But here’s what I want you to understand: that feeling shows you’re aware, not behind. Awareness is the first step to actually using these tools in a way that transforms how you work.

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If you’ve ever triaged bugs, you know the drill. Someone reports an issue, and your first question is: can I reproduce this on a clean install?

For WordPress, that used to mean spinning up a site in LocalWP or WordPress Studio. Enter a title, choose your settings, wait for it to provision, then manually install WooCommerce, then install Query Monitor, then maybe a few other plugins. LocalWP has blueprints, but they’re snapshots of existing sites, so they go stale as soon as plugins release updates. And you end up with dozens of unused local installs cluttering your machine.

Those tools are great for persistent testing sites or local development. But for quick, throwaway bug reproduction, they’re overkill.

WordPress Playground changed this. Sites are ephemeral (not persistent, just temporary). Use it once and close the tab. No cleanup, no clutter. But the blueprint URLs are long and the JSON syntax is hard to remember.

So I made a Raycast script that launches a fully configured WooCommerce Playground site in about two seconds. Type “Woo”, hit enter, and you’re in.

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Sometimes the most important conversations start with uncomfortable truths. In early 2024, accessibility expert Amber Hinds from Equalize Digital published an audit that revealed over 50 accessibility issues on their WooCommerce website. The message was clear; our platform, powering millions of online stores, wasn’t serving everyone equally.

We’ve all been there. Multiple Slack channels pinging, emails flooding in, calendar invites stacking up, and todos scattered across various tools. It’s overwhelming, and at the end of the day, I often found myself wondering what I actually accomplished.

Two weeks ago, I started using Sunsama, and it’s changed how I approach my workday.

One of the hardest things about working with a remote team can be the isolation you experience from working mostly on your own. Fortunately, Automattic prevent this feeling with regular meetups and WordCamps.

Since starting at Automattic in January, I’ve already been given the opportunity to attend my first meetup in Charlotte, NC. The product team got together for 4 days of focussed team work, and after a recommendation from my colleague, I extended my trip a few extra days in order to visit Asheville, which was a 2 hour drive away.