What I Tried And Dropped

Not every AI tool earns a place in my workflow.

Some cost more than they return.

The AI space moves fast. There is a new tool, model, or framework almost every week. It is easy to spend your time chasing them instead of doing the work.

So I use a simple test.

Does it save me more time than it costs me to run it?

One example. I tried OpenClaw. I spent more time trying to get it working than I spent doing anything useful with it. So I dropped it.

That is not a knock on the tool. It might fit someone else’s setup. It did not fit mine.

The cost of a tool is not just the price.

It is setup. It is maintenance. It is the hours you spend fighting it instead of working.

A tool earns its place when it does a job better than what I already have, and keeps doing it without constant babysitting.

The skills I built earned their place that way. The controller skill, the skeptic skill, the validation skill. They made repeatable work reliable, so I kept them.

OpenClaw did not clear the bar. So it went.

Knowing what to drop is part of the work.

Chasing every new tool is its own kind of time sink, dressed up as progress.

The best workflow is not the one with the most tools.

It is the one with the fewest you actually trust.