Context Management Is the New Skill

Sometimes we throw as much data at the AI as possible and hope for the best.

We do the same thing with other work. When you're deep in a problem — coding, financials, marketing strategy, pitch deck — you try to hold the entire context so you can process it.

Sometimes it gets to be too much. You feel overloaded. It's hard to focus. The best thing you can do is get up and go for a walk. Let it go. Come back with fresh eyes.

The AI is the same way.

Cluttered context drifts. The AI can't decide what's important and relevant. It starts referencing old assumptions, outdated approaches, abandoned ideas. It's working hard, but it's working with noise. A fresh context focuses.

If your team is getting inconsistent results from AI tools, this is one of the causes.

It's something we're actively working on at Okaya. Matthew So on our team is developing new techniques for managing context in our AI mental health application — because when the stakes are higher than a code snippet, context discipline matters even more. I'll share more on that soon.

The practice I recommend: when the AI stops giving you results with the expected quality, reset your context. Start a new chat. Give it a clean perspective instead of carrying forward hours of accumulated cruft. The difference is immediate.

And next week, I'm resetting myself — traveling somewhere warmer than home.

Step away. Clear your context. Come back strong.

Originally published on LinkedIn — view the original post for comments and reactions.