System map
How my own system works
This is my own setup, not a client project. Everything I build for clients starts from the same four steps.
1
Things come in
Four doors. Nothing gets retyped.
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Email & texts
Two inboxes and iMessage, read the moment something arrives. Login codes are skipped.
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Paper
Press Scan. The page becomes a searchable PDF with a note to file.
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Notes & to-dos
A quick note, a line in the day’s journal, or a reminder on the phone.
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Finished prints
The printer logs every start and finish on its own.
Inside this step
Email & texts
- PullNew mail is pulled from both inboxes as it arrives, and again when the phone opens the list.
- CopyNew texts are copied. Login codes are skipped.
- SortA few times a day the assistant archives the noise and lists the rest under Needs action.
- KeepThreads I keep are saved as plain files, outside any mailbox.
Paper
- ScanI press Scan. The pages go straight to the Mac.
- ReadThe text is read, so the PDF can be searched.
- CheckA page with a Social Security or card number goes to a private folder. Nothing reads it, nothing indexes it.
- NameA file name and a folder are proposed from what the page says.
- ApproveOne dialog on the phone. The note is filed, or filed private.
Notes & to-dos
- NoteA quick note lands in the in-tray.
- SweepTo-dos in the day’s journal are swept to the right project.
- SyncPhone reminders sync both ways.
- DistillA finished AI chat is boiled down to a few lasting notes.
Finished prints
- WatchThe printer reports over the home network.
- LogEvery start and finish is written in the model’s folder.
- PhotoA finished print gets a bed photo and a drafted gallery card.
- PublishThe card is pushed to this site.
2
One in-tray
Every item lands in the same folder of the vault: plain text files on my Mac, nothing in a vendor’s cloud.
Inside this step
- In-trayEvery capture lands here first.
- Projects & AreasThings with a finish line, and ongoing duties.
- IdeasOne per note, linked to each other.
- DocumentsThe text of every file, so one search finds it.
- MemoryWhat the assistant keeps between sessions.
3
The assistant sorts it
A few times a day an AI assistant reads the in-tray and files each item where it belongs. Noise is archived. Replies are drafted. It follows written procedures, not memory, so it does the same thing every time.
- Projectsthings with a finish line
- Areasongoing duties
- Documentsevery PDF, searchable
- Memorywhat the assistant keeps
Inside this step
- Two assistantsClaude Code and Grok, each in a terminal inside the vault.
- One rulebookBoth follow the same written procedures: file notes, distill a chat, check the vault, plain style.
- FilingReads the in-tray, names each item, picks the shelf, drafts replies.
- UpkeepA daily check looks for broken links, stale projects, and quiet machines.
4
The phone shows what needs you
FieldADE is one screen: today’s calendar, mail and texts that need an answer, and the next step on each project. A tap files, archives, or opens a chat with the right notes loaded. Before the assistant touches a file, the phone buzzes and asks.
Today
- Reply Quote follow-up from a customer
- Due Invoice draft, Friday
- File Scanned receipt, named and waiting
- Next Print the second bracket
Assistant wants to edit a fileAllowDeny
Inside this step
- Mission ControlToday’s calendar, mail and texts that need action, the next step on each project.
- ChatAsk the assistant anything. The reply fills in as it is written.
- Allow / DenyThe phone buzzes before a file is edited or a command runs.
- HomeADEA small service on the Mac relays each message. The records never leave the Mac.
+
And it is backed up
The vault goes to a private GitHub repo every hour. The whole Mac goes to Time Machine, with a second copy that can leave the house. Nothing depends on one disk.
Inside this step
- HourlyThe vault, plus a snapshot of the Mac’s setup, goes to a private GitHub repo.
- NightlyThe whole Mac goes to Time Machine on a disk at home, mirrored to a second disk.
- Off-siteA USB copy can leave the house.
The same four steps, for your business
Swap my doors for yours: customer email, quotes, invoices, job photos, the paperwork on the truck seat. The in-tray, the filing, and the phone screen stay the same. What you get.