Keep the knowledge. Start a fresh task.
You should not have to rebuild the background every time you need a checklist, an email or a guide. A small, well-kept collection gives you a source to return to and a clearer way to start again.
By Joe McKenna. Adapted from his September 29, 2026 workshop.
Keep original sources, checked working decisions and generated drafts clearly identified. Bring the relevant material into each new task and verify access before building on it.
You have already done the useful background work
You find a document, ask questions about it and work out what matters. Then you need a different piece of work, so you open a new chat and start explaining everything again. The useful background is scattered through a conversation you now have to search.
In the workshop, I used a notebook around one main idea: the handbook. Inside it, we could explore the material. When I wanted a separate piece of work, I brought the notebook into a new conversation to provide the background.
That is the distinction I want you to keep. Sometimes you are studying a source. Sometimes you are using that source to do a job. The source can remain useful even when the job changes.
A knowledge base can be as modest as a small collection of approved documents and clearly labeled notes. Start with something you actually return to. You can organize more material when there is a reason to add it.
Bring the right notebook into a new task
What to notice: Watch the shift from working on the handbook to using it as context for another task. Check access in the new conversation rather than assuming earlier messages carry over.
0:58. From The One-Person AI Business, 40:16.20–41:13.65.
Visual context: Joe explains attaching a handbook notebook to a new chat to provide context for an email task.
Read the clip transcript
So then I'm coming back out here to new chats just normally, like I show up and I'm like, man, I've got to really get some HR work done today. And I got to send an email to the CEO, blah, blah, blah, blah. I might say, hey, I need to send an email to CEO. I got to talk about what we're going to do with the new handbook, but I got to reference what we did with the old handbook. I'm going to say that to this. And then I'm going to come down here and I'm going to get that handbook notebook and add it so that it has that context when I'm putting that together. Okay, so we're going to do, we're going to follow through with this to make this a little bit more practical. But the idea here is if I'm doing an okay job, I'm creating a notebook and many of them as my source of knowledge. And I talk to it to hone that knowledge. In regular life, when things are coming up, I go to chat and I access that notebook to give it context. Okay.
Automatically transcribed from this excerpt and aligned locally. Transcript accuracy and word synchronization still require a human listening review.
Give the collection one recognizable purpose
I suggested making a notebook for each big idea. Give it a name that helps you recognize the work: a particular course, project or procedure. A collection called Everything makes the next decision harder. A collection called Community Workshop — Facilitator Materials tells you what belongs there.
Choose a few sources you are permitted to use. Check who owns them, what version they are and whether they are still suitable for the task. A useful collection needs a boundary: what is included, what is outside its scope and what requires a separate decision.
The workshop used the historical 2012 Valve handbook as practice material. Keeping that date and status visible matters. Reusing a document does not turn it into current policy.
Put an original document and your notes in separate, plainly named items. A generated summary may help you navigate, but it should not silently become the authority for everything the original says.
Decide whether you are exploring or producing
| Understand the source | Use it for a task |
|---|---|
| Ask what the document establishes, what is missing and where the relevant passages are. | Name the audience, deliverable and parts of the source that should guide it. |
| Save checked observations with references to their originals. | Separate source requirements from proposed wording, sequencing or additions. |
| Finish with an interpretation you can explain. | Finish with a draft you can compare against the source. |
For example, understanding a procedure might mean finding the required preparation and any exceptions. Using it might mean making a reminder for the people attending. The reminder can be new writing while its requirements remain tied to the procedure.
Make the source available where you are working
The workshop refers to NotebookLM. Google's current help calls the standalone tool Gemini Notebook; there are also notebooks inside Gemini Apps. The names on your screen may differ from the recording.
- In Gemini Notebook, open or create a notebook and choose Add sources. Add the material for this project, then inspect the imported content. Google's source instructions describe the supported imports.
- Ask a short question about a known detail. Open the supporting citation and compare it with the original. Google's chat guidance explains source selection and citations.
- For a separate Gemini web chat, Google's documented path is Add files → More Uploads → Notebooks. Choose the intended notebook and submit your task. See the current upload steps.
If the option is unavailable in your account, work in the notebook or attach the permitted source directly. You can practice the method without changing account settings.
Do not assume every previous correction travels with an attachment. Google's notebook guidance says past-chat memory depends on Keep Activity, and Gemini notebook chats can also use web searches and tools. State which sources should govern the task and identify outside suggestions separately.
Build a collection you can reuse twice
First, ask for a facilitator preparation checklist. The source supports arranging the practice example and reminding participants what to bring. Checking the projector could be a sensible suggestion, but the brief does not require it. Label that distinction.
Second, start a fresh task for the participant reminder. Bring in the same brief. The timing of your opening demonstration is probably irrelevant to this audience, so you do not need to load every planning note.
Use Workshop brief, version 2, for this task. Draft a short reminder for participants. Include what to bring and the rule about public sharing. Do not add a date, location or account requirement; those details are not in this brief. Separate anything you suggest from requirements stated by the source. Identify the source passages you used. If you cannot access the brief, say so before drafting.
An authored example of the reminder is: For our 45-minute workshop, bring one nonconfidential document to work with. The facilitator will supply a practice example, and participant work will not be shared publicly.
This is illustrative writing, not a captured AI result. In both tasks, the original brief is the authority. You changed the purpose and audience without rebuilding the source or quietly turning a planning choice into a rule.
Make tomorrow's source as clear as today's
Before reusing the collection, check for changed originals and conflicting versions. Google's current import guidance says Drive sources auto-update; a locally uploaded copy still needs attention when its original changes. Confirm what the source viewer contains rather than assuming the filename tells the whole story. Review Google's source behavior and limitations.
Keep a brief record of what you checked: document title, owner, version or date, and purpose. Mark superseded material clearly or remove it from the active task. If you need both versions for a comparison, name which is old and which is current.
Save working decisions deliberately. Gemini Notebook supports converting a note into a source, but a saved AI answer still needs your review before you promote it. Google explains notes and source conversion. Label your decision note as a decision, with its date and scope.
This is a way to organize reusable context. It is not evidence that your conversation has retrained the underlying model.
Leave yourself something useful to return to
Choose one recurring task and one approved source. Name the collection, check a passage and create a small output. Then try a second task with the same source and a different audience or purpose.
Before you stop, make sure you can find the original, recognize the current version and explain which parts of the output came from it. That is a useful knowledge base: something you can return to with confidence about its boundaries.
When you are ready to build a fuller output, follow the lesson on turning a long document into a useful guide. Keep the collection manageable enough that you can still check the work it supports.
Questions that come up
Should I put every project into one notebook?
Begin with one recognizable purpose. Separate unrelated projects when their sources, audiences or rules differ. Combine material only when a task genuinely needs it, and identify which source supports each claim.
Are my notes the same as the original source?
No. Notes can contain your interpretation, decisions or AI-generated suggestions. Label them clearly and keep the original available. Check a generated note before making it a reusable source.
What if I cannot add the notebook to a new chat?
Check the current product guidance for your account. You can continue inside the notebook or attach the relevant permitted document directly. Do not assume a missing feature means you need a paid account.
Will a changed source update a draft I already made?
Do not assume so. Recheck the existing draft against the current source and identify what needs revision. An updated collection and a previously generated deliverable are separate things.
15 Days of AI
Put this into practice with Joe.
Give AI useful context. Work with your own materials. Create something you can use. Explore the independent classes and choose the ones that fit your goals.
Explore the classesAbout this lesson
First-person explanation adapted from Joe McKenna's September 29, 2026 workshop and its automatic transcript. Source-derived ideas: one notebook per major topic, distinguish exploring a handbook from creating a separate deliverable, attach the notebook to a new chat, require source access and citations, and do not assume earlier corrections are available. The transcript's repeated 36:57–37:15 passage was excluded. Fictional workshop brief, outputs, maintenance method and FAQs are editorial additions. No audio-verified quotations, listening claims or tested generated outputs. Current official documentation checked September 30, 2026; updated product name and Drive-sync behavior replace older assumptions. No account/settings changes are instructed as a required workaround.
Source passages: 23:33–25:30; 33:50–36:57; 39:19–41:25; 41:25–43:42. Source: The One-Person AI Business, September 29, 2026.
Official guidance checked September 30, 2026. Product features can change.
- Google: Add or discover new sources for your notebook
- Google: Use chat in Gemini Notebook
- Google: Upload & analyze files in Gemini Apps
- Google: Organize your projects with notebooks in Gemini Apps
- Google: Create & add notes in Gemini Notebook
AI-assisted organization and supplementary examples. Prepared from Joe McKenna’s workshop.