In this video I break down basically everything you need to know to get the best out of Claude Code (especially if you’re a beginner). I split it into three parts: the key concepts that actually move the needle, what not to do (because some stuff genuinely makes Claude worse), and then three practical hacks I use day-to-day. The whole theme is the 80/20 principle: focus on the small set of concepts that give you most of the productivity gains, and ignore the fluff. The big three concepts are: context management, planning, and using Claude MD + Claude skills + MCP servers properly. Context management is your job as the human—Claude’s performance drops hard when the context window is cluttered, so you’ve got to be ruthless and specific. Then planning is non-negotiable: I use plan mode at the start of projects and complex features because AI is like a bullet train—get on the wrong track and you’ll waste tokens, time, and money. Finally, I show how Claude MD is your project “constitution,” skills are like specialized plug-ins loaded only when needed (token-efficient), and MCP servers connect Claude to real tools like your database so it stops guessing and starts working with reality.