73 hours → 7 minutes with one Claude trick

The commands that are the difference between 73-hour struggles and 7-minute solutions

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I'll admit something embarrassing. I'm lazy.

Not "won't do the work" lazy. But "why type the same thing 50 times" lazy.

For months, I'd debug by pasting error messages into Claude with some variation of "fix this." Sometimes I'd get fancy: "plan how to debug this, ultra think, give me confidence in your solution."

It worked. About 70% of the time.

Then I discovered slash commands. Now I just type /debug-code [error] and get solutions 90% of the time on the first try.

The difference? My debug command is dozens of lines of refined instructions I'd never type manually. Because, you know. Lazy.

The realization that changed how I use AI

Here's what kills me about AI tools. We all know better prompts get better results.

But who's going to type a 40-line prompt every time they debug?

Nobody. We're human. We take shortcuts.

That's where I was stuck. I knew exactly what to tell Claude for better debugging results. I'd spent hours perfecting prompts.

But when I hit an actual bug at 4 PM on a Thursday?

"fix this plz"

Slash commands solved my laziness problem. Now my best prompts are always one command away.

Try this right now (takes 2 minutes)

Here's the simplest command that changed how I code:

Create .claude/commands/explain.md:

Explain this code like I'm smart but lazy:
- Skip the obvious stuff
- Focus on the tricky bits
- Tell me what could break
- One-line summary at the end

Next time you're reviewing code, type /explain instead of "explain this code."

The difference shocked me. Actual insights. No fluff.

Why I was wrong about "better prompts"

Everyone preaches "write better prompts!" That's like saying "eat healthier!" while you're staring at a vending machine at 2 AM.

The real problem isn't knowing what makes a good prompt. It's actually using that knowledge when you need it most.

I had a notebook full of "perfect prompts." Never used them. Too much friction.

Slash commands removed the friction. My laziness finally had a solution.

But the /explain command is just the beginning...

How I went from 70% to 90% debugging success