🤔 Brainteaser of the day: I can break without being held, give without being touched, and be kept without being locked. What am I?

Click here to see the answer.

✅ Today's Checklist:

• Joanna shares how she uses AI for interior design

• The podcast episode to kickstart your 2026

• Pet of the week: Meet Smizz

📅 Tues 1/27: If you can explain an idea, you can build an AI agent. Join Agent.ai for a free live, no-code workshop made for The Assist fam.

QUICK LINKS

🗣️ Avoiding small talk? It could be holding you back at work more than you realize.

💳 Attn Amazon Prime Members: This card could be worth $100s every year.

🎉 The secret to recognition that actually motivates people.

🧠 These 8 small daily habits are linked to lower dementia risk.

INTERIOR DESIGN

How I Used AI to Redecorate My Husband's Office

True story:

I love interior design. I'll watch anything around organizing, decluttering, and home makeovers, from Tidying Up with Marie Kondo to those hypnotizing "watch me rearrange my entire living room at 11pm" TikToks. If it involves a dramatic reveal, I'm in.

Meanwhile… my husband had an entire room to himself (his office) for almost 2 years and basically furnished it with his computer desk and a couple random book shelves that didn't quite fit the space.

So I finally stepped in—and because I am who I am—I turned his workspace into a full-blown interior design project powered by AI.

And let me tell you: Using AI for interior decorating? Underrated. Most people I talk to don't even think to use AI for this kind of thing, but I'm a super visual person, and it's been an amazing tool for my home upgrade projects.

Here's exactly how I did it, plus a few tips I learned along the way.

Step 1: Take honest, unfiltered photos of the current room

You don't need your space to be "guest ready" clean, just take enough accurate photos of your space.

I uploaded things like:

• All four walls/areas of the room

• The desk setup

• The couch, rug, lamp, cat tree—everything

This gave AI a realistic canvas to work with.

Step 2: Upload the furniture & decor you're considering

When I was choosing throw pillows, lamps, shelving, rugs, potential seating (chairs vs. chaise), etc., I uploaded actual product photos and asked AI to show me how each piece would look inside my room, at scale.

This helped me nix a few items I was considering purchasing.

The prompt:

The mockup:

My husband's real office:

Step 3: Include key dimensions

AI mockups get 10× more accurate when you drop dimensions in the chat.

I added things like:

• Room width & depth

• The couch width (70")

• Rug size (5×7)

• Coffee table length vs. couch length

• Distances between windows, doors, and corners

It's the reason the mockups looked almost exactly like my real room.

Step 4: Ask for layout options

I asked AI to show variations:

• Rug forward vs. backward

• Lamp moved to different corners

• Shelf vs. cabinet vs. nothing

• Throw pillow arrangements and combinations (yes, we had a whole pillow saga 😂)

I tweaked the layout until everything felt right.

Step 5: Snap progress pics + let AI "audit" the room

As I made changes—moved the rug, built the ladder shelf, swapped pillows, shifted the lamp—I'd take a quick photo and upload it. This is where AI became my real-time interior designer.

Here are the exact prompts that helped the most:

"What looks off in this photo?"

Great for catching things your eyes stop noticing (rug placement, pillow balance, clutter pockets).

"Give me 2–3 micro-adjustments to make this look more intentional."

AI suggested tiny fixes like shifting furniture a few inches, re-layering pillows, or balancing shelf height.

"Show me this same room with ______ moved/removed/replaced."

I used this constantly for lamps, shelves, rugs, and chair/chaise options.

"What would a designer do next?"

AI gave the finishing touches: contrast, symmetry, proportion notes I wouldn't have thought of.

All of those small adjustments added up, and the final space feels intentional, functional, and so much more "him."

And because I live for a good makeover…here's the finished space.

Before:

After:

Until the next makeover moment…

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👉 Register free and let Excel finally work for you.

STAFF PICKS

📚 Read: The Wedding People by Alison Espach

A quietly funny, emotionally sharp read about loneliness, timing, and the weirdly tender ways people connect. Easy to get into, hard not to think about after.

📺 Watch: Sean Combs: The Reckoning on Netflix

Whew. If you've been following the Diddy fallout, this doc pulls the thread on the power, protection, and mess behind the headlines. Heavy topics, big cultural moment, and yes, we're here for the 50 Cent memes.

🎧 Listen: "#1 Mindset Expert: Simple Mindset Shifts That Transform Your Body, Energy, & Life" on Mel Robbins Podcast

A practical, motivating episode focused on small mindset shifts that create real momentum. Perfect for when you want actionable advice without the fluff.

NATURAL WELLNESS

Big Goals Need Mental Backup

Big goals this year? You need every milligram of focus you can get. Enter Troomy.

Their gummies are made from functional mushrooms—the immunity boosters, energizers, and rest supporters of the natural world. With Troomy, these superpowers help you focus, boost productivity, and improve overall wellness—all while tasting like a delicious smoothie (harvest berry acai, anyone?).

👉 Try Troomy here.

P.S. Save 20% on Troomy with code ASSIST20.

JUST FOR FUN

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🐶 Pet of the Week: Meet Smizz

Smizz is a majestic bearded dragon who joined her family in 2020...just before the pandemic shook up the world, leading to the surreal experience of getting drive-thru insect pickups at PetSmart to provide live feed for Smizz.

Now a mature beardie, Smizz still loves insects but also eats a balanced diet of dark greens, red peppers, and carrots. Her favorite activities are basking, sleeping, eating, and giving side-eye (dragons don't bite; they do worse... they judge you).

But for a small lizard who doesn't do much, Smizz has a huge personality!

🐾 Got a cute fur baby? Submit them to be our pet of the week in an upcoming issue.

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