Part 1
Tokens, Usage, and Why Claude Is Different
Think of tokens as Claude's version of a usage meter. Every time you have a conversation — your message, Claude's reply, anything you paste in — it all ticks up the meter. When the meter reaches its limit for the week, Claude will let you know and you will need to either wait for it to reset or continue into additional usage (more on that in Part 4).
You do not need to count tokens or think about them technically. What matters is understanding that longer, messier conversations use more, and that being clear and focused with Claude is both more efficient and produces better results.
How this compares to tools you may have used before
If you have used a free AI tool in the past — ChatGPT's free version, Copilot, or similar — you may have noticed it sometimes seemed to "forget" what you said earlier in a conversation, or struggled with long documents. This is because those tools have much smaller limits on how much they can hold in mind at once.
Claude is built to handle significantly more. You can have longer conversations, work through complex documents, and tackle multi-step tasks without Claude losing the thread. The trade-off is that this capacity is not unlimited and costs more to run — which is why FOA's account has a weekly usage allowance rather than open-ended access.
The practical takeaway: Claude is a more capable tool than what many of you may have used before, and the habits in Part 3 will help you get the most out of it without burning through your allowance unnecessarily.
Part 2
Why Token Efficiency Matters for FOA
FOA uses Claude across the team, which means token usage adds up. Wasteful habits — like pasting the same document into every conversation, or writing long rambling prompts — compound quickly across many users and many conversations.
Token efficiency is not about being stingy. It is about being clear and intentional, which also produces better outputs.
Part 3
Token Efficiency Checklist
Prompting Habits
Be direct. State what you need in the first sentence. Claude does not need pleasantries — they add tokens without adding value.
Say what format you want upfront. Numbered list, table, short paragraph, draft email — say so at the start. This prevents re-formatting later.
Avoid repeating context already given. If you told Claude something earlier in the same conversation, you do not need to re-state it.
Do not paste the same document multiple times. Refer back to it — Claude can see the whole conversation thread.
Trim documents before pasting. If you only need Claude to review Section 3, paste Section 3 — not the entire document.
Ask one question at a time when possible. Sequential steps frequently produce better, more focused answers than one massive multi-part prompt.
Use specific language. "Summarise this in three dot points for a non-accountant" beats "can you summarise this please."
Conversation Management
Start a new chat for a new topic. Each conversation carries its full history as tokens. Fresh topic = fresh chat.
Keep conversations focused. One conversation wandering across six topics burns more tokens than six short, focused ones.
Do not ask Claude to "remember" things for next time. It cannot. Keep reusable context in a saved document you can paste in when needed.
Summarise long threads before continuing. Ask Claude to summarise what has been decided so far. This compresses context and keeps the thread manageable.
Working with Documents and Files
Attach files rather than paste when possible. Claude can read uploaded files directly — this is cleaner and often processes better.
Point Claude to the relevant section. "On page 4, under Operating Costs..." is more efficient than asking Claude to interpret an entire 30-page document when you care about one part.
Do not upload the same file in every conversation. Upload once per relevant conversation. In new conversations, re-upload or paste only the relevant section.
Getting Better Outputs Without More Tokens
Ask for the right length. If you need a two-sentence summary, say "two sentences." Claude will default to thorough otherwise.
Use examples to guide tone and format. Providing one short example is more efficient than writing three paragraphs describing what you want.
Iterate from a good base, do not start over. If the first draft is 80% right, ask Claude to adjust specific elements rather than regenerating from scratch.
Reserve "think step by step" for complex tasks only. It improves reasoning quality but increases output length — use it for financial analysis, compliance questions, and logic problems, not simple requests.
System and Organisational Context
Do not re-explain the company every time. FOA's Claude setup already has organisational context baked in. You do not need to introduce yourself or explain what FOA does in every prompt.
Avoid unnecessary role-setting. Opening with "You are a world-class expert in..." is often unnecessary overhead. Claude is already capable. Just ask directly.
Keep shared templates lean. If you are building reusable prompts for team workflows, audit them regularly. Remove anything no longer relevant. Every token in a template is consumed on every use.
Watch Out For
Things That Quietly Burn Tokens
These common habits add overhead without improving outputs:
Asking Claude to acknowledge it understood before responding
Asking for a plan, then asking for the same plan in a different format in the same chat
Pasting full email threads when only the latest message is relevant
Uploading high-resolution images when a lower-res version would work
Including long legal disclaimers or boilerplate in prompts when a short summary would do
Asking "what do you think?" broadly when you have a specific decision in mind
Part 4
What Happens When You Hit Your Usage Limit
FOA's account has a weekly usage allowance per person. You will not see a running counter, but when you reach your limit Claude will pause and show you a clear message in the chat window. You will not lose any previous conversations.
Your two options when you hit the limit
1
Continue into additional usage. FOA has additional usage enabled on the account. If you choose to keep going, Claude will continue working and the extra usage will be tracked. This is monitored, so please use it for genuine work needs rather than experimentation.
2
Stop and wait for your allowance to reset. Usage resets on a rolling weekly basis. If the work is not urgent, waiting is often the right call — especially if you are near the end of your weekly window.
If you are hitting your limit regularly
Get in touch with Michaela. It may mean adjusting how you are working with Claude, or reviewing your usage. Please do not create a second account to get around the limit — all usage needs to sit under the FOA organisation account.
