---
id: "action-start-fresh-chats"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["00:06:23", "00:12:30"]
tags: ["workflow", "prompt-engineering"]
related: ["concept-context-sprawl", "framework-clean-conversation", "concept-gather-vs-focus"]
speakers: ["Nate B. Jones"]
action: "Summarize and start fresh chats instead of sprawling."
outcome: "Prevents exponential token costs and improves model focus."
sources: ["s45-claude-limit-chatgpt-habit"]
sourceVaultSlug: "s45-claude-limit-chatgpt-habit"
originDay: 45
---
# Start Fresh Conversations Frequently

## Action
Do not let chat sessions sprawl past **10–15 turns**. Once a phase of research or drafting completes, summarize the findings and **open a brand-new chat** to execute the next step with a clean context.

## Outcome
- Prevents exponential token costs from re-processing dialogue history
- Improves model focus by clearing accumulated noise
- Enables [[concept-gather-vs-focus]] discipline in practice

## Habit Trigger
At turn 10, ask yourself: *do I have a clean summary of what I've learned so far that I could paste into a new chat?* If yes — open a new chat. If no — produce the summary, then open a new chat.

## Why
See [[concept-context-sprawl]] for the cost mechanism and [[prereq-stateless-architecture]] for the underlying architectural reason. This action is the operational core of [[framework-clean-conversation]] and is checkpoint #2 of [[framework-stupid-button-audit]].