Budget the Page

Relax. We'll talk through this in plain words — no textbook voice.

What you'll walk away with

Understand how to budget the page without any of the intimidation
Get hands-on practice trying it yourself
Learn to sidestep guesswork and secrets, with a smile

Relax. We're not going to explain this chapter like a textbook — just like a friend talking you through it, in plain, easy-to-follow terms.

Let's think about it this way for a second

A beginner's budget is simple. About half goes to evidence. One slot goes to the prompt plus constraints. The rest goes to the question and the format. Chat history shouldn't steal space from that first half. You don't need a token counter yet. Draw three boxes on paper. Eyeball which box is biggest. If history is the biggest box, your budget is broken.

Let's connect it to everyday life

A mock page — top: 3 lines of goal. Middle: 8 lines of notes. Bottom: 2 lines of question. If the notes balloon to 40 lines, trim them. Use RAG to pull just enough. Or keep just one heading. Don't fill up a slot just because "it might get read later" — that's like stuffing every piece of clothing you own into a suitcase.

Evidence gets most of the space
History shouldn't steal space
When a slot's full, trim — don't cram

Let's try it out together

text

Page budget
  15%  goal + constraints
  60%  evidence notes
  25%  question + output shape

If notes overflow → cut notes, not the question

You should see

Budget a turn across three slots.

5-Minute Try

Draw three boxes on paper. For one of your own questions, write what goes in each box.

One Quick Heads-Up

Without a budget, the loudest text hogs all the space and the important stuff disappears.

Easy traps

Letting history claim the biggest slot
Cutting off the question at the bottom

Now Try It Yourself

Draw three boxes on paper. For one of your own questions, write what goes in each box.

You'll know it worked when: Budget a turn across three slots.