Just one thing
I’m someone who often finds it hard to take extensive notes on the things I read, watch, listen or consume. And I consume a lot. This has been something I didn’t feel great about — it felt like my mind was just a sieve where most of what I put in flows out soon after. I looked at all the commonplace books of Renaissance men from the past, and Ryan Holiday’s boxes upon boxes of notes and I felt very far behind.
Then last year, I came across AJ Jacob’s post: Just One Thing. In this post, Jacobs shares his horrifying realisation that:
I had spent hours, days, years consuming all sorts of fascinating culture with very little in my brain to show for it.”
When I read this, I felt like I had met my intellectual kin! Here was an accomplished writer who also felt that he wasn’t able to make the most of his information diet. But instead of wringing his hands over his inability to extract copious notes, he asked himself:
What if I at least try to extract One Thing from every movie, book, conversation, et cetera? I could handle one thing.
One thing from something no matter how good or bad was doable. Even if something had many worthwhile points, he kept it to one thing per book/movie/conversation/experience. Why? He was aiming for a practice he could sustain indefinitely, not something to fulfil some perfectionistic ideal.
The simplicity and ease of this resonated with me and I started a “One Thing” note on Apple Notes. In this pinned note, I note down one thing I’ve learnt from what I’ve read or watched. In my version I focus on what speaks to me. It can be a silly comment or a profound quote. All’s fair game.
What I’ve found in letting go of this need to extract everything is that I tend to look for something valuable in most things now. The constraint of one thing also helps me focus on the “good enough” and gives me a sense of satisfaction after I’ve added a new quote or idea to my list.
Here are a few things I’ve noted this year:
- “Joy! Joy! Joy has no wind at its back. Joy will not announce its arrival. You need to listen for it and be mindful of how fleeting and delicate it can be. And search out these treasures.” - Perrin Fertha, Andor S2; a reminder to be attentive to moments of joy amidst all the chaos
- “Late people think they can fit in just one more thing before they leave. […] So if you find yourself falling into this trap, next time you’ve got 2 minutes before you need to be out the door, just go. Don’t think of this as wasted time. Think of it as sanity space”. - Laura Vanderkam; on why it’s better to have more buffer than to have ticked off 1 more thing
- “My observation is that the doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person.” - Steve Jobs; if you want to make a difference, you can’t just think, you got to act
✅ Day 2 done