The ONE Thing
Gary Keller and Jay Papasan on the one priority that makes everything else easier
A 2013 business book built around one question: what is the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else becomes easier or unnecessary? Keller and Papasan argue that multitasking is a myth, that willpower runs down over the day, and that most goals are lost to a long to-do list rather than to a lack of effort. The practical core is time blocking for the single priority and saying no to nearly everything else. It is often the book people cite when they decide to stop trying to be good at several things at once.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Chris BumsteadRecommends
Bodybuilder · Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia
He talked about this book with Jordan Peterson in 2024. Its argument, that reaching the top one percent at anything means focusing on that one thing, helped him see that wearing too many hats had cost him on stage, he said, and that bodybuilding would eventually have to give way to being a father.
Source: Fitness Volt: Chris Bumstead Discusses Diet, Reaffirms Retirement Stance
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or focus.
- Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Deep Work
The case that uninterrupted concentration is a rare and valuable skill
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 5 recommend it, 1 has discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's 1990 study of total absorption and what makes it happen
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 recommend it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life
Penguin Press
Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2023 book on vision, work, failure and giving back
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Building a Second Brain
The case for one external note store, and four steps for running it
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Clear Thinking
Parrish on the ordinary moments where a decision is really made
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Effortless
Make the most essential activities the easiest ones to do
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it
Book entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.