Book Brief: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results By Gary Keller with Jay Papasan

The One Thing

The Idea

Multi-tasking doesn’t make you more productive. To become more effective, you need to narrow your focus and do less. This book urges you to pause before you start a new project and ask yourself—“What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

 

Recommended For

Multi-taskers who, despite their round-the-clock work schedules, can’t seem to achieve their goals.

 

The Pros

This book explores an idea that many of us intuitively understand, but have a hard time putting into practice. The structure of the book, as well as its numerous charts and visual aids, make it a quick read that packs a punch.

 

The Cons

The author cuts to the chase pretty early in the book. And while exploring the main point from different angles may be helpful for some readers, others may find themselves ready for the book to end about half-way through.

 

If this is you, don’t hesitate to put it down and start applying the message to your own life. You can always flip back through the pages if you get stuck or need a refresher.

 

My Take

Some people love building elaborate productivity systems. You know the type: color-coded day-timers with tabs and stickers (or the digital equivalent). But when managing my to-do list becomes one of my to-dos, I check out.

 

That’s why I love The ONE Thing. By working with one simple, powerful question I can be confident that I’m focused on the most important task without having to juggle to-dos on four different productivity apps.

 

Fun Fact

Co-author Jay Papasan worked on pro soccer player Mia Hamm’s biography during his time at Harper Collins Publishers.

 

Amazon Reviews & Purchase

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan

2013, Bard Productions

1 thought on “Book Brief: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results By Gary Keller with Jay Papasan”

Comments are closed.