The Daily Idea

Do you ever feel inundated by so much information that you simply don’t focus on anything in particular, and instead quickly move from one thought to the next? My days of late have been filled with reading headlines on the New York Times, browsing Facebook, reading novels, business books, and magazines, all in addition to the bits of knowledge I work through to simply get my job done each day.

The things I learn are often valuable, possibly life changing, or at the least very interesting. But there are just so many of them. Like a dinner table set with hundreds of dishes, I am unable to get nourishment from most of them. I am filled, but left hungry.

This experience, of being overwhelmed by information, has been written about in numerous books and articles. The Paradox of Choice is a prime example. Sure, suggestions for dealing with the overwhelm of information have become well known. Suggestions such as turning off your phone, or media fasting, limiting email use, etc. But these do not provide nourishment…They simply serve to slow down the tide. Slowing down isn’t going to get you anywhere. Eating less won’t get your a good meal.

I was not thinking about any of this when I picked up Letters from a Stoic, by Seneca, the Roman philosopher, tutor to Nero, and the seminal author on Stoicism. Perhaps that is why he arrested me so thoroughly with this one idea:

“After you have run over many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day.”

Upon first reading this, found it hard to continue. I had purchased Seneca’s letters with the idea of reading it quickly and gleaning a few useful ideas from it. But I haven’t read past the second letter. Why? I do not want this idea to get lost in a flurry of even more ideas.

I have become convinced of this: In order for an idea to be meaningful in my life, it must be digested. Instead of thinking about an idea for a few minutes,  it makes much more sense to settle on one idea, and spend time thoroughly understanding it.

A new idea each day.

So, I have decided to create a habit of this. Each day I will clear the table, and place a single idea on it to be thoroughly studied, digested, examined, understood. I will not try to stem the flow of information into my life. Instead, I will simply spend more time focusing on one idea, and one idea only.

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