Two is one, one is none
A practical tip for a calmer life
The last double essay on professional identity was Challenger deep and a challenge to figure out.
This week, we both take a little breather with a tiny practical tip that has made my life 1% less stressful. Maybe, it can do the same for you.
I never run out of cooking oil, hand wash, knees, or halloumi cheese.
All thanks to the tip my favourite YouTuber at the time, CGP Grey, shared on Cortex podcast nine years ago:
“Two is one, one is none”
The rule
Here’s the gist (I’ll use buckwheat as an example):
Buy two bags of buckwheat.
Just after you finished the first one, add “buckwheat” to your shopping list.
Next morning, open the second bag and enjoy your breakfast.
Once in a shop, buy a new bag.
There is no rush and no interruption to your routine. I’ve heard that following this rule slows down grey hair by 2%.
As you can see, I use it for a lot of things (hair dye is expensive!):
And that’s only kitchen stuff!
Limitations
However, the rule doesn’t work for everything. Here’s the right context:
You can run out of the thing (obviously).
The thing has a long shelf life (bread is disqualified).
You use it more often than you go to the shop (no need to rush with duct tape).
Your choice of the second item is not affected by your experience with the first one (you better try that weird matcha before buying two packs).
At the same time, the rule works beyond household items. For example, I hope that the future responsible Anton will finally apply it to newsletter essays 🥲, so that you can reliably get one in your inbox at 5:05 CET every other Friday.
Try “two is one, one is none” rule in your life. If it sticks, let me know, that’ll put a smile on my (only) face.
Inbox
As much as the last essay was a challenge to write, it has led to many insightful conversations with friends and strangers 🫶.
Here are a couple of self-defining one-liners that other people has come up with after reading my and Olya’s essays (sharing with permission).
“I design the conditions and spaces that unlock performance and help people become their best selves.”
“I remove engineering team chaos through full-stack experience”
There’s clearly a ton of experience and thinking behind each of these. Thanks to Hanna, Artur, and a few more people for your thoughtful letters. Perhaps, eventually we’ll get more than two essays on the topic 🙃.
If you don’t think your job title defines you, share a one-liner that does — I’m still curious how it works for other people.
Favourites
(🎬 5 min) It would’ve been awkward to mention a YouTuber and then not to include them in this section. So here’s one of my favourite CGP Grey’s classics: How to Become Pope. Just in case you haven’t watched Conclave eight times yet.
(✍️ 3 min) Do not punish the behaviour you want to see. “Oh, so you’ve finally decided to read a book 🙄“. I’ve been on the receiving end of this quite a few times, especially when I was younger. Now I’m trying to be a part of the solution.
(🕹️ 45 min) As you might know, I play mind games and trivia every week. Usually it’s in Russian or Belarusian, and I always wonder how English-speaking people nerd out. So I’ve found World Quizzing Championships and challenged myself to their sample set of 100 questions. Got 44 right 😐. What about you?
This was issue #11, find more at antoniokov.com.
What are your unique favourite habits and practical tips? Reply to this email or reach out on socials.