enough
Patrick Rhone (2012)
Enough was a good read. I write these words in the year 2020, and there is a lot of writing on focus and minimalism right now. If you’re at all familiar with said writing, the book won’t seem like it’s full of new ideas. That said, it’s worth reading the thoughts of someone who’s been thinking about this longer than most.
I knew Patrick Rhone’s work before reading this book. I used to read his minimal mac blog when it was active, and listened to his Enough podcast with Myke Hurley when that was active as well.
I mention this because having a prior with anyone’s work influences how you receive more of their work.
Enough is good in part because it follows its own message by being small, fast, and to the point. But this also means that if you’re not careful you’ll go through it too quickly and it will be over before you’ve had a chance to think about it as well as you should. I think this happened to me to an extent, and I plan on giving it another slower, more rate limited read.
The book is in the same category as Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. Having read that one as well, I think you should choose one and read it, and I think Enough is the better choice.
Nothing against Digital Minimalism, but I honestly don’t remember much from it. It was too long. Enough’s format, a collection of short essays, means it delivers the same ideas in way fewer words. Maybe that’s unfair and I am favoring Enough just because I can remember it better.