Okay, look, this Ji Yun Nam thing kept popping up in my feeds. Everyone seemed obsessed. Frankly, it sounded like another complicated hustle.
My Starting Point: Pure Skepticism
Honestly? I ignored it for weeks. Felt like hype. More productivity garbage telling me what to do. My desk was chaos, emails piled up, and I was always playing catch-up. Figured, what’s one more system? Probably a waste of time.
Finally Giving In
Last Tuesday was rough. Missed a deadline. Felt like an idiot. Saw another post about Ji Yun Nam and thought, “Screw it, what’s the absolute simplest way to try this?” Just needed to start. Found a super basic summary, maybe five bullet points total.
The Ridiculously Simple Core Idea
Here’s what I actually did the first day:
- Grabbed one damn notebook. Didn’t buy anything fancy. Just the spiral one next to my coffee cup.
- Wrote down ONLY the things that must get done today. Not everything I should do. Just the absolute must-survive-the-day list. For me? Send that overdue invoice, call the client back before 5 PM, write the intro for a draft.
- Broke each must-do into the tiniest step imaginable. “Write intro” became “Open document, type 50 words about Topic X.” Seriously, that small. Made it stupidly easy to start.
- Worked ONLY on the first tiny step. Ignored the email avalanche buzzing away. Put on noise-canceling headphones. Just knocked out the first micro-task.
- Crossed it off like a victory. Felt good. Then tackled the next micro-step on the list. That was the whole system for day one.
Real Talk: What Actually Happened
Didn’t magically finish everything. The world didn’t stop being messy. But I got the must-do stuff done. For the first time that week. Felt less like drowning. The invoice went out. The client call happened. The intro got drafted.
Sticking With It (So Far)
Next day, same thing. One notebook. Only today’s must-survive items. Chopped them up. Attacked the first tiny step. Still chaos around me, but I felt… focused? In control of something.
Why This Actually Works for Beginners
- No Fancy Tools. You need a surface to write on and something to write with. Period.
- It Fights Overwhelm. Seeing “Finish Project” is terrifying. “Write 50 words” is stupidly simple. You can do stupidly simple.
- Instant Wins Matter. Crossing off that first micro-task? It gives a hit of “okay, I did it” dopamine. You need that fuel when starting.
- Forces Brutal Honesty. What must happen today? Not what you wish would happen. Be ruthless. It clears the fog.
My Dumb Mistakes (So You Don’t)
Tried writing tomorrow’s list at night. Brain was fried. Made no sense. Now I write the must-do list fresh in the morning, takes 2 minutes max.
Tried skipping the micro-steps. Bad idea. “Draft outline” sat there mocking me for hours. Breaking it down is not optional.
The Verdict After A Week
It’s not magic. It won’t solve all your problems. But if you’re drowning, staring at a massive pile of “everything,” Ji Yun Nam forces you to grab one small rock and throw it. Then grab the next small rock. Before you know it, you’ve cleared a path. Simple? Yeah. Effective? For getting off the starting block, hell yeah. I’m still doing it.
