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Merry Christmas！！！
How are you spending your time？！
Today we had Hiroshi Itsuki's dinner show！！！
『Think Fast 』
A Memo Method to Organize Thought and Solve Problems (Think Fast)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyI8Fx-sgW8
(Based on Atsuhiko Nakata’s explanation)
1. The Essence of This Book (Conclusion)
Zero-Second Thinking may look like a “note-taking book,” but that’s not its essence.
At its core, it is: A training method for building the mental muscle required to organize thinking and resolve problems.The reason people remain stuck in worry is not personality or willpower, but simply a lack of training in how to organize thought. That is the book’s fundamental premise.
2. The Basic Structure of How Worry Is Created
Human inner experience follows this flow: Information → Emotion → Thinking → (Organization of Thinking) → Hypothesis → Action → Resolution
Long-term worry happens because something gets blocked along this path.
3. 5 Levels of Worry (Where thinking gets stuck)
① The Endurer（Stops at Emotion）
Information exists, but emotions are suppressed or ignored
The most painful stage; often requires external support
② The Foggy Thinker (Can't Reach Thinking)
Emotions are present, but cannot move to thinking about “Why do I feel this way?” or "what is the context of these emotions"
Stops at “I just feel off”
③ The Loop Thinker (Thinks but Can't Organize)
Cannot compare or prioritize, so no conclusion emerges, considers many angles, but issues scatter, so no conclusion emerges.
Even if you consult with them, they just keep going over the same old story.
④ The Clear Thinker (Can Organize)
Lays out emotions, information, risks, and expectations structurally
Worry transforms into a problem to be solved.
⑤ The Executor (Hypothesis→ Action)
Forms hypothesis, tests them and gathers results.
Resolves worry through moving to solving with action.
4. Where Most People Get Stuck
The hardest wall to cross is: Organizing Thoughts
Most “enduring,” “foggy,” and “looping” worries are simply failures of organization, not intelligence or effort.
5. Memo Writing as the Solution =Thought Training
The author—who spent 14 years at McKinsey after Tokyo University and Stanford—states clearly: Thinking can be trained through memo writing.
But only if done exactly as instructed—no customization, no shortcuts.
6. The Core Memo Rules
A4 loose paper only (No notebooks)
Notebooks are fixed in chronological order and cannot be later sorted by category.
No PC or smartphone
You can’t easily draw diagrams, arrows, or rough structures, so you tend to think only in words.
Horizontal orientation (landscape / horizontal writing)
10 sheets per day
4–6 lines per sheet
Title in the top left, date in the top right
About 2–30 characters per line
If it’s too short, it becomes just a memo.
With this amount of text, you are forced to write why you think that way.Write one sheet within 1 minute
Speed creates momentum and trains you to output thoughts without stopping.
7. Purpose (What Ultimately Happens)
Your worries become visible by category (work, health, money, family, etc.).
By keeping daily records, you can see the trajectory of how each worry gradually gets resolved.
As a result, it becomes much easier to move from “worry” → “organization” → “hypothesis” → “action.”
1. Preparation Phase: Emotional Release & Information Sorting
If jumping straight into the McKinsey-style memo method feels difficult, begin with the following steps, tailored to your current state.
• Emotional Release (Mental Care)
If your emotions feel tangled or heavy, start by dumping everything onto your PC or smartphone.
In a completely private space, vent your frustrations, anger, or unease freely.
By externalizing these emotions, you first become aware of what you’re actually feeling, and that alone brings a sense of relief. This is the essential first step.
• Information Sorting (Preparing to Think)
If you feel overwhelmed by information you’ve taken in, use a notebook to handwrite diagrams or bullet points.
This helps you organize raw information and prepares your mind for deeper thinking.
2. Practice Phase: Writing Memos on A4 Paper
Once you’re ready—or if you can start right away—move on to writing actual memos.
• Tools
Prepare A4 loose paper (no notebooks or digital files), a pen, and a clipboard.
A4 paper is inexpensive and, when used horizontally, allows your thinking to spread out more freely.
• Writing Rules
Write one memo per topic, within one minute.
Write a title in the top left and underline it.
Write the date in the top right (e.g., 2021-07-21).
The body should be 4–6 lines, written in bullet points, about 20–30 characters per line.
• Frequency
Aim to write 10 sheets per day, whenever thoughts arise.
3. Systematization Phase: Filing & Labeling
Do not leave your memos scattered. Organize them by category.
• Categorization
Most human worries fall into 6–7 broad categories
(work, health, money, relationships, future anxiety, etc.).
• Filing
Prepare transparent clear files labeled by category.
Before going to bed, sort your memos into the appropriate files.
Use simple tools like removable 3M labels to keep management lightweight and flexible.
4. Improvement & Mastery Phase: Review and Confidence Building
Use your organized memos to raise the quality of your thinking.
• Periodic Review
Once every three months (and again at six months), casually flip through the accumulated memos.
This is a quick skim (“glance-through”), not close reading.
• Recognizing Patterns (“Ah, this again”)
By reviewing, you’ll notice recurring themes—
the same kinds of worries you’ve had over and over.
Tracing how they were resolved dramatically increases your processing speed when similar issues appear again.
• Converting into Confidence
The physical stack of accumulated memos becomes tangible proof that you’ve been thinking, processing, and moving forward.
That sheer volume transforms into deep, unshakable self-confidence.
What This Process Really Is
By physically writing out the inner “fog” in your mind, then categorizing and accumulating it,
this process gradually takes you from emotional release to high-level information processing ability.
It’s like strength training that starts with a mental detox.
You begin with light stretching—venting complaints into your phone.
Then you build basic strength by organizing information in a notebook.
Eventually, by consistently filing A4 memos, you develop powerful mental muscles capable of handling and resolving any problem.
Link to Takumi Yamazaki’s
ENGLISH Book “SHIFT”