I was writing a book about the perils of recklessly chasing new things when I had an idea: I should interview Tom Hanks.
I had read about how Hanks was an avid typewriter collector, and the typewriter seemed like the perfect foil to today’s futuristic gizmos. It’s heavy and impractical. It has no connection to the internet, no delete key, no spell check. You can’t use artificial intelligence to write on it.
I wanted to enlist the typewriter as the symbol of an analog experience, stripped down to the pure basics, and Hanks would be the dream interview to get me there.
So, I sent an email to his people, hopeful but doubtful about the likelihood of getting the two-time Academy Award winner on a call.
To my surprise, just three hours later, I heard back. “He’ll do it,” his publicist wrote.
As I’d hoped, Hanks did talk about typewriters, and he did rail against modern-day technology. But he also gave me a piece of advice that has changed how I think about getting work done.
HANKS HAS A PROBLEM WITH MODERN-DAY TECH
Despite his passion for typewriters, I learned that Hanks is hardly a Luddite. He uses a laptop and email for work, and a smartphone for keeping in touch with friends and family. He likes to read the local news on his phone.
But to Hanks, those basic necessities are enough.
“After that, man, what more do you need?” Hanks said to me.
So, when a new app or device comes along, Hanks said, it’s probably not going to make life better. In fact, he said it’s only going to cost him valuable time and attention. It will ping him with notifications. It will become ubiquitous. It will distract him from what matters.
Hanks rattled off a litany of modern-day technologies that he said have only complicated our lives. The list included phones, unneeded apps, and addictive games. Also: touchscreens on car dashboards.
“I’d like to get my hands on some engineers at some point who just said, ‘Oh, no, this is what people like to have in cars,’” said Hanks. “You’ve got to press somewhere around three buttons to do something that should only take one.”
HIS ADVICE FOR QUALITY WORK
During our conversation, Hanks recounted a memory from his childhood. (Hanks was born in Northern California in 1956). He recalled watching his father load up his station wagon with grinders, sanders, and other tools he’d use for manual labor. Those tools, Hanks told me, were a means to an end. His dad would use the machines to create something.
That’s how Hanks feels about his typewriters. They are writing devices he can use to create something.
“I’m terrible with tools, but I’m damn good with a typewriter,” he said. “It’s all just about, how do you get there, and what tools do you need.”
Hanks said he will sometimes travel with a typewriter, leaving behind his laptop. To Hanks, it’s the best tool he has at his disposal when he wants to get quality writing done. He said he’ll return home with a few pages of writing that are sloppy and rough, but the start of something special.
And this is when Hanks dropped advice that has stuck with me since the interview.
“What do you need in order to unlock that mysterious potential in there?” he asked.
Today, there are countless tools available for any number of tasks. We can download new communication apps, project management software, and AI chatbots. We can buy new gadgets that we keep in our pockets, place on our desks, and wear on our faces. Whatever industry you work in or passion project you’re trying to get off the ground, you’ll likely find a suite of newfangled tools that claim to optimize your work.
But Hanks warned against upgrading for the sake of upgrading—adopting the latest new thing because it seems better than the old one. Instead, remind yourself that these are all just tools. Ask: Which tools do you need to unlock the mysterious potential within you?
I think about this question a lot. It proved valuable as I slogged through the process of publishing a book. As an author, I frequently encounter new tools that promise to help me write better, brainstorm better, or promote my work better.
When a novel tool grabs my attention, I return to Hanks’s advice. Will any of these unlock the mysterious potential within me? Maybe, though it’s unlikely. And many of them risk distracting me from my goals.
Most of the time, like Hanks with his typewriter, the simplest tools are the ones I need to unlock my best writing.
