The Productivity Paradox: Why Less Is More With Oliver Burkeman

The Productivity Paradox: Why Less Is More With Oliver Burkeman

So, here’s a scenario: It’s Monday. And you open up whatever calendar or planner or to-do list you use to organize the essential activities of the upcoming week. There’s a large project due Thursday. And an important meeting Wednesday. Your nine-to-five is chockablock with meetings, and your kid has a school function Tuesday, and there are holiday gifts to buy before Friday, and just when you’re pretty sure your week couldn’t possibly take one more featherweight of responsibilities, the HVAC unit sputters to a stop, requiring a call to the local heating and cooling guys, which obliterates four hours of Monday. You can tell yourself that this week is cursed. Or you can tell yourself the truth: Feeling an imbalance between the time you have and the time you want to have isn’t really a curse at all. It’s a bit more like ... the definition of being alive. To see life clearly in this way is what I’ve come to think of as Oliver Burkeman brain. Oliver is the author of the books 'Four Thousand Weeks' and 'Meditations for Mortals.' Today, in what's become a holiday tradition of sorts, we bring back Oliver to chat about doing more by doing less, the dubious benefits of scheduling, and the freedom that comes from accepting our limitations. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Oliver Burkeman Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(362)

Why Americans are Losing Faith in College

Why Americans are Losing Faith in College

Twenty years ago, higher education was one of the most trusted institutions in America. Today, confidence in higher ed is falling among every demographic: young and old, men and women, Republicans and...

26 Sep 202358min

What’s So Great About Marriage?

What’s So Great About Marriage?

Since the 1970s, the General Social Survey has asked thousands of Americans the same question: “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days—would you say that you are very happy, prett...

19 Sep 202351min

Why Is It So Expensive to Build Stuff in America?

Why Is It So Expensive to Build Stuff in America?

We're in the midst of a great affordability crisis. It's not just the inflation crisis. It's a greater cost crisis of the last few decades. Everything that matters most in life—health care, housing, e...

12 Sep 202353min

Fatherhood and What Americans Get Wrong About Major Life Changes

Fatherhood and What Americans Get Wrong About Major Life Changes

Derek is back, and ... he's a new dad! After several weeks of parental leave, he talks about what's surprised him about new fatherhood. Brad Stulberg, the health and science writer, returns to the sho...

6 Sep 202347min

Experts Predicted a Recession This Year. How Were They So Wrong?

Experts Predicted a Recession This Year. How Were They So Wrong?

Today’s show is about what I consider the biggest mystery of the U.S. economy. Last year, economic experts predicted a recession in 2023 with more confidence than they’ve predicted any recession in de...

8 Aug 202336min

Why Elite College Admissions Are Biased Toward the Superrich

Why Elite College Admissions Are Biased Toward the Superrich

Less than 1 percent of college students attend Ivy League colleges and equally selective schools, like Stanford and Duke. But these schools have an outsize influence on American life. Practically ever...

1 Aug 202350min

Oppenheimer: The Genius, the Film, and the Project That Changed the World

Oppenheimer: The Genius, the Film, and the Project That Changed the World

Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb,' discusses the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, the history of nuclear weapons, and the new fi...

25 Jul 202356min

How Hollywood Drove Its Business Model Off a Cliff

How Hollywood Drove Its Business Model Off a Cliff

The trouble brewing in the media and entertainment industry has become one of the most interesting—and truly perplexing—business stories in the world. How does everything seem so bad at the same time?...

19 Jul 20231h 1min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

aftenpodden
giver-og-gjengen-vg
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
forklart
i-retten
aftenpodden-usa
stopp-verden
popradet
det-store-bildet
rss-gukild-johaug
fotballpodden-2
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
nokon-ma-ga
hanna-de-heldige
e24-podden
aftenbla-bla
grasoner-den-nye-kalde-krigen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
bt-dokumentar-2