Time Management for Mortals

Time Management for Mortals

A lot of ink has been spilled on time management and productivity hacking; you can find endless tips on how to master your workflow, tame your inbox, slay your to-do list. Far less examined, however, is the philosophy that underlies these strategies. My guest says that when you do examine that philosophy, you find it doesn't actually align with lived experience.

His name is Oliver Burkeman, and in his book, 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, he forwards a philosophy of time management that is more realistic and humane. Today on the show, Oliver makes the case for a kind of contrarian way to make the most of the 4,000 weeks of the average human lifespan, beginning with why he reached a point in his own life where he realized that standard methods of productivity hacking were futile and just made him feel busier and less happy. We then get into the fact that we'd like to do an infinite number of things, but are finite beings, and how this contrast creates an anxiety that we attempt to soothe and deny through productivity techniques. We then discuss the problem of treating time as a thing, a resource that's separate from the self, and how one antidote to this mindset is to do things for pure enjoyment alone. Oliver explains why engaging in efficiency for its own sake only creates more stuff to do, and why recognizing you can never "clear the decks" of your daily tasks, nor get everything done, can actually help you focus on the things that matter most. We end our conversation with why really digging into a deep philosophy of time by facing up to its stakes and engaging in what Oliver calls "cosmic insignificance therapy," can allow you to live a bolder, more meaningful life.

Resources Related to the Podcast

There Is No Indispensable Man

Connect With Oliver

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Avsnitt(1159)

How to Have the Conversations You’ve Been Avoiding

How to Have the Conversations You’ve Been Avoiding

The awkward silence at work when everyone knows a project is going off the rails.The simmering resentment in a marriage over an issue neither spouse will confront.The dysfunction in a church where cer...

17 Feb 48min

Ecclesiastes on Enjoying Our Weirdly Unsatisfying Lives

Ecclesiastes on Enjoying Our Weirdly Unsatisfying Lives

Of all the books in the Bible, Ecclesiastes is arguably the most philosophical. Dark, experiential, existential, and unsparingly honest about the human condition, it wrestles with work, money, ambitio...

10 Feb 55min

How to Help Disengaged Young Men Reclaim Drive and Direction

How to Help Disengaged Young Men Reclaim Drive and Direction

Not long ago, the primary concern people had about boys was that they were wild, impulsive, and out of control — getting into fights, pushing limits, and stirring up trouble. Today, the problem has fl...

3 Feb 44min

The Click Effect — Inside the Science and Magic of Social Chemistry

The Click Effect — Inside the Science and Magic of Social Chemistry

We’ve all had that feeling — you meet someone new, and the conversation just flows. You’re in sync. You click. But what’s really happening when that magic occurs?My guest today is journalist Kate Murp...

27 Jan 54min

How Football Took Over America — and Could Collapse

How Football Took Over America — and Could Collapse

American football is so big — so braided into our weekends, our language, and our culture — that it can be hard to see it clearly as a whole.In his new book, Football, Chuck Klosterman helps us see th...

20 Jan 57min

Money and Meaning — What Faith Traditions Teach Us About Personal Finance

Money and Meaning — What Faith Traditions Teach Us About Personal Finance

We usually think of money as something very practical, concrete, and secular; we earn it, save it, spend it, and crunch the numbers behind it. But money is never just about money: it reflects our valu...

13 Jan 45min

Strong, Conditioned, and Ready for Anything — How to Become a Hybrid Athlete

Strong, Conditioned, and Ready for Anything — How to Become a Hybrid Athlete

For decades, fitness culture has tended to break people into two categories: you’re either a strength guy or an endurance guy. You lift heavy or run far — but not both.But my guest today says you don'...

6 Jan 59min

How to Use Probability Hacking to Achieve Your Goals

How to Use Probability Hacking to Achieve Your Goals

Most of us chase goals — starting a business, running a marathon, getting a promotion — without ever asking: What are the actual odds this will work?My guest today says those odds aren’t just graspabl...

30 Dec 202550min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
det-skaver
alska-oss
nu-blir-det-historia
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
not-fanny-anymore
johannes-hansen-podcast
rss-viktmedicinpodden
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
sektledare
allt-du-velat-veta
roda-vita-rosen
sa-in-i-sjalen
rss-psykoterapipodden
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
rss-basta-livet
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd