Episode 124 - Oliver Burkeman - Time Management for Mortals

Visit Oliver’s website:
https://www.oliverburkeman.com/

Follow Oliver on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/oliverburkeman

Oliver’s most recent book ‘Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals’:
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/

Oliver’s book ‘The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking’:
https://www.amazon.com/Antidote-Oliver-Burkeman-author/

Oliver’s book ‘HELP!: How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done’:
https://www.amazon.com/HELP-Become-Slightly-Happier-More-ebook/

References

Samuel Johnson’s 1751 essay on procrastination, ‘Idleness and anxious and miserable state’:
https://www.johnsonessays.com/the-rambler/no-134-on-procrastination/

Iona’s Letter correspondence with Nir Eyal on technology and distraction:
https://letter.wiki/conversation/266

Nir’s book ‘Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life’:
https://www.amazon.com/Indistractable-Control-Your-Attention-Choose/

Visakan Veeraswamy’s appearance on Two for Tea:
https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/76-visakan-veerasamy-a-friendly-ambitious-nerd

Ethan Strauss’s article ‘Pity the Zoomer Athlete’:
https://houseofstrauss.substack.com/p/pity-the-zoomer-athlete?s=r

‘How to Live on 24 Hours a Day’ by Arnold Bennett:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Hours-Day-Literature-ebook

The Pomodoro Technique:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

Timestamps

00.00 Opening and introduction.

1:47 Iona reads from Samuel Johnson’s 1751 essay on procrastination, ‘Idleness and anxious and miserable state’. How it relates to Oliver’s book ‘Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals’.

8:45 Procrastination as a timeless phenomenon, though technology and social media make it worse. Our desire to “not focus”.

9:46 A précis of ‘Four Thousand Weeks’. What leads us astray in our relationship with time? Do we try to avoid the unpleasantness of “finitude” - the knowledge that our time is limited? Are we just trying to avoid discomfort?

14:15 The feeling of “irreparable loss” when we waste time - and the cycle of feeling guilt at this, thus leading to more avoidance and procrastination. How do we navigate this cycle of distraction?

20:53 What is the escape from this cycle? Is there one? Or must we just accept its absurdity to gain liberation?

24:29 The pleasures of doing versus the pleasures of having done (dance vs academia). Do we vacate value from the present to the future? And: a diversion on the proprietary and Nir Eyal on distraction. How has our attention changed over the decades and centuries - has it gotten better or worse?

39:01 Is the self a “road to hell”? Self-improvement and efficiency vs absorption in something larger. Is the self overrated?

44:00 The problem with productivity hacks and self-improvement. The real route to freedom. One of Iona’s mantras: you don’t have to wait until tomorrow.

50:10 On neglecting the right things.

52:24 On FOMO, being a generalist vs a specialist, and trade-offs.

1:01:35 More on procrastination and how to beat it: theory vs practice. The Pomodoro Technique, setting maximums, and more. But beware: never think of such exercises as allowing you to transcend limitation - this is impossible.

1:07:47 Oliver reads a passage from ‘Four Thousand Weeks’.

1:10:42 Last words and outro.