045 - The Reason You Can’t Ever Get Through Your To-Do List (with Oliver Burkeman)

There’s a promise built into all the productivity and time management advice out there: that it’s possible, with the most efficient technique, to finally conquer that feeling that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it. But that’s a false hope, says today’s guest Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, which is about why time management strategies so often fail. “You cannot optimize your way to peace of mind in a world where supply of things that are incoming is effectively infinite,” he says. Today, Burkeman presents an approach that willingly accepts our limits and finite capacity. Doing so won’t just improve our productivity, he says—it will make our life more meaningful, fix our adversarial relationship to time, and help us, in his words, start *from* sanity, instead of trying to strive towards it through productivity hacks. If you are enjoying FAREWELL, do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android Stitcher Got a question, feedback, or ideas for the show? Email [email protected] or leave a voicemail at (646) 893-9503 Find Brad, Steve, and Clay on Instagram: @bradstulberg, @stevemagness, and @clayskipper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.