Why you’ll never “get on top of everything” | Oliver Burkeman for Big Think+
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- "There will always be too much to do. You're never going to feel completely ready. You're never going to be able to feel confident about what's coming in the future."
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Many of us wake up each morning with something Oliver Burkeman calls “productivity debt.” The bestselling author and journalist explains this term as “a sense that you've got to work really hard during the day to pay off this debt of getting things done. Otherwise, you won't quite feel like you're an adequate and acceptable human being.”
It's becoming very obvious that this ever-accelerating treadmill of productivity isn't going to lead to a final, perfect destination There will always be more to do. You're never going to feel completely ready. You're never going to be able to feel confident about what's coming in the future.
If you set out on some big project of scheduling your time very, very, very strictly, not only will you probably fail and get very stressed, but even if you succeed, you'll fail in a way because there'll be some lack of spontaneity to that path, a sense of having to carry out these instructions that you've given yourself that is at odds with what we really value from being alive. And so that's why we need a way of understanding and thinking about work and productivity that does not treat getting on top of everything as the goal, explains Burkeman. Here, he lays out four guiding principles to lead a better, more fulfilling life.
Read the video transcript ► bigthink.com/s...
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About Oliver Burkeman:
Oliver Burkeman is a bestselling author and journalist. He is best known for Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (2021), a self-help book on reframing productivity for happiness. He also publishes The Imperfectionist, an email on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.
The 'done list' is a breath of fresh air
I was raised traditionally within a mix native culture and then had the added benefit of being raised around a Japanese Tea House carpenter and his very wise Korean wife who was a "Mountain Taoist," in both daily practice and the way she conducted her life. This wisdom in this video is more important for peace of mind than most will realize who are blessed with seeing it. I've been "unattached" virtually all my life, which is often difficult for most people to even fathom. Our "attachments" to things, including our own self inflicted perceived "importance"...or worse...triviality...is what leads most to living very sad, unhappy and less fulfilled lives. This video's presenters breakdown is extremely wise...
Thank you for the video. Just when I needed it.
What a timing. Thanks for the video 👍
Loved this piece. Definitely checking out the book.
Sometimes I wonder - and I know this might be overthinking, but I can’t make sure - if all or the people (including me) seeming to wake up and asking questions about who we all are, why we all are here, if we aren’t just working too much, if we aren’t just being hypnotized by our screens. I wonder if they (if we) are all having an epiphany at the same time, if we’re actually all emerging from the deep waters at the same time, or if we’re not all victims of a new marketing strategy that consists of making you think you might be on to something to sell you books and content about that very topic without making a real difference.
And I mean that with no offense to anyone, I’m just writing it to see what reactions it makes to people and if you feel like that too, if you’ve been making real changes, if you disagree…
Anyways peace !
Resonated with what you said. Perhaps it a bit of both. But if those books and schemes bring you joy, then is it ok?
100% a valid concern. But also, being aware enough to ask that questions shows growth in and of itself. A detachment in it's own right, of sorts.
Sounds like an existential crisis 🤔
Is it bad that my first thought was, I don't have 8 minutes to watch this video?
Yes. How would you not have 8 minutes? lol
Sometimes I think people are just fooling themselves when they say “I’m too busy”. At first, as a result of laziness, yeah you’re probably going to be “too busy” when you start focusing on what you need to get done. After some time though, like after a month probably (max), I don’t see how you could possibly not have enough time for other things. Like literally, there are two things that will take the most time and that’s the career/job and cleaning a whole house. After that, there’s just the daily tasks that take no more than 6 or 7 hours per day. And I’m talking about breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with full fledged meals and not just some toast and butter, along with the two or three moments of brushing your teeth and one shower. Extras about 4 hours extra. 10 or 11.
Now you’re left with 5 or 6 hours, minimum, to do whatever you want, assuming you don’t have to work that day and assuming you’re planning on getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep.
I quite like a list but I don’t make it endless.
I’ve also learned to settle for ‘good enough’.
If anyone wants me to take anything ‘to the next level’ they can do it themselves.
JUST BE A NICE PERSON
Yeah once you set and achieve big goals it seems weird to count smaller things as accomplishments 🤔But remember, that's what keystone habits are: small and consistent actions that have a big impact.
Increasing your burden just so you have to put it down is interesting. It's like saying "stop optimizing something that shouldn't exist" because yeah you've managed to make that task manageable but ask yourself: should you really be doing that task in the first place? Just put it down 😌
Don't let your mind fool you. Amen
wonderful -or the way secure
Oh, I hope they haven't found out half of the best bits of life were eliminated ... and I hope half of the best bits of life for them weren't actually eliminated ... family/spouse. "Things like moments of connection aren't "wrong.""
4:26 - You said doo doo
Might I recommend apathy?
I can answer that right away. Definately.
Learn to spell definitely please
Productivity and Sisyphus - What is the boulder you are rolling up the hill?
Solid
Great content! Every episode is a combination of professionalism and interesting material. Thank you so much!🖥🫑😙
America's "Right to Pursue Happiness" was and is a huge scam!
Happiness is a choice! The thoughts and perspectives you focus on dictate the emotions you feel.
Take control of your focus and aim it wisely!
-Michael Dubé
Happiness is not a choice. It's a combination of many things, some of which are out of your control. To think that you can control and entirely dictate how you feel can lead one to feel awful when they're not in total "control."
@@ek6007 I'm sorry but you are wrong. That is your ego talking! If you can't control how you feel then you lack self control. It really is that simple, but not necessarily easy.
Happiness is an illusion.
@@ResoluteRonin First, you don't pursue happiness. You can pursue the conditions that make it more likely for you to experience happiness as a result. Second, your approach assumes that happiness is the goal, because if one could control it, why would people want to be happy all the time. Rather the goal should be authenticity and that includes a variety of emotions: happiness, anger, frustration, jealousy, etc. And then the ability to self-regulate those emotions. To that last point, I suppose we can agree on that.
@@ek6007 I didn't say that we are suppose to be happy all the time. I'm saying that ultimately how you feel is up to you. And yes, self control requires self regulation. Someone may piss me off or offend me initially however I can change my perspective by aiming my focus wisely and not allowing others to have control over how I feel. It's simple but not easy.
huh? I'm always on top of all my 'to'do's..? I have plenty time too thanks
Cool. You can run society, l wanna go home and chill
DJing?
🍌
I can’t believe they’ve taught an onion to talk!!
Oh great. An intellectual argument for staying lazy, unproductive, and disorganized. Just in time before people get any traction!
You are brainwashed
If that is your take away from this video...I would suggest you not only missed the point...but didn't listen well at all to the content of the video or its underlying message...There was nothing, at all, "intellectual" about this very common sense way of being nor is anyone trying to have an argument regarding the topic. The video was most certainly not at all aimed toward, anyone becoming, " lazy, unproductive, and disorganized," but rather the complete opposite of that...
Your comment misinterprets Burkeman’s argument: he critiques toxic perfectionism, not productivity itself. His point isn’t to justify laziness but to challenge the unsustainable belief that self-worth hinges on total control. By rejecting the illusion of "getting on top of everything," he advocates for intentional focus on meaningful work and life, not stagnation. Systems like the "done list" or 3-4 hour rule emphasize realistic effort, not disorganization-acknowledging human limits to reduce burnout, not abandon goals. The aim is sustainable productivity, not resignation.
He really needs to improve his vocal delivery, too. Pedantic obscure nuance is one thing, monotonous deadpan garble is another. Audience= erudite geeks.
@@khc8800 you sound miserable. what a load of negativity
Each of your videos is a little piece of magic. Keep inspiring us with your creations!🟩😂⚽️