Existential Time Management with Oliver Burkeman

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with author and journalist Oliver Burkeman about the problem with shallow time management and how we mere mortals ought to think about managing our time instead.

You can listen to the episode in your podcast player of choice:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Time management for 4-year-olds
• The Narrow vs Ultimate meaning of time management
• The importance trap and the temptation to “clear the decks”
• Anti-skills, negative capability, and the superpower that is emotional tolerance
• The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking
• Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic
• The relationship between expectations and control
• David Cain’s Raptitude
• Weirdly modern conceptions of time
• Meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein
• Are all expectations unhealthy?
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• The case for wasting time and atelic activities
• Oliver’s to-do list recommendations
• Cal Newport’s Deep Work
• James Hollis’ Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
• Susan Jeffer’s Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and Embracing Uncertainty
• What’s wrong with the self-help genre?
• The wounded healer
• Jesse Singal and cranky self-help
• David Brook’s The Second Mountain
• Marilynne Robinson
• “Will this choice enlarge me or diminish me?”
• Douglas Harding’s On Having No Head
• Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life
• Mary Oliver: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

You can learn more about Oliver and his work here:

• Oliver’s book: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
• Oliver’s website and (excellent) weekly newsletter: OliverBurkeman.com

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