Episode 35
“The reason time feels like such a struggle is that we’re constantly attempting to master it –- to lever ourselves into a position of dominance and control over our unfolding lives so that we might finally feel safe and secure, and no longer so vulnerable to events”
Oliver Burkeman is an author and journalist, formerly writing the weekly column This Column Will Change Your Life for The Guardian from 2006 to 2020. In 2021, he wrote Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, a New York Times bestselling book about the philosophy and psychology of time management and happiness.
His previous books include HELP!: How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done and
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking.
We had an instructive, contemplative conversation with Oliver about some of the deeper issues which underlie our need for time management mastery. Beyond planning our schedules well, how are we choosing what we do with the time we have during our most functional years? Is there really such a thing as time management “mastery” — or do the copious books and articles about this subject promise a kind of control over our time which will never realistically happen — and the illusory chasing of which may only increase our own stress and anxiety?
Join us for this wide-ranging conversation!