Oliver Burkeman: Why Productivity Is Ruining Lives (E314)
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
4.8 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 19 December 2024
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Oliver Burkeman is a renowned author and expert on the psychology of productivity. He is best known for his work exploring how modern life’s obsession with productivity often leaves us overwhelmed and unfulfilled.
In this episode, Oliver dives deep into the dangers of idolising productivity, discussing how society's relentless focus on getting more done can actually be ruining our lives. He explains how we’ve come to put productivity on a pedestal and the ways this mindset leads to burnout and dissatisfaction.
Oliver also shares practical insights with Jake and Damian on how to create healthy habits and get things done more meaningfully. He offers advice for parents and others juggling multiple roles on how to find moments of joy in everyday life instead of chasing after unattainable, Instagram-perfect moments.
This episode explores how we can shift our focus from profit-driven pursuits to activities that ignite our passion, encouraging us to embrace the journey itself rather than fixating solely on the outcome, as we navigate the complexities of modern life.
In his BBC Maestro course Time Management, Oliver Burkeman will teach you how to reframe your approach to time and embrace your human limitations.
https://www.bbcmaestro.com/courses/oliver-burkeman/time-management/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A quick reminder, if you love high performance, you can get episodes before anyone else on the |
| 0:04.3 | high performance app. Right now, you can hear seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, Jimmy Johnson. |
| 0:11.8 | Chasing dreams of super productivity is sort of chasing immortality. Getting on top of everything, |
| 0:16.6 | especially in the modern world, is a mirage. If you're ever going to make meaning and do cool stuff and build things and create and all |
| 0:23.8 | the rest of it, it's going to have to be right here in the middle of the chaos. |
| 0:28.2 | In that acceptance of how actually you're powerless in a certain way, |
| 0:31.7 | powerless to just like completely change your personality, |
| 0:34.2 | you get a lot more power because then you're free to just like act here and now. |
| 0:38.3 | That's the voice of best-selling author and journalist Oliver Berkman who joins us today on High Performance. |
| 0:43.3 | I'm Jay Comfrey and I'm quite simply fascinated by the stories of the world's most high-performing people. |
| 0:49.3 | And I'm Damien Hughes. I'm lucky enough to work with people to help them understand how they |
| 0:54.9 | create environments and get the best out of themselves and others. This includes working with professional |
| 0:59.8 | sports teams like the England football team and with a range of leading businesses. Now Oliver |
| 1:05.8 | is the author of one of my favourite books, 4,000 weeks, as well as The Antidote, and more recently, |
| 1:12.1 | is Meditations for Mortals. A book actually which I bought my wife Harriet for Christmas. |
| 1:16.8 | Yeah, well, she really wants to read a bit more in the new year, and that book so sort of user-friendly. |
| 1:22.2 | It's 30 chapters, over 30 days, you just have to set aside 10 minutes a day and it's packed with value. |
| 1:28.3 | And talking of value, this episode is full of it. |
| 1:31.9 | You're about to hear Oliver's views on why so many of us feel overwhelmed, |
| 1:35.8 | why we've elevated the idea of being busy as something to aspire to, |
| 1:39.2 | and why we need to embrace imperfection, |
| 1:41.9 | learning not just to live in the moment, but enjoying living in the moment. |
... |
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