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The Daily Stoic

The Lie That Keeps You Feeling Behind Every Single Day | Oliver Burkeman

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

Business, 694393, Society & Culture, Daily Stoic, Stoic, Education, Ryan Holiday, Philosophy, Stoic Philosophy, Stoicism, Self-improvement

4.55.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Most productivity advice promises that if you just find the right system, you’ll finally catch up. In today’s episode, Ryan sits down with Oliver Burkeman who explains why that feeling never arrives and why that is not a personal failure. They discuss the productivity lie that keeps so many people feeling behind every single day, how hustle culture quietly creates anxiety, and why the goal of getting “on top of everything” is impossible. Oliver explains why urgency often makes life worse, not better, how saying no is harder than it should be, and what actually changes when you stop trying to win time and start accepting your limits.


Oliver Burkeman is the author of the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, and Meditations for Mortals

Follow Oliver on Instagram and X @OliverBurkeman


Grab signed copies of Meditations for Mortals and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman at The Painted Porch: https://www.thepaintedporch.com/


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Transcript

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and then eventually somebody has the interaction with the customer, but it's not the person who made

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Maybe 2026 will be the year that you launch your business,

1:00.9

the year you become an entrepreneur, a founder, a maker, a creator,

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someone with the direct relationship with your audience.

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person. We also use Shopify as the POS at the Painted Porch bookstore. Millions of entrepreneurs have

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slash stoic. Go to Shopify.com.com.uk slash stoic. Here are your first

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