Treat Your To-Do List Like a River, and Other Mindset Shifts for Making Better Use of Your Time

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When people think about living more fully and making better use of their time, they typically think of finding some new organizational system they can structure their lives with. Oliver Burkeman says that what you really need instead are perspective shifts — small, sustainable changes in how you view and approach your day-to-day life. He provides those mindset shifts in his new book, Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. And we talk about some of them today on the show, including why you should view life's tasks and problems like a river instead of a bucket, stop feeling guilt over your "productivity debt," make peace with your decisions by embracing an unconventional reading of the poem "The Road Not Taken," aim to do your habits "dailyish," be more welcoming of interruptions, and practice "scruffy hospitality."

Transcript

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0:00.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.0	When you think about living more fully and making better use of your time, you probably think of finding
0:15.9	some new organizational system that you can structure your life with.
0:18.8	Oliver Berkman says that what you really need instead are perspective shifts.
0:23.0	Small, sustainable changes in how you view and approach your day-to-day life.
0:27.0	He provides those mindset shifts in his new book, Meditations for Mortals,
0:30.0	four weeks to embrace your limitations and make time for what counts.
0:34.5	We talk about some of them today on the show, including why you should view life's task and
0:38.1	problems like a river instead of a bucket, stop feeling guilt over your productivity debt, Make peace with your decisions by embracing an unconventional reading of the poem the
0:45.8	road not taken. Aim to do your habits dailyish.
0:49.1	Be more welcoming of interruptions and practice scruffy hospitality.
0:53.2	After the show is over check at our show notes at Awimp.
0:55.4	I.S. slash Meditations for Mortals. All right, Oliver Berkman, welcome back to the show.
1:03.0	Thank you very, for having me back. All right, Oliver Berkman, welcome back to the show.
1:13.1	Thank you very, very much for having me back.
1:14.8	So we had you on back in 2021 to talk about your book
1:18.3	4,000 weeks, time management for mortals.
1:21.8	And that's episode number 748, for those you want to listen to that. management for
1:23.7	more mortals. That's episode number 748 for those you want to listen to that. You got a new book out called
1:26.7	Meditations for Mortals. How is this book a continuation of your thinking and
1:31.8	writing in 4,000 weeks?
1:35.0	Well, I guess on some level it continues my kind of fixation on what it means to be a finite human and how we're supposed to deal with that in the way that
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