You and I are finite beings, my friend. That’s a pretty abstract concept until you think about just how much stuff we need to get done every day. Oliver Burkeman, a journalist and author, says the amount of things we could potentially do every day is, by definition, infinite. And a finite being with an infinitely long to-do list is not a happy being. 

This causes most of us to start our days feeling like we’re in “productivity debt”, and our to-do list is our ticket back to zero, back to a clean balance sheet. But according to Oliver, this is really a ticket to misery. 

Instead, he wants you to reframe, and start your day at zero. You don’t have to be productive or get certain things done to justify your existence. Everything you manage to get done on any given day, really, is a bonus! 

Oliver shares how keeping a “Done List” has helped him turn this mental reframe into an everyday reality, and I recommend my favourite calendar tool as an extra tool.

Connect with Oliver on Twitter and on his website. And pick up a copy of his book, Four Thousand Weeks 

You can find the full interview here: Get your priorities straight with Oliver Burkeman

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Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber