How To Be Sanely Productive | Oliver Burkeman

The liberation that comes from realizing that you're never going to get everything done. Oliver Burkeman is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Four Thousand Weeks , The Antidote , and most recently, Meditations for Mortals . His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Psychologies and New Philosopher. He has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.  This episode originally appeared in April 2024.  In this episode we talk about: What the term "imperfectionism" means The illusion of reaching a point where "everything's done" Why there's liberation in seeing how finite we are  Why small, imperfect actions are more valuable than perfect plans Why overplanning is a kind of avoidance How to make decisions  The importance of finishing things Who you should develop a taste for problems Why effort doesn't always equal value Why we need to stop protecting other people's feelings And the paradox of mattering immensely and not at all Related Episodes: The Power of Negative Thinking   Time Management for Mortals Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram , TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel This episode is sponsored by: BetterHelp: BetterHelp works with more than 125 health plan networks, and eligible members have an average copay of just $23 per session with insurance. Visit betterhelp.com/happier to explore your payment options. Instant Hydration: For a better way to stay hydrated, go to instanthydration.com/10HAPPIER and use my promo code 10HAPPIER for over 40% off your first subscription order - it's Instant Hydration's best offer available. Square: Run your business smarter with Square. You can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com/go/happier .  To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris