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The Productivity Myth: Oliver Burkeman On Our Broken Relationship With Time, Embracing Our Limitations & Why More Isn’t Always Better

The Productivity Myth: Oliver Burkeman On Our Broken Relationship With Time, Embracing Our Limitations & Why More Isn’t Always Better

The Rich Roll Podcast
Nov 24, 2025 1h 59m
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About this episode

Oliver Burkeman is a bestselling author, journalist, and the mind behind “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals” and “Meditations for Mortals.” We explore our broken relationship with time and Oliver's philosophy of imperfectionism, which dismantles the delusion that productivity is a moral imperative. Oliver explains why we're all chasing an infinite backlog, how perfectionism keeps us from doing the work, the path from overwhelm to agency, why acceptance isn't resignation, and the mystical energy of completion. Along the way, Oliver diagnoses my biggest malfunction and exposes an uncomfortable truth about my people-pleasing tendencies. Oliver's work is vital. And this conversation might just change your life. Enjoy!  Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up  Today’s Sponsors: Momentous: High-caliber human performance products for sleep, focus, longevity, and more. For listeners of the show, Momentous is offering up to 35% off your first order👉🏼https://www.livemomentous.com/richroll On: High-performance shoes & apparel crafted for comfort and style👉🏼https://www.on.com/richroll BetterHelp: Get 10% OFF the first month👉🏼https://www.betterhelp.com/richroll Whoop: The all-new WHOOP 5.0 is here! Get your first month FREE👉🏼https://www.join.whoop.com/Roll Seed: Use code RICHROLL20 for 20% OFF your first order👉🏼https://www.seed.com/RichRoll20           Birch: For 27% off ALL mattresses👉🏼https://www.BirchLiving.com/richroll   Squarespace: Use code RichRoll to save 10% off your first order of a website or domain👉🏼http://www.squarespace.com/RichRoll       Check out all of the amazing discounts from our Sponsors👉🏼https://www.richroll.com/sponsors  Find out more about Voicing Change Media at https://www.voicingchange.media and follow us @voicingchange

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