Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

How to Stop Overthinking & Start Living a More Meaningful Life with Oliver Burkeman #580

325 snips

Sep 23, 2025

Oliver Burkeman, an author and journalist famous for his bestselling book 'Four Thousand Weeks,' talks about how accepting our finite time can lead to a more meaningful life. He explores why the illusion of productivity can trap us, suggesting we shift our focus to small, present moments. Burkeman discusses the liberating power of acknowledging life's limits and how making informed choices about downsides is essential. He also emphasizes the importance of daily habits that align with our values and the transformative potential of embracing life's interruptions.

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INSIGHT

Claim Calm In The Present

Viewing a calm, meaningful life as something to claim now, not a future reward, reduces perpetual striving and disappointment.
Oliver Burkeman urges stepping into the life you want in small present actions rather than chasing an ideal horizon.

INSIGHT

The Infinite To‑Do Vs Finite Time

There's always more that could be done because possibilities are effectively infinite while human time is finite.
Accepting this inescapable limit is liberating and ends the search for a perfect productivity system.

ADVICE

Define Three Weekly Nonnegotiables

Do the few weekly activities that guarantee your preferred 'deathbed' ending and let go of the rest.
Rangan's 'write your own happy ending' turns long-term goals into small weekly habits that keep life meaningful.

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Many of us feel under constant pressure to optimise every moment, to become more efficient, more productive and somehow more worthy. But what if embracing our limits could be the key to living a calmer, more meaningful life?

This week’s returning guest on my Feel Better, Live More podcast, Oliver Burkeman, believes that accepting that we can’t do everything might just set us free.

Oliver is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling ‘Four Thousand Weeks’ and ‘The Antidote’, and for many years wrote a popular weekly column on psychology for the Guardian. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Psychologies and New Philosopher.

His latest book, ‘Meditations for Mortals: A Four Week Guide to Doing What Counts’, takes us on a liberating journey towards a more meaningful life – one that begins not with fantasies of the ideal existence, but with the reality in which we actually find ourselves. Designed as a four-week ‘retreat of the mind’, it offers daily wisdom, solace and inspiration to aid a saner, freer and more enchantment-filled way of living.

In our brilliant conversation, we discuss:

Why the belief that life will finally feel easier once we clear our to-do list is such a persistent illusion
How shifting our focus from endless achievement to small, present moments can transform the way we experience each day
Why the fantasy of perfect decisions keeps us stuck in indecision, and how accepting the downsides of any choice can set us free
How our fear of wasting time is often rooted in perfectionism, and why many of us feel we have to earn our worth through effort
The liberating idea of daily-ish habits – a flexible, compassionate way to keep showing up without turning routines into self-criticism
Why we don’t need to wait for life to feel calm or under control before we start living with more intention
How embracing our limits and accepting that time is finite can help us feel more fully alive and connected

I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to Oliver again as he brings such clarity and compassion to questions so many of us grapple with. Instead of offering yet another system for getting more done, this conversation is about stepping back, loosening our grip and recognising that a good life isn’t measured by productivity but by presence, meaning and connection.

I hope you enjoy listening.

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Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/580

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