Why you’ll never “get on top of everything” | Oliver Burkeman for Big Think+

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Sep 10, 2025

Oliver Burkeman, a bestselling author and journalist known for his insights on productivity and time management, challenges our obsession with perfectionism. He introduces the concept of 'productivity debt,' highlighting how it traps us in a cycle of stress and unrealistic expectations. Burkeman advocates for embracing our limitations and shifting our focus from controlling every moment to cherishing spontaneity. He suggests using 'done lists' to celebrate daily victories and redefining productivity to create a more fulfilling life.

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INSIGHT

Relief Comes From Accepting Limits

Accept that you'll never get on top of everything; it's impossible, not merely difficult.
Realizing impossibility can lift a weight and free you to focus on what truly matters.

INSIGHT

Impossible Beats Difficult For Freedom

The shift from 'difficult' to 'impossible' is liberating, not limiting.
Embracing impossibility creates room to choose a few important aims and pursue them with energy.

ANECDOTE

Zen Lesson: Make The Burden Drop

Burkeman cites a Zen teaching where the master made the student's burden so heavy they put it down.
This illustrates that accepting limits can be achieved by confronting the impossibility directly.

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"There will always be too much to do. You're never going to feel completely ready. You're never going to be able to feel confident about what's coming in the future."

Many of us wake up each morning with something Oliver Burkeman calls “productivity debt.” The bestselling author and journalist explains this term as “a sense that you've got to work really hard during the day to pay off this debt of getting things done. Otherwise, you won't quite feel like you're an adequate and acceptable human being.”It's becoming very obvious that this ever-accelerating treadmill of productivity isn't going to lead to a final, perfect destination. There will always be more to do. You're never going to feel completely ready. You're never going to be able to feel confident about what's coming in the future. If you set out on some big project of scheduling your time very, very, very strictly, not only will you probably fail and get very stressed, but even if you succeed, you'll fail in a way because there'll be some lack of spontaneity to that path, a sense of having to carry out these instructions that you've given yourself that is at odds with what we really value from being alive. And so that's why we need a way of understanding and thinking about work and productivity that does not treat getting on top of everything as the goal, explains Burkeman. Here, he lays out four guiding principles to lead a better, more fulfilling life.

In this episode, we explore the trap of perfectionism and the endless pursuit of productivity. The discussion challenges the idea that getting on top of everything will bring peace, revealing instead that true relief comes from accepting life's inherent limitations. Strategies like the 3-4 hour deep work rule, keeping a "done" list, and embracing spontaneity help shift the focus from control to meaningful progress. By letting go of the pressure to maximize every moment, we can create space for what truly matters.

About Oliver Burkeman:Oliver Burkeman is a bestselling author and journalist. He is best known for Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (2021), a self-help book on reframing productivity for happiness. He also publishes The Imperfectionist, an email on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.

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