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Remotely Curious podcast: Time Management

Best-selling author Oliver Burkeman talks about how resetting our relationship with time can help us feel healthier and more connected.

Available for free on: Apple Podcast, Spotify or listen below.

Check out new episodes every other week.

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New on Remotely Curious

Listen to Episode 8: Time management

Time is our most precious resource, yet there never seems to be enough of it. Our culture’s pace of work and obsession with productivity can make it tricky to fully enjoy the time we have. But what if chasing efficiency doesn’t help? What if instead of focusing on time hacks, we should really practice radically accepting that our time is limited?

In this episode of Remotely Curious, we talk to best-selling author Oliver Burkeman about how to reset our relationship to time, how to meet demands without colluding with them, and how to keep perspective by focusing on what’s most meaningful to you.

There’s something calming and liberating about really understanding what it means to have finite time. It's not a question of trying to pack as much into it as you possibly can. It's a question of reconciling yourself to the fact that you’re only gonna be able to do a handful of the many, many, many potential meaningful things you could do with a life—and that’s okay.

—Best-selling author Oliver Burkeman

We’ll talk about:

  • The power of embracing our finitude and mortality
  • How to think about productivity vs purpose
  • What it means to use time wisely
  • Why there’s freedom in failure

About Oliver: 

More resources:

Takeaways:

  • Remember: quality over quantity. Time is short. Instead of packing in as much as possible, embrace finitude and spend time on what feels meaningful to you. 
  • Ask what really matters. When the world makes near-impossible demands of your time, ask yourself what’s really necessary and what matters most.
  • Allow some imbalance. Accept that you can’t ace everything, all the time. Pick something to “fail” at for now, knowing that you can revisit it later. 
  • Be the healthy example. If you’re a leader, embody the time boundaries and policies that you set in place for your team. 

Learn more at remotely-curious.com.

Special guest

Oliver Burkeman

Best-selling author and columnist

An illustrated headshot of Oliver Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman is the New York Times and Sunday Times best-selling author. His latest book, Four Thousand Weeks, is about embracing the limitations of time and focusing on what counts. His email newsletter, The Imperfectionist, is focused on productivity, morality, and building a meaningful life in the age of distraction.

An illustrated headshot of Oliver Burkeman

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