Why Our Obsession With Productivity Is All Wrong - Oliver Burkeman - #772

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the show. My guest today is Oliver Burkeman. He's a journalist, writer for The Guardian and an author. We often find ourselves caught in a productivity spiral, feeling as though we aren't accomplishing enough and scolding ourselves when we fall short of impossibly high bars. What drives this constant pursuit of perfection? And is it truly beneficial to continuously seek efficiency? Expect to learn why so many of us have a ruthless obsession with being productive, the problem with trying to optimise efficiency as much as possible, why control is such a point of tension in our lives, what the relationship between productivity and emotions is, whether there is power in embracing your limitations instead of trying to fix them, why it's so hard to cut ourselves some slack, how we can make writing less difficult and much more. I love Oliver's work. He is like the productivity equivalent of Alain de Botton. Brilliant, self-derogating British writer. It's just, he's fantastic. I really appreciate his insights. And I think that they see the human condition very accurately and very purely. And it should make you feel very reassured. I know that I do when I read his work or listen to him speak, it kind of reminds me that I'm not broken for having the wants that I have for my life. And yet the guilt around having those wants to get more out of my day. And it's, he's great. I really think that you're going to take tons away from this. So if you do share it with a friend, there will be someone who probably desperately needs to hear this. And you could very well help them if you send it to them. I've been absolutely obsessed with legendary foods lately. They make the best protein sweets I've ever had. Their cinnamon protein sweet roll and strawberry protein pastry are like crack. They're literally like crack. And you warm it in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it tastes phenomenal. Their macros are insane. Each of the snacks are between 150 and 200 calories and have 20 grams of protein. Do you hear me? 20 grams of protein in something that tastes like a sweet. Four to six net grams of carbs and two grams or less of sugar. Your average cinnamon roll is more than 400 calories and has 60 grams of sugar and zero protein obviously because it sucks. I love them. They help satiate my sweet tooth. They keep my gains and they make me hit my protein goals. What else do you want? Best of all, they offer free shipping on all orders over $69. Plus, you can get 10% off all purchases by going to eatlegendary.com/modernwisdom and using the code MODERNWISDOM at checkout. So if you've got a sweet tooth and you want to keep your gains, head to eatlegendary.com/modernwisdom and modern wisdom at checkout. This episode is brought to you by Gymshark. You want to look good and feel good when you're in the gym and Gymshark make the best men's and girls' gym wear on the planet. Their studio shorts for men are the best pair of training shorts I have ever found in my entire life. Their crest hoodie and light gray mall is what I fly in every single time that I'm on a plane and that geo seamless t-shirt is what I've been training in every single day for over a year now. Basically everything they make is unbelievably well fitted, high quality and you get 30 days of free returns globally with global shipping plus a 10% discount sitewide. If you want to see everything that I wear and recommend for guys and girls, head to bit.ly slash shark wisdom. That takes you to my super secret product page and you can use the code MW10 at checkout for a 10% discount plus that 30 day free returns. That's bit.ly slash shark wisdom and MW10, a checkout.
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