Time Management for Mortals

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The Sam Harris Podcast, Making Sense, which is generally excellent, has a really good episode on time management with Oliver Burkeman called Time Management for Mortals. Oliver also wrote a book on the topic. This is the single best approach to time management we've found. It closely mirrors DROdio's approach to prioritization.

• That's a partial episode — to access the full episode you'll need to subscribe to Sam's full podcast feed, which is $99/year. It's worth it for this episode alone.
• You can find other Podcasts we recommend (like the Acquired podcast) at Best Podcast Episodes & Books for Scaling Venture-Backed Companies

What's covered in Time Management for Mortals:

🤖 This is a machine-generated summary by Storytell.ai

Time management, and how it is more than just about organizing and prioritizing tasks.

• It is about how to use one's time wisely and well, in order to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

Some philosophical and spiritual insights about time, as well as concrete, usable tactical tools for daily living.

• Humans are limited in their time and that this can lead to anxiety.
• The idea that humans often try to find ways to avoid this anxiety by telling themselves that they will be able to do everything they want to do sometime in the future.

However, this is not possible, and trying to achieve this level of productivity is actually making people busier and less fulfilled.

• The answer is to accept that there will always be too much to do and that none of us will ever be certain about the future.
• This is a liberating and empowering defeat that leads to a life of more accomplishment, more success, and more joy.

The pursuit of efficiency as a way to win the struggle with time will actually make you busier than before, more stressed than before, and less focused on the things that matter to you the most.

• Partly this is just a matter of quantity - if you get really efficient at processing your email, for example, you'll find that you spend more of your time dealing with email overall.
• But there's also a qualitative dimension to this - if you focus obsessively on trying to fit more and more in, you're likely to end up spending more of your time on the least important things.

So what's the alternative?

A better approach is to focus on quality over quantity, and on doing fewer things but doing them well.

• This means being more selective about what you take on, and being more willing to say no to things that aren't truly worthwhile uses of your time.
• It also means being more deliberate and intentional about how you use your time, and making sure that you're spending it on the things that matter most to you.

The modern world provides us with an overwhelming amount of potential experiences, goals, and objectives.

• This can lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed, and the standard response of trying to become more efficient is not going to lead to peace of mind.

The key is to embrace the fact that there will always be more to do than we can possibly accomplish, and to focus on what truly matters to us.

• This means being willing to not do some things, even though they may be important, in order to focus on what is most important to us.
• It also means being okay with the fact that the decks are never going to be completely clear.
• By approaching life in this way, we can finally get some purchase on reality and make the best use of the time that we have.

How humans are constantly making choices which limit the number of experiences they can have.

• This is due to the fact that humans are finite beings and can only choose one path at a time.
• How the fear of missing out (FOMO) is often used to avoid taking responsibility for these choices.
• That missing out is inevitable and that fearing missing out is actually counterproductive.
• Missing out is what makes things worth doing and gives life meaning.

The fact that our lives are finite is actually a good thing, as it makes our choices more meaningful.

Making decisions is a crucial skill for time management, and that making more decisions can lead to a sense of fulfillment.

• Decision fatigue can lead to procrastination and commitment phobia.

The full Storytell Report is accessible here.

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