My guest this week is Oliver Burkeman, best-selling author of the book 'Four Thousand Weeks - Time Management for Mortals.'

'Four Thousand Weeks' isn't a book about bluegrass, or American acoustic music...or even about music. But, it addresses so many of the the things that can trip us up and stop us from making the space in our lives for the things we love, like music.

I'm not entirely sure this podcast would exist if I hadn't read Oliver's book. The fact that it's lasted long enough for this to be episode #388 is definitely down to me staying on the bus (Oliver will explain what that means in the interview!)

We tend to defer our happiness to some unspecified point in the future, when all our chores are done, or work is finished, or the kids grow up or we retire. But Oliver argues strongly in favour of doing the things that make us happy right now.

I struggle with that, and I presume many of you do as well, so I decided to invite Oliver to come onto the podcast to talk about it and offer some advice.

This was a really fun conversation, full of big, but simple ideas, which I'm sure will resonate with many of you. I got a lot out of this one and I hope you do too.

You'll find more info on Oliver and the book at www.oliverburkeman.com. While you're there, I really recommend signing up to his mailing list, 'The Imperfectionist', for regular smaller doses of inspiration on how to build a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.

Happy picking!
Matt

Support the show

===

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

- Review us on Apple Podcasts