Oliver Burkeman is a journalist, author and former “productivity geek.” His bestselling book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals outlines a saner approach to managing your time in a world of never-ending demands and distractions. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Oliver explains why all of the tools and techniques meant to save us time and maximize our productivity ultimately make us feel more stressed and short on time. Oliver argues that the only time management technique that works involves recognizing that you’ll never feel on top of things. But once you accept that, you can actually start crossing things off of your to-do list—and he has strategies for how to do that as well.

If you liked this episode, check out Leah’s exercise for taking control of your calendar through “time crafting.”
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