Why Our Obsession With Productivity Is All Wrong - Oliver Burkeman - #772
Modern Wisdom
04/18/24
•68m
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Oliver Burkeman is a journalist, a 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 scalding ourselves when we fall short of impossibly high bars. What drives this constant pursuit of perfection? 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 is between productivity and emotions, 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 hard and much more...
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Timestamps:
(00:00) The Modern Mental Health Crisis (05:21) Are Therapists the Problem? (08:53) Do We Just Need to Connect to Our Feelings More? (14:39) Does Therapy Make Mental Health Worse? (22:17) Gen-Z Are Learning to Be Avoidant (27:31) Finding a Sweet Spot With Therapy (33:27) The Paradox in Depression Treatment (37:47) Therapy Culture Vs Bad Therapy (43:19) Are Smartphones & Climate Change to Blame? (51:23) The Impact of Single-Parent Households (55:04) Schools Making Parents Into Enemies (01:01:28) Overuse of the Word ‘Trauma’ (01:05:57) Is Mindfulness a Better Way? (01:14:34) Kids Are Too Over-Medicated (01:19:31) A Better Way Forward (01:23:35) Where to Find Abigail
Extra Stuff:
Check out Oliver’s BBC Maestro Course - https://www.bbcmaestro.com/courses/oliver-burkeman/time-management
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
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Previous Episode
Dr Peter Attia is a physician, longevity expert, podcaster and an author.
There is essentially an unlimited amount of health advice available on the internet. Working out what is legit science and what is broscience is difficult, but thankfully decades of experience means Peter can help cut through the noise about what is actually most effective to improve your fitness and longevity.
Expect to learn why a simple hospital visit can cost $6000 in America, how to improve your cognition, the best supplements everyone should be taking, whether there is any safe dose of melatonin to take, why so many young men are now on TRT, how worried we should be about processed foods, suncream, alcohol and all of your other favourite vices, how we can better deal with mental decline as we age, how to improve your self-talk and much more...
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Get a 10% discount on Marek Health’s comprehensive blood panels at https://marekhealth.com/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM)
Get up to 32% discount on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout)
Timestamps:
(00:00) The American Health System is Broken (05:47) How to Improve Mental Cognition (14:40) Using Supplements to Overcome Jet Lag (20:56) Reducing Cognitive Decline (25:06) British Perceptions of Alcohol (28:36) Don’t Ignore Your Emotional Health (35:59) Getting Rid of Negative Self-Talk (50:10) Peter’s Intensive Therapy Experiences (58:59) How to Pull Yourself Out of a Bad Mood (01:05:54) Peter’s Opinion on TRT (01:18:14) How to Naturally Improve Testosterone (01:24:19) The 93 Year Old With a 40 Year Old Body (01:27:55) Brian Johnson & the Longevity Movement (01:37:41) The Supplements Everybody Needs (01:45:08) Getting Into Sport at an Older Age (01:51:04) How Important is Water Quality? (01:55:03) Impact of Hormonal Birth Control (01:59:21) Are There Real Risks to Suncream? (02:02:52) The Rise of Vaccine Scepticism (02:10:40) The Panic About Ultra-Processed Food (02:16:47) Debunking Myths Around WiFi & AirPods (02:20:42) Strategies for Sleep Quality (02:31:09) Exploring Gut Health & Probiotics (02:36:34) Motivation to Keep on Top of Health (02:44:01) The Conversation Around Female Ageing (02:49:41) Creating an Emotional Training Regime (02:58:40) Should You Take Aspirin Every Day? (03:04:06) Why Nurses Are Underrated (03:13:45) If Peter Could Only Keep 10 Exercises (03:27:03) Where to Find Peter
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
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Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
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Next Episode
Debating Modern Therapy Culture & Gen Z - Abigail Shrier - #773
April 20, 2024
•84m
Abigail Shrier is a journalist, a writer for The Wall Street Journal, and an author.
Therapy use is becoming more prevalent while mental health is getting worse. Are these two things causing each other? Or just happening at the same time? It's a lively one today as I try to get to the bottom of this.
Expect to learn what is happening with modern mental health, the typical timeline of mental health for young people, what the current statistics are around therapy, which kinds of people see therapists the most, if there are any dangers to psychotherapy, why there might be an over-diagnosis and pathologisation of normal human emotions, why Abigail thinks there is such an increase in mental health disorders and much more...
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get a 1-month of Brain.fm for free by going to https://Brain.fm/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)
Get $150 discount on Plunge’s amazing sauna or cold plunge at https://plunge.com (use code MW150)
Get an exclusive discount from Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/MODERNWISDOM (use code MODERNWISDOM)
Timestamps:
(00:00) The Modern Mental Health Crisis (05:21) Are Therapists the Problem? (08:53) Do We Just Need to Connect to Our Feelings More? (14:39) Does Therapy Make Mental Health Worse? (22:17) Gen-Z Are Learning to Be Avoidant (27:31) Finding a Sweet Spot With Therapy (33:27) The Paradox in Depression Treatment (37:47) Therapy Culture Vs Bad Therapy (43:19) Are Smartphones & Climate Change to Blame? (51:23) The Impact of Single-Parent Households (55:04) Schools Making Parents Into Enemies (01:01:28) Overuse of the Word ‘Trauma’ (01:05:57) Is Mindfulness a Better Way? (01:14:34) Kids Are Too Over-Medicated (01:19:31) A Better Way Forward (01:23:35) Where to Find Abigail
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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