Yes squad. Here’s the timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:29 Unique Challenges of Time 09:34 The Dangers of Over-productivity 19:24 Solving the Efficiency Trap 26:18 What to Say ‘No’ To 38:07 Letting Go of To-Do List Anxiety 46:39 Forsaking Present for Future 56:03 Productivity as Denial of Mortality 1:01:33 Seeing Life as a Gift
For me, the best way to me to maximize my productivity is by training myself to “delete the idea of time.” I stop obsessing over the clock, stop telling myself “oh I have time” and/or “oh I can do that later, and instead just flow through the present knowing that I have something to do, and doing it. I’m still improving, but it’s been a fruitful mental exercise that’s turning into better habits. I hope that all made sense lol.
At 39 years old, I had achieved a middle-manager job in a large FTSE100 firm. My reward for 20 years of hard work, sacrifice, deferred pleasure, was a life of constant stress, and 60+ hours a week for money which I could never spend and a slave mentality. I exited, and today I'm self-employed, zero stress, and plenty of time for my hobbies, pet projects, and professional obligations.
I’ve been in the process of stumbling into this realization in the last year. It’s better to willfully sacrifice something important than to let everything wither on the vine.
It's the concept of 'choose your sacrifice'. Every decision we make, every path we go down, we're sacrificing something - family, health, wealth, career, friends, hobbies, etc. Most people aren't conscious of these choices or sacrifices. Be conscious.
I love your interview style man I clock how you start saying something but put it off to a later part of the conversation in order to address what the other person has just said.. You really do great @ really listening, observing & answering in response to your guests. Great shit bro 👌🏻
I disagree with the assertion that medieval farmers didn’t have a concept of time. A clock is just one way of measuring time. We have always measured time. We measure with the seasons, the movement of the sun, a memory.
Yeah, needing to get a crop in before it dampens and ruins so you don't starve before spring is a concept of time our generation has no clue about. Talk about time-crunch!!
Some activities give us a sense of doing what is needed and thus doing enough at a particular time, like having brought in the harvest, or fulfilled a need, or addressed a danger, at which point one can relax with a sense of something completed. This can also be seen as a matter of what layer of your worth as a person you're trying to address (Burkeman comes close to talking about this). If you remain at the level of entitlement worth, chasing the attention, consideration, approval, and support of others, and seeing yourself in that light, then no amount of productivity can ever be enough, because those are infinite needs and can never be satisfied. If, however, you manage to go a level deeper, to greater-value worth, where you are acting in the service of a good beyond yourself, then one of the characteristics of experiences at that level is that when you have done what is needed on a particular occasion, then you will feel you've done enough. So if as a poet, let's say, I feel I need to express something - get it down on paper - then once I've done that, I feel that on that occasion I've done something enriching and worthwhile, enough for that moment. The challenge is to find the domain of greater value that will speak to you in your own life. Some find this in religion, but there are many others places it can also be found. Timothy Corwen (author, The Worth of a Person)
My issue is that we are always competing with other people. Im a young software developer which is fiercely competitive. If I don't study all the time I become uncompetitive and get overtaken by my peers.
As an artist who's trying to improve, I have to do things in increments of time or each thing could go on forever to the detriment of other aspects of my skills. Study and practice tonal management in a painting? That could go on for years. Study and practice drawing the human figure? Ditto. I love your thoughts on denial of death. And if we don't deny death, then I think we each struggle with wanting to leave a mark or wanting to be remembered when we're gone.
Great podcast, and I love Burkeman's writing also. I lived in Asia from the age of 30-38, and didn't feel the same sense of needing to be 'doing'/be busy all the time or using my time 'effectively' like I feel back here in the UK. It's so strange, and I can't quite articulate it, but in Asia things felt less pressured and life felt less like a rat race, despite me working 50-60 hour weeks out there. I wonder why I feel more 'busy' or stressed generally in the UK, as I work less hours, plus I don't watch TV, Netflix etc, nor have any social media (apart from podcasts on CZcams and reading Reddit), so I'm less exposed to cultural messages etc., but I certainly 'feel' different back here.
The reason you feel stressed back in the UK is because you are fundamentally a product of your environment, Asia as you said is laid back throughout so you cannot help to be in sync with that environment. The UK on the other hand (I'm from Liverpool) is wall to wall traffic, with everybody running around trying to cram good times into the precious moments of their dwindling lives. Brits are more your Hedonist, Capitalist, devoid of religion or philosophical practices type. Obviously I'm generalising massively for effect but you catch my drift.
Terrific conversation Chris. Bit frustrating. I wanted to join in every five minutes; and was waiting for you to talk about boundary setting and deferment of gratification, which you inched towards, but didn't quite make it. The remark at the end about expanding or shrinking. Hells bells that resonated with me. 🙏👏👍
"Morons all the way up." LOL! I remember telling my kids this when I realized that people in big businesses, global finance, and even running whole governments, are each just flying by the seat of their pants.
34:00 puts paid to the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none". It seems the former is celebrated or encouraged more than the latter, at least from my perspective.
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Yes squad. Here’s the timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:29 Unique Challenges of Time
09:34 The Dangers of Over-productivity
19:24 Solving the Efficiency Trap
26:18 What to Say ‘No’ To
38:07 Letting Go of To-Do List Anxiety
46:39 Forsaking Present for Future
56:03 Productivity as Denial of Mortality
1:01:33 Seeing Life as a Gift
For me, the best way to me to maximize my productivity is by training myself to “delete the idea of time.” I stop obsessing over the clock, stop telling myself “oh I have time” and/or “oh I can do that later, and instead just flow through the present knowing that I have something to do, and doing it. I’m still improving, but it’s been a fruitful mental exercise that’s turning into better habits.
I hope that all made sense lol.
That is legit insightful. Thank you for sharing.
At 39 years old, I had achieved a middle-manager job in a large FTSE100 firm. My reward for 20 years of hard work, sacrifice, deferred pleasure, was a life of constant stress, and 60+ hours a week for money which I could never spend and a slave mentality.
I exited, and today I'm self-employed, zero stress, and plenty of time for my hobbies, pet projects, and professional obligations.
Manage your priorities and you will optimize your time. The march of time waits for nothing or no one. Loved this conversation.
I’ve been in the process of stumbling into this realization in the last year. It’s better to willfully sacrifice something important than to let everything wither on the vine.
Great insight.
It's the concept of 'choose your sacrifice'.
Every decision we make, every path we go down, we're sacrificing something - family, health, wealth, career, friends, hobbies, etc.
Most people aren't conscious of these choices or sacrifices. Be conscious.
I love your interview style man
I clock how you start saying something but put it off to a later part of the conversation in order to address what the other person has just said..
You really do great @ really listening, observing & answering in response to your guests.
Great shit bro 👌🏻
The perspective...man!!! Mind boggling!!
Cool eyh
I disagree with the assertion that medieval farmers didn’t have a concept of time. A clock is just one way of measuring time. We have always measured time. We measure with the seasons, the movement of the sun, a memory.
Yeah, needing to get a crop in before it dampens and ruins so you don't starve before spring is a concept of time our generation has no clue about. Talk about time-crunch!!
13:50 such a good point
Some activities give us a sense of doing what is needed and thus doing enough at a particular time, like having brought in the harvest, or fulfilled a need, or addressed a danger, at which point one can relax with a sense of something completed.
This can also be seen as a matter of what layer of your worth as a person you're trying to address (Burkeman comes close to talking about this). If you remain at the level of entitlement worth, chasing the attention, consideration, approval, and support of others, and seeing yourself in that light, then no amount of productivity can ever be enough, because those are infinite needs and can never be satisfied.
If, however, you manage to go a level deeper, to greater-value worth, where you are acting in the service of a good beyond yourself, then one of the characteristics of experiences at that level is that when you have done what is needed on a particular occasion, then you will feel you've done enough. So if as a poet, let's say, I feel I need to express something - get it down on paper - then once I've done that, I feel that on that occasion I've done something enriching and worthwhile, enough for that moment. The challenge is to find the domain of greater value that will speak to you in your own life. Some find this in religion, but there are many others places it can also be found.
Timothy Corwen (author, The Worth of a Person)
My issue is that we are always competing with other people. Im a young software developer which is fiercely competitive. If I don't study all the time I become uncompetitive and get overtaken by my peers.
This was very helpful and needed, thank you both.
So good 🙏
As an artist who's trying to improve, I have to do things in increments of time or each thing could go on forever to the detriment of other aspects of my skills. Study and practice tonal management in a painting? That could go on for years. Study and practice drawing the human figure? Ditto.
I love your thoughts on denial of death. And if we don't deny death, then I think we each struggle with wanting to leave a mark or wanting to be remembered when we're gone.
I loved the book and I have enjoyed the interview❤
Great podcast, and I love Burkeman's writing also. I lived in Asia from the age of 30-38, and didn't feel the same sense of needing to be 'doing'/be busy all the time or using my time 'effectively' like I feel back here in the UK. It's so strange, and I can't quite articulate it, but in Asia things felt less pressured and life felt less like a rat race, despite me working 50-60 hour weeks out there. I wonder why I feel more 'busy' or stressed generally in the UK, as I work less hours, plus I don't watch TV, Netflix etc, nor have any social media (apart from podcasts on CZcams and reading Reddit), so I'm less exposed to cultural messages etc., but I certainly 'feel' different back here.
Oliver is very legit. Glad you enjoyed!
The reason you feel stressed back in the UK is because you are fundamentally a product of your environment, Asia as you said is laid back throughout so you cannot help to be in sync with that environment. The UK on the other hand (I'm from Liverpool) is wall to wall traffic, with everybody running around trying to cram good times into the precious moments of their dwindling lives. Brits are more your Hedonist, Capitalist, devoid of religion or philosophical practices type. Obviously I'm generalising massively for effect but you catch my drift.
Episode #365 is about time. Nice one
Totally didn’t realise that. Great spot
That was DEPRESSING AF. Makes me think there's no hope, no control, and no point.
Terrific conversation Chris. Bit frustrating. I wanted to join in every five minutes; and was waiting for you to talk about boundary setting and deferment of gratification, which you inched towards, but didn't quite make it. The remark at the end about expanding or shrinking. Hells bells that resonated with me. 🙏👏👍
Great episode! ❤
If I can imagine it, I can do it !!
One of my favorites on the podcast. Listened on my pod-catcher but wanted to leave this comment. Good stuff.
"Morons all the way up." LOL! I remember telling my kids this when I realized that people in big businesses, global finance, and even running whole governments, are each just flying by the seat of their pants.
"The reward for getting into the best universities and getting the best job"
Is the ability to fulfill noblesse oblige.
Extremely educational,,,thanks!
Thank you brotha
I needed this. Thank you
Such a sick episode, I really enjoyed this one
32:20 🔥
34:00 puts paid to the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none". It seems the former is celebrated or encouraged more than the latter, at least from my perspective.
Pretty sure peasants knew they had to get the harvest in by a certain time
We need videos on how to recognize fascism
Comment, Images, and latest edited version here:
facebook.com/Steven.Work/posts/10227160742748717
No Facebook?, original version found under here:
Alt: czcams.com/users/Steve2Workdiscussion
* Sort by Newest *
www.minds.com/newsfeed/1280662643975131139
gab.com/StevWork/posts/106870201149352001
Index Number 1126: