Oliver Burkeman

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18 August 2021

Oliver BurkemanKorrents by 18 Aug 2021

From one piece The truth about distraction 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Work that matters requires tolerating discomfort and boredom rather than escaping into distraction.

Their words

Consider the possibility that mild discomfort – butterflies in the stomach, a sense of difficulty, a moment of boredom – might simply be the price of doing things you care about.

The truth about distractionoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
Blocking apps and personal rules do not cure distraction, because they close the escape route without touching what is being escaped.

Their words

This is why most anti-distraction hacks – web-blocking apps, noise-canceling headphones, personal rules – never seem to work very well.

The truth about distractionoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
Distraction is not something done to you: you turn to it willingly, to escape the discomfort of the thing you actually care about.

Their words

you don’t get dragged away against your will. You surrender willingly.

The truth about distractionoliverburkeman.com

16 August 2021

Oliver BurkemanKorrents by 16 Aug 2021

From one piece The news is not your life 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

From one piece List one task, do it, cross it out 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

From one piece There's no such thing as a fresh start 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
The answer to living inside the news is not to stop reading it but to move your emotional investment back into the part of the world you can actually affect.

Their words

But it is an argument for reducing your emotional investment in the world of the news, and reinvesting in your own.

The news is not your lifeoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
People cannot thrive while their primary psychological identification is with the news cycle rather than with their own lives.

Their words

The trouble is that human beings can't really function, let alone thrive, when their primary psychological identification is with things like "the news cycle" or "history" or "the course of world events."

The news is not your lifeoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
The only thing a productivity system can do for you is help you choose slightly better what to do right now.

Their words

In the end, the only point of any personal productivity system, goal-setting technique or "life planning" exercise is to help you make a slightly better decision about what to do, right now

List one task, do it, cross it outoliverburkeman.com

+ 3 more

korrents.com
You are never really multitasking: at any moment you can only be doing one thing, and the strain comes from pretending otherwise.

Their words

What's true of both the crisis situation and the daily situation is that at any given moment, you can only ever actually be doing one thing.

List one task, do it, cross it outoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
A life with a perfect record is not merely unlikely but already impossible, because the years you have spent cannot be undone.

Their words

the perfectionist's fantasy of reaching her deathbed with a perfect record of accomplishments under her belt isn't just extremely unlikely, but doomed from the start

There's no such thing as a fresh startoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
Life change never comes from one transforming plan; it comes from small adjustments to the life you already have.

Their words

This, in my experience, is the only way personal change ever really happens: by first seeing that it's always a matter of rebuilding the ship mid-ocean, making adjustments to a life you can't ever take back to port or trade for another.

There's no such thing as a fresh startoliverburkeman.com

15 August 2021

Oliver BurkemanKorrents by 15 Aug 2021

From one piece How to stop trying to escape reality 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Nobody can get on top of everything, because you are part of the everything you are trying to get on top of.

Their words

The reason you’ll never get on top of everything is because you’re inextricably enmeshed in the "everything" you’ve been struggling to get on top of.

How to stop trying to escape realityoliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
There is no phase of life in which the problems are finally solved, and waiting to reach one is the mistake.

Their words

That’s why you should give up on trying to reach a phase of life that’s problem-free.

How to stop trying to escape realityoliverburkeman.com

29 July 2021

Oliver BurkemanKorrents by 29 Jul 2021

From one piece The three-or-four-hours rule for getting creative work done 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
The valuable skill is stopping and recovering while the work is still unfinished, not the capacity to push yourself harder.

Their words

The truly valuable skill here isn't the capacity to push yourself harder, but to stop and recuperate despite the discomfort of knowing that work remains unfinished, emails unanswered, other people's demands unfulfilled.

oliverburkeman.com
korrents.com
Nobody can consistently do more than about three or four hours a day of work that demands serious mental focus.

Their words

you almost certainly can't consistently do the kind of work that demands serious mental focus for more than about three or four hours a day

oliverburkeman.com

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