Oliver Burkeman, well-known for his critiques of psychology and the self-help industry, published a new book last year entitled Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. Whereas time management techniques tend to present ways of being more efficient, Burkeman steps out of that narrative to an extent, and in a recent discussion suggested instead that you ‘Embrace Your Limits’. In his words,
Much more than saying ‘change your life in these ways’… I’m saying ‘see that this thing about your life is true’ and see that the fact that your time is limited imposes certain truths on your life. … [You] can make an important internal psychological shift [where] you can stop thinking that the path to happiness is to get on top of absolutely everything and to please absolutely everybody, and you can cut yourself some slack for those areas where you end up failing a bit – because you’re always going to end up failing a bit. … This is just baked-in to the situation, and so I think that seeing the truth of it can be a real weight off people’s shoulders.
Oliver Burkeman, ‘Embrace your limits’, https://youtu.be/gW-7CUyCrpQ
This notion strikes me as another antidote to the capitalist drive towards efficiency, perfection and self-betterment, and so resonates with Jenny Odell’s book How to Do Nothing which I reviewed in another post.
I think Burkeman’s words could help broker a lasting peace, if not at least a truce, with the lifelong inevitability – indeed the indestructibility – of the to-do list. I’m experimenting with visualizing the collection of items on this list, no matter what they are, as a single entity, a particular kind of phenomenon which most people are in thrall to. Pausing to objectively take stock of this almost universal stimulus – from afar, as it were – helps me to notice and reflect on my habitual reactions to it. This brings about the possibility of a different kind of response, one which hopefully better reflects my own agency, my integrity and my decision-making.
In short, the never-ending to-do list is yet another test of how to apply the principles of the Alexander Technique to stay sane, healthy and whole. I’m grateful to Oliver Burkeman for this opportunity to rethink it.