This year, rather than setting New Year resolutions, I’ve decided to follow some of the suggestions in Oliver Burkeman’s book ‘Meditations for Mortals- A Four-Week Guide to Doing What Counts.’ I’m a big Oliver Burkeman fan. His blog, ‘The Imperfectionist,’ is well worth subscribing to if you crave grounded and highly amusing advice on life and how to make the most of it. Here are a few of my favourite suggestions from his book.
1. Letting go of control.
Whether it’s your ‘to-do’ list or achieving your New Year’s resolutions, there will always be too much to be done. No amount of reading airport books on productivity will magically transform your life. The list of worthwhile things you want to achieve will always be longer than the time you have available to achieve them. Life is messy. Once you accept your imperfections as a human being, you can stop striving for a ‘perfect future’ and do the best you can, accepting that life is unpredictable.
2. Do just one thing in the moment
Rather than designing a system or plan for doing something properly, just do one thing in the here and now. For example, breathing deeply for two minutes now, rather than committing to meditate every day. You may do it again. But focus on practice, rather than willpower, which is too much of a variable to be relied on.
3. Create a ‘done’ list rather than a ‘To-do’ list
If you start the day in a ‘productivity debt’ which you feel you need to pay off, Burkeman suggests you are probably an ‘insecure overachiever’, driven to realising your potential. However, a ‘to-do’ list is never done- so there will always be more potential for you to realise. As in the ballet ‘The Red Shoes’, you never get to take your shoes off. Life as a productivity debtor is exhausting and punishing. Why not keep a ‘Done’ list instead? Move these routinely to a folder which illustrates what you actually achieved over time. If you view each day as an opportunity to record items on a ‘done’ list, you’re more likely to make better choices about the tasks you focus on. You’ll also find work becomes more enjoyable.
4. Limit what you invest your time and emotional energy in
There is no need to immerse yourself in all the worlds’ bad news. Don’t feel the need to ‘live in the news.’ It won’t make the world a better place and not doing so doesn’t make you an unfeeling person. You can stay informed of world events in 10 minutes a day. Don’t get drawn into the click bait negativity of social media. Remove your attention from everything except the battles you’ve chosen to fight and put your limited time and energy to good use.
5. Three hours a day maximises your productivity
From research Burkeman undertook into the productivity of successful people, the figure of 3-4 hours of uninterrupted, focused time emerged as a consistent and optimal amount of time to spend working. If you acknowledge that work is never-ending, you can let go of the need to fill your whole day with it (Don’t share this one with your boss).
6. There will always be problems to solve
While you might hope that at some stage your life will be free of problems, the reality is that there will always be new challenges to be dealt with. Even when you’re relaxing, you’ll actively create new problems to solve. Whether it’s trying out a new dish for a dinner party or completing the New York Times daily puzzles, as humans, you’ll enjoy finding ways to overcome the problems life throws at you.
7. Ask yourself, “What if this were easy?”
As a human being, you’re hard-wired to think that worthwhile undertakings are, of necessity, going to be difficult and will require supreme motivation. Instead, ask yourself the question “What would this look like if it were easy?” You can then reframe life’s challenges and strip out any unnecessary steps to achieve your goal.
My approach to date
I’ve already started to implement some of Burkeman’s suggestions. Over the Christmas break, I took satisfaction in concluding days by capturing my ‘Done’ things, enjoying problem solving, and finding easier ways to do things. These included:
- Completing a jigsaw puzzle of the London Underground with print so small I couldn’t use the finished picture to guide me.
- Watching all six Jane Austen films. had been planning to commit to re-reading the novels but decided a nice, relaxing activity would be to watch the films over Christmas. (N.B. Billie Piper, while a great actress, was seriously miscast in ‘Mansfield Park’, in my opinion). I enjoyed indulging in my lazy shortcuts while eating my Christmas chocolates.
- Sticking at the NY Times ‘Spelling Bee’ until I achieved ‘Genius’ or at least ‘Amazing’ every day.
Most successful people are just a walking anxiety disorder, harnessed for productivity. Andrew Wilkinson.
Happy New Year. Enjoy some time coasting with your foot off life’s accelerator in 2026.