Oliver Burkeman: Stop Feeling Bad About Being Human

03/11/22 • 51 min

My guest this week, Oliver Burkeman, may be many things – but he's not a productivity expert. Thankfully, the former Guardian columnist rejects both the societal obsession with productivity hacking and the idea of being an expert (he'd much prefer to be regarded as a work in progress tackling the problems he personally struggles with through his work, he tells me on this episode). While Oliver makes no lofty claims about his wisdom, I'm going to do it for him. The bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks – a provocative title when you find out it refers to the average human lifespan – and other personal development books such as Addicted To Busy is a soothing balm to anyone who finds themselves chronically trying to do everything, and feeling inadequate in the process. During this episode, we discuss the value of taking time for yourself within a busy, people-focused life; the unexpected overlap between an obsession with productivity and spending time alone; and we also talk about why coworking spaces are the absolute best for alone togetherness.

You can order Oliver Burkeman's book, Four Thousand Weeks, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can also order my book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, which is based on this very podcast, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

Thank you so much to Flash Pack for sponsoring this season of the podcast. Flash Pack is a travel company that offers boutique group adventures for solo travellers in their 30s and 40s. Visit flashpack.com/alonement to learn more and quote ALONEMENT at check-out for £100 off your first trip.

Twitter:

@ChezSpecter

@OliverBurkeman

Instagram:

@ChezSpecter

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can order Oliver Burkeman's book, Four Thousand Weeks, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can also order my book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, which is based on this very podcast, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

Twitter:

@ChezSpecter

@OliverBurkeman

Instagram:

@ChezSpecter

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Dr Julie Smith: The Power Of Self-Soothing (& How To Do It)

She’s famous for her 60-second videos, yet I was lucky enough to have a full 60 MINUTES interviewing this week’s guest, the wonderful Dr Julie Smith. She’s the clinical psychologist, online educator and ‘TikTok therapist’ who has been looking after the emotional health of her 3 and a half million (!) followers over the past three years through her light-hearted yet information-filled videos, which break down complex psychological concepts with the help of dance, handy props and lip-syncing. Yup, you can learn and have fun, kids! Once I'd stopped shamelessly gushing over Julie – oh you bet I cut that bit out – we had a fabulous discussion about everything from creating an actual IRL self-soothing box (which I will immediately be off to do after uploading this episode) to the emotional education that comes from watching Jim Carrey films.

You can order Dr Julie Smith's book, Why Has No One Told Me This Before?, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can also order my book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, which is based on this very podcast, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

Twitter:

Instagram:

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Angelica Malin: The Secret To Living Your Best Single Life

This week’s guest is author and journalist Angelica Malin, who recently published Unattached: Empowering Essays on Singlehood, a curated anthology of 30 writers (including me!) exploring the experience of being single, which was published by Square Peg earlier this year. Angelica, or Jelly as I know her, just so happens to be one of my closest friends. During our conversation, we discuss how our close friendship (and having other ‘single’ friends) is one of the most important factors in navigating a happy, ‘unattached’ lifestyle – from being each other’s plus-ones at parties to empowering one another to take solo trips to Santorini (you’re going to love Angelica’s account of hers). Angelica also shares how the breakdown of a five-year-long relationship at the beginning of the pandemic led to her creating a community of single women through her work, after deciding she – and others – shouldn’t have to navigate this lifestyle in isolation. This is an intimate conversation between close friends, and I'm so happy that, through the beauty of podcasting, you can be part of it.

You can order Angelica Malin's book, Unattached: Empowering Essays on SInglehood, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can also order my book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, which is based on this very podcast, now from Amazon and Waterstones.

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.