Addicted to Busy, Oliver Burkeman
Addicted to Busy, Oliver Burkeman
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Addicted to Busy
Why life has got so hectic

Author: Oliver Burkeman

Narrator: Oliver Burkeman

Unabridged: 1 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/08/2018


Synopsis

There's a ritual of the modern workplace - one you've heard and most likely indulged in yourself. It's the call and response we go through when you ask a workmate how they're doing: "Busy!" "So busy." It is pretty obviously a boast disguised as a complaint. And our simultaneously grim and half chuckled reply comes as a kind of congratulation: "Ha, better than the opposite." When did we start doing that?

As if he didn't have enough to do, Oliver Burkeman explores this epidemic of busyness to reveal that it may not be what it at first seems. He asks if we are talking ourselves into feeling overwhelmed with busyness, and if our problem with busyness is not that we do not have the time but rather we literally do not have the head space. He questions whether people have become addicted to busy, either because it makes them feel like heroes fighting the odds, or because problems can be avoided by never sitting still.

Finally, he examines whether the solution to busyness is perhaps not to work harder and organise ourselves, but to indulge in a little idleness.

Oliver Burkeman is an award-winning feature writer for the Guardian. He writes a popular weekly column on psychology, ‘This Column Will Change Your Life’, and has reported from London, Washington and New York.

Produced by Peter McManus.
This programme was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as 'Oliver Burkeman Is Busy.'

About Oliver Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman worked for many years at The Guardian, where he wrote a popular weekly column on psychology, “This Column Will Change Your Life.” His books include the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Serena on July 06, 2024

I have read this as part of ‘epidemics of modern life’ and there are 4 chapters. One about the power of negative thinking, one about anger, and the last one about the ‘death of nuances’. I could not find the latter on Goodreads. The death of nuances would have got another 5 stars, especially when it......more

Goodreads review by Dalia on May 10, 2022

A few aha moments. Are we really busy or just overwhelming ourselves? My own take is I am no longer busy just accomplishing things and trying to keep a positive attitude while doing it. 😂......more

Goodreads review by Christine on November 20, 2022

A great read if you’re questioning why everyone seems so busy these days.......more

Goodreads review by Nadya on June 26, 2022

A mini book, more like four 15-minute podcasts.......more

Goodreads review by Bh on December 12, 2024

Very short read. But talks about how we are busier than ever but accomplishing about the same things as before or less. A more detailed read can be essentialism or deep work.......more