Oliver Burkeman

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Oliver Burkeman is a British author and journalist known for his work on psychology, self-help, and productivity.

Oliver was a long-time columnist for The Guardian, where he wrote the popular This Column Will Change Your Life for 14 years from 2006 to 2020. The column explored various aspects of personal development, happiness, and productivity, often challenging conventional wisdom.

He has also written for The New York Times, Psychologies, New Philosopher, and The Wall Street Journal.

The theme of Oliver’s work often revolves around the paradoxes of modern life, particularly how the pursuit of efficiency and happiness can sometimes lead to the opposite effect. He questions the relentless pursuit of productivity and the pressure to constantly optimise one’s life, advocating instead for a more measured, thoughtful approach that acknowledges life’s inherent limitations.

His focus on acceptance, mindfulness, and philosophical inquiry offers a counter-narrative to the more superficial aspects of the self-help industry.

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Growing up, Oliver Burkeman always wanted to be a writer,and specifically a writer for publication. He grew up with some of the first desktop-publishing software for home computers, and was spellbound by the possibility of combining text with headlines and pictures, and then printing it out to distribute it.

This fascination with a strong desire to tell people what he thought, saw him develop the art of writing. He studied at the University of Cambridge and graduated in 1994 with a degree in social and political sciences. While at university he was the editor of the student newspaper Varsity, marking the start of a career in writing.

Oliver Burkeman | Books

Oliver has published a number of bestselling non-fiction books, including:

– Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done (2011): This book is a collection of his columns from The Guardian, offering practical advice on how to live a better life, but with a realistic and humorous tone that acknowledges the limitations of self-help.

– The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking (2012): In this book, Oliver critiques the culture of positive thinking and explores alternative approaches to happiness, drawing on ideas from Stoicism, Buddhism, and other philosophies that embrace uncertainty and imperfection.

– Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (2021): His most popular book, it delves into the finite nature of human life – 4,000 weeks being the rough equivalent of an 80-year lifespan. Oliver challenges the obsession with productivity and time management, urging readers to embrace their limitations and focus on what truly matters.

– Meditations For Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts (2024): Reflects on literature, philosophy, religion, psychology, and self-help.

He has a devoted following for his writing, in the form of his published books as well as the articles he contributes to other publications, as well as his appearances on BBC Radio 4, hosting shows Oliver Burkeman is Busy, Oliver Burkeman’s Inconvenient Truth, Why Are We So Angry, and Living With the News.

Oliver Burkeman | Awards & Accolades

Oliver has received a number of awards, nominations and accolades including:

– Winner of the Foreign Press Association’s Young Journalist of the Year award

– Shortlisted for the 2006 Orwell Prize

– Winner of the Foreign Press Association Science Story of the Year for a piece on the mystery of consciousness.

Oliver Burkeman | Speaking Topics

– Productivity

– The Upsides of Negativity

– Uncertainty

– Social Psychology

– Failure and Imperfection

– Wellbeing

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Oliver Burkeman, a visionary speaker, guides you through navigating disruption with adaptability and innovation for success.

Author of Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace Your Limits
Contributor: The Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal
Shortlisted For Orwell Prize 2006
Winner: Foreign Press Association Young Journalist of the Year Award

Oliver Burkeman provides an important and insightful reassessment of productivity. The drive to get more done can become an excuse to avoid figuring out what we actually want to accomplish. Only by confronting this latter question can we unlock a calmer, more meaningful, more resilient approach to organizing our time.
Cal Newport, Author of A World Without Email, and Deep Work