[Oliver Burkeman recommends] abandoning the delusion that time is something you can manage successfully. Trying to live as efficiently as possible, Burkeman argues, is both futile and self-defeating. There is always more to do, always another small task to complete, and, paradoxically, the better we get at completing tasks, the faster new ones arise. Obsessing over time management therefore means spending your time trying, and inevitably failing, to create more time for yourself. It means living always in the future—that future when all the to-do items have been checked off—and as a result, never living in the present. Instead of helping us clear the decks for the stuff that’s really important, trying to be on top of everything really means that most of our time is spent on the things that matter less.
