Emails from sender «Oliver Burkeman».
Source: Readwise Reader export, ingested 2026-10-29. Entries: 28. Summaries are truncated from frontmatter summary; absent ⇒ omitted.
- The Imperfectionist: Let’s stop talking about A.I. — 2026-08-11
If you’ve ever so much as dipped a toe in the world of meditation, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered the story of the two monks who a…
- The Imperfectionist: Reality just keeps unfolding — 2026-07-09
Because I’ve written about how anxiously obsessed I used to be with getting things done, I’m sometimes asked if there are any productivity t…
- The Imperfectionist: The end isn’t nigh — 2026-06-11
I feel the need to issue a public service announcement, to try to alleviate some of the extreme anxiety I keep encountering in people, and s…
- The Imperfectionist: Things I’m still learning about writing — 2026-05-21
I’m still racing towards a book deadline, which accounts for the exceedingly intermittent schedule of The Imperfectionist in recent weeks.
- The Imperfectionist: Calm in the storm — 2026-04-10
As I forge ahead with a new book, I hope you enjoy (or otherwise benefit from!
- The Imperfectionist: Do what you want — 2026-03-26
If you’re overwhelmed by the feeling that the world is falling apart – or just overwhelmed by your to-do list, or stuck in any kind of rut –…
- The Imperfectionist: Nobody’s ever ready — 2026-02-20
This edition of The Imperfectionist isn’t mainly about artificial intelligence. I promise!
- The Imperfectionist: The freewriting way of life — 2026-01-22
Freewriting, as you may know, is the technique whereby you set a timer, open a text file or notebook, then just write whatever comes to mind…
- The Imperfectionist: Four thoughts about living in reality — 2025-12-19
First this week, I’d be remiss not to remind you that my books make ideal holiday gifts for the finite humans in your life, seeking to build…
- The Imperfectionist: Interest is everything — 2025-11-27
Each time I sit down to choose a topic for this newsletter, there’s a moment when my self-important inner judge – who loves to involve himse…
- The Imperfectionist: You have to do the living yourself — 2025-10-30
In recent years, I’ve done lots of podcast interviews, so by now I’m familiar with what I’ve come to think of as the Podcaster’s Standard Cl…
- The Imperfectionist: Five short thoughts (plus upcoming US events) — 2025-10-03
First this week, a reminder that I’m doing six events in the US from Monday to mark the paperback publication of MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS, vi…
- The Imperfectionist: A string of beads — 2025-09-19
Welcome back to The Imperfectionist – and please pardon the longer-than-usual time between the last edition and this one!
- The Imperfectionist: The power of immediacy — 2025-08-07
To explain what I mean, I suppose I’ll have to tell you about the other day when I deleted, or threw in the recycling, about 300 articles I’…
- The Imperfectionist: Acting because you don’t have to — 2025-07-03
First, this week: would you mind helping me infiltrate some social media networks, to spread imperfectionism-related propaganda there?
- The Imperfectionist: Living two hours in the future — 2025-06-19
In the return of an occasional series – marking this newsletter’s return from a brief, uhh, unplanned spring vacation – here are three unrel…
- The Imperfectionist: Navigating by aliveness — 2025-05-15
I’m amazed and very pleased to say that the UK paperback of Meditations for Mortals entered the Sunday Times bestsellers at number 9 this we…
- The Imperfectionist: Be a disappointment — 2025-04-24
Before diving in this week, I’m delighted to let you know that the paperback edition of MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS is out in the UK next Thursd…
- The Imperfectionist: No escape (from 2022) — 2025-04-10
With springtime school holidays upon us in the UK, I’m re-sharing this piece from 2022, which is, appropriately enough, about how tempting i…
- The Imperfectionist: Three ideas for turbulent times — 2025-03-27
This week, in the return of an occasional series: three ideas that detonated something in my mind in recent weeks, presented here instead of…
- The Imperfectionist: Toxic preconditions — 2025-03-13
And what’s a toxic precondition? In this post, where I encountered the notion, the social scientist James Horton is exploring why people who…
- The Imperfectionist: Reality is right here — 2025-02-20
Before diving in today, I’m thrilled to let you know that my latest book MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS is one of two official selections for the l…
- The Imperfectionist: Seventy per cent — 2025-01-30
The 70% rule: If you’re roughly 70% happy with a piece of writing you’ve produced, you should publish it. If you’re 70% satisfied with a pro…
- The Imperfectionist: The right dose of self-discipline — 2025-01-16
Mid-to-late January strikes me as an excellent time to consider the goals you’d like to achieve this year.
- The Imperfectionist: Act fast — 2024-12-12
There’s a piece of advice I still struggle with, but that I’m more and more convinced lies at the heart of meaningful productivity, successf…
- The Imperfectionist: How not to freak out, part two — 2024-11-08
I hesitated to return to this topic at all here, partly because I think stuffing our heads with partisan politics is a big part of what ails…
- The Imperfectionist: How not to freak out about the US election — 2024-10-30
This post isn’t intended solely for people who are, to use a bit of technical psychology jargon, freaking the hell out about next week’s Ame…
- The Imperfectionist: The unproductivity challenge — 2024-10-03
• If you’re in the US or Canada, you have until the end of Monday, Oct 7, to preorder the book to receive my hourlong video masterclass on t…