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What if the time is never coming when you’re ‘on top of things’, or finally feel like you know what you’re doing?
 
Meditations for Mortals is about stepping into a more meaningful, productive, absorbing and energizing life – not later, but right here in the midst of the overwhelm, the distraction, and the anxiety-inducing news headlines.

Its four weeks of digestible dailyish chapters – reflecting on quotations from philosophy, religion, literature and self-help – outline the practical philosophy of ‘imperfectionism’, offering an action-oriented, profound yet entertaining crash course in thriving as a finite human. 

A book about diving into reality and doing more of what counts, here and now.

Chapters include:​

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• It's worse than you think: On the liberation of defeat

• Rules that serve life: On doing things 'dailyish'

• Don't stand in generosity's way: On the futility of 'becoming a better person'

• How to start from sanity: On paying yourself first

• Against productivity debt: On the power of a done list

• Finish things: On the magic of completion

• Look for the life task: On what reality wants

• What if this were easy? On the false allure of effort

• Stop being so kind to Future You: On entering time and space completely

Advance praise for MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS: 

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“More than a book of ideas, Meditations for Mortals offers a practical path toward personal transformation – one that helps you sidestep the shallow allure of frenetic busyness and find a liberating joy in the limits and imperfections of life. A must-read”

—CAL NEWPORT, author of Slow Productivity and Deep Work

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“A delightful, engaging, rigorous and reassuring book. The world would be a better and less frightening place if more people stopped what they are doing and read this book” —CATHY RENTZENBRINK, author of How to Feel Better

 

“Oliver Burkeman has a way of giving you the most unexpected productivity advice exactly when you need it” —MARK MANSON, author of Everything is F*cked and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck​

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“I follow Oliver Burkeman's personal, literary, and journalistic adventures into wisdom with admiration and exhilaration. Now he brings us a ‘retreat of the mind’ in a very special book. We should all read this, preferably in the company of others – for the sake of our aching world as well as the state of our souls” —KRISTA TIPPETT, host of On Being​

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“Full of wisdom and comfort… a really important book about embracing truth and reality which will help a lot of people leave their fantasies and dive into real life” —CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN, author of Ultra-Processed People  

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“A bracing and refreshing antidote for what ails high achievers. With crackling wit and counterintuitive wisdom, Burkeman shows that it’s okay – and often smarter – to do less, let some goals slide, and embrace our imperfections. This book is both a comfort and a challenge – exactly what our trying times demand”  —DANIEL PINK, author of When, Drive, and To Sell is Human​

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“A deeply helpful reflection on how to permit our lives a sigh of relief. Moments stopped me in my tracks. Oliver is a steersman through sanity, and must be read alongside any attempts at self-improvement” —DERREN BROWN, author of Happy and A Book of Secrets

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OLIVER BURKEMAN is the author of the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. He wrote a long-running column for the Guardian, This Column Will Change Your Life, and has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality and the power of limits. To receive his writing as soon as it’s published, subscribe to his twice-monthly email The Imperfectionist.
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