The Religion of Productivity, Oliver Burkeman

Rebel Wisdom

For years the journalist Oliver Burkeman became obsessed with productivity and personal growth, documenting his explorations in a weekly column. Finally it struck him that this attempt was a deeply religious quest, tied into ideas of perfectibility and salvation. When he realised this, he was finally able to find more peace.

"For me, the obsession with productivity was totally tied up with this weird self-worth question. [There's] this whole notion that it's all focussed on some moment when everything's going to be alright…there's something about that feels like it's got something to do with justification and salvation, and that feels very religious to me."

Oliver is someone who has had a similar path to Rebel Wisdom’s founder David Fuller, working for the legacy media, and also very interested in personal growth, and they sat down for a wide ranging and fascinating conversation which we are releasing now as a special preview for all Rebel Wisdom subscribers.

Check out Oliver's latest book 'Four Thousand Weeks', a sobering allusion to the average human lifespan: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/books