If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your to-do list or thought life would finally feel manageable if you could just get everything under control, Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman might be the book for you.
I went into the book expecting a meditation guide due to the title. But I was pleasantly surprised to find it was something even more useful for me — a book of daily reflections based on Stoicism and practical advice. Having read Burkeman’s previous book, Four Thousand Weeks, I was interested to see how he developed his ideas in this follow-up. Like his previous book, Meditations for Mortals reframed how I think about time, control, and the messy beauty of life itself.
Key Points
Burkeman explores a problem that seems to be ubiquitous if (like me) you read a lot of self-help, management and performance psychology, this being our endless quest to “fix” life by trying to control and organise it to perfection. We set goals, to-do lists, routines, aim for streaks, and hyper-achievement. This, Burkeman argues, leads to anxiety, burnout and disconnection. For many, including seasoned professionals and business leaders, the problem isn’t the self-help systems or productivity methods they use but the idea that life can be controlled. To counter this, the daily meditations in this book offer a radical and liberating solution: accept life’s uncertainty and take action without attachment to the outcome.
Based in part on the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, Meditations for Mortals is a daily meditation book to help you reflect on your daily struggles. It’s four weeks of daily advice, each week with practical ways to work smarter, stress less and focus on what really matters.
Burkeman challenges the myth of perfection and offers practical principles that help business leaders navigate complex, unpredictable situations in both work and life.
The author encourages us to take the book one day at a time. It is structured in weekly sections, with each chapter serving as a daily reflection. I found it hard to restrict myself and listened to multiple days worth at a time via audiobook, but I now have a practical resource I can revisit. I can potentially add it to my daily morning routine to keep me aligned with the theme of not being a slave to 100% completion of such routines, which feels nice. I have even reduced some of my own weekly goals and streaks to 5 or 6 times per week instead of every day, leaving room for the inevitable impossibility of achieving them.
Who is it for
Meditations for Mortals is for people who manage teams, businesses or their own busy professional lives. It appeals directly to business leaders and management professionals who find themselves stuck in the endless cycle of doing, planning and controlling everything. If you’ve tried productivity tools, self-help systems or time management techniques and still feel that nagging anxiety, this book might be the mindset shift you’re looking for.
Whether you’re reviewing your professional strategy or just looking for a healthier way to view life’s ups and downs, this is a good resource. If you liked Four Thousand Weeks or struggle with sticking to habits, this could be the relief you’re looking for.
Image credit: @oliverburkeman on X
