Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals offers a liberating approach to life’s challenges through the philosophy of “imperfectionism.” By embracing our limitations and shedding the illusion of perfection, Burkeman provides practical tools and fresh perspectives to help us focus on what truly matters.

Blending philosophy, psychology, and self-help, the book is filled with actionable insights, thought-provoking reflections, and relatable wisdom. Whether taken as a four-week retreat or devoured in one sitting, it’s an inspiring guide to living more fully in the present.

Perfect for anyone overwhelmed by the pressure to “do it all,” this is a must-read for finding clarity, joy, and purpose in imperfection.

Burkeman’s previous book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, was quite literally life-changing for me—it’s about the fact that an average human lifespan is four thousand weeks long, and how keeping this number in mind can help you decide how you truly want to spend your limited time.

Meditations for Mortals continues in a similar vein and builds on the idea of creating a meaningful and satisfying life, whatever that looks like for you specifically. It’s written in a month’s worth of small chapters that you can either read through daily, like a secular devotional that you soak up slowly and ponder a bit at a time, or gulp up in a few sittings like a regular degular book. I read it quickly this time, but I will absolutely be getting a physical copy for my shelf, and I imagine that I’ll try the one-chapter-per-day thing when I revisit it in the future.

Burkeman was targeting me at multiple different points in Meditations for Mortals, but here are just a few of the ideas and bits of advice that made me feel the most seen:

Just do something today—don’t worry about researching the hell out of that thing, or building a habit of that thing, or becoming the kind of person who does that thing. Just do the thing, and if you keep doing it over time, boom, you’ve built a habit.
We’re obsessed with finding freedom from limitation, when we should focus instead on finding freedom in limitation. You can do anything, as long as you’re willing to face the consequences (good or bad).
Don’t stress about an unbroken streak, when doing something “dailyish” is completely sufficient.
One way to defeat perfectionism is to set quantity goals. Don’t worry about doing something good, just do something.

Burkeman also talks about how lots of people are scared to commit to choices, lifestyles, jobs, etc. because they want to “keep their options open” and they’re worried about making their lives narrower and smaller. “But Emily,” he writes (he doesn’t really say my name in the book, I’m doing a bit) (and also this isn’t a real quote), “refusing to make a decision is, in itself, a decision—time doesn’t stop just because you can’t make up your mind. By stalling, you’re just choosing to spend your life in a nebulous space of forever pending. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?” To which I say no, Oliver, it isn’t. And please stop shouting, you’re embarrassing me in front of my friends.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book!

Meditations for mortals was an excellent read. I read a chapter a day and got a lot out of it. I appreciate the focus on what matters, not worrying over things I can't control, and going inward.

This book was lovely to read. I particularly recommend it at the pace Burkeman suggests: one meditation (chapter) per day. They build on each other as the weeks go by and I enjoyed starting my day off with reading each one.

This book isn’t about hacks, shortcuts, or perfecting a morning routine. Instead, it offers practical advice and gentle reminders that life is finite—and it's perfectly okay not to do everything.

The content is broken down into four weeks, each focusing on a key theme, with short, insightful chapters to read each day. The chapters are quick yet incredibly relevant. One that stood out to me explored how we often overload ourselves with information, reminding us that we don’t need to remember every detail. Instead, we can trust that the most important lessons will stick when we need them.

This is one I’ll be keeping close, both in Kindle and paperback format, for future rereads.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oliver Burkeman is among the most brilliant, intriguing, and frustrating authors. Why? I can barely make it through one page of his books, emails, or a few minutes of a podcast interview without diverging down a research rabbit hole, lost for who could know how many hours in open tab deliciousness!

His Christ’s College education and fourteen years as a columnist (“This Column Will Change Your Life”) at “The Guardian” cement his vibrant curiosity. His in-depth explorations in previously published books, such as the bestselling “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021), display his vast knowledge of contemporary social-psychological structures.

But Burkeman pulled out all of his writing chops (and contemplative stops) with “Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021). While “Four Thousand Weeks” was often mistaken as a productivity book and only a productivity book, he declares in “Meditations for Mortals” that the continued pursuit of better, faster, and more will only lead to more misery and frustration. 

Organized into four sections of one week each (Being Finite, Taking Action, Letting Go, and Showing Up) that include a new chapter and insight each day (Stop Being so Kind to Future You: On Entering Time and Space Completely), Burkeman leads us down the path of his own personal study from the Stoics, social theorists (including Hartmut Rosa), and his newsletter “The Imperfectionist.” Highlighting the difficulties of the endless loop of a stay-on-top-of-everything mindset, he aims to insert more meaning into common assumptions about planning and living our “best lives.”

Thank you kindly to Oliver Burkeman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and Netgalley for the eARC.

Ever since Oliver Burkeman shunned obsessions with productivity and hyper-efficiency and wrote about things ‘taking the time they need to take’ in order to get done, I’ve taken great comfort in listening to or reading anything else he has to say that will aid in helping me rethink what makes a meaningful life.

In his new book, MEDITATIONS FOR MORTALS, Oliver Burkeman tackles the challenge of figuring out ‘what to do that is meaningful’ in life instead of ‘how to do it all’.
He expands on one of the arguments of his book Four-Thousand Weeks—that the thing you’re putting off ‘until the right time, just until everything’s in order’ will never end up being done, much less started, because you will simply never, ever ‘have everything in order.’ It’s an embrace of imperfection and just. doing. things. Which he graciously acknowledges is one of the hardest things in the world to do for many of us.

I followed Burkeman’s own suggestion for reading Meditations for Mortals as a sort of four-week “retreat for the mind,” by taking in a chapter each day. I liked this low-pressure approach and it was very achievable. Some days I would read two entries but I liked letting the ideas roll around in my mind for a day, especially when something particularly resonated with me.

Thanks Netgalley and FSG Books for the ARC

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts is that rare thing - a self-help book that actually lives up to its title! With personal examples, quotes from a range of experts (including Marcus Aurelius, Jean Paul Sartre, Marie-Louise von Franz, Anne LaMott, Thich Nhat Hahn, and many others) and brief chapters that describe the ways in which people limit themselves AND how they can solve their problems, Oliver Burkman succeeds where so many others have failed. He explains that human beings are incapable of perfection, but capable of accomplishing amazing things.
I found it particularly helpful to read that we can never conquer all our flaws but can, instead, work around and through them to live immensely satisfying lives.
The author contrasts the ways in which modern people put themselves at a disadvantage by assuming they can "fix" the world, with those of ancient people who understood they couldn't control things like weather, war, or disease, and still managed to live rich and often beautiful lives.
He concludes with one of my favorite stories, about the Hasidic rabbi who always carried two pieces of paper (one in each pocket.) One said "I am dust and ashes" and the other said "For me the world was created." Balancing these two ideas enables a person to live a wonderful life.
I found myself underlining more and more of this book until I realized that it was pointless. Either I would remember the useful parts or I could go back and read them again. This is the first book in a very long time that I would actually buy for others and would want as part of my permanent collection. While easy to read and understand, it is best read slowly, one chapter at a time to allow the reader to savor and digest the wisdom each contains.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, Giroux for giving me access to a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read Oliver Burkeman’s Time Management For Mortals and really enjoyed it so I was excited to see he had another great book on the horizon. I also found this book helpful and enjoyable and benefical.

Wonderful book! Burkeman concisely gives permission to not overthink decisions and focus on being present by living the life one actually has. Burkeman is a master at synthesizing productivity concepts to make them understandable and easy to implement.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book builds off the author’s previous work “Four Thousand Weeks” and offers a philosophical viewpoint towards time management. The main advantage to this book is its brevity. It’s split into 28 chunks and a total of 200 pages. I followed it as advised with one chapter a day for a month. I didn’t totally overhaul my life, but it was a refreshing change of pace from other self-help books that tend to ignite a flame, then peter out over time. This gave permission to reorganize based on your priorities rather than self-imposed, unattainable social standards.

To be transparent, there are some examples throughout the book that won’t resonate with every reader. The one that negatively sticks out to me is educating your kids outside the school system with the author saying, “There’s a solid chance you can scrabble together the resources and figure out a way.” This isn’t inherently wrong. Some people certainly can, and do. But there is a flippancy embedded that undercuts the reality that this attitude can set children up for failure. In an age where literacy and math scores are rapidly declining, I think it’s important for readers to understand there are differing consequences depending on what priorities are embraced and what falls by the wayside.

Overall, though, there is a solid narrative structure throughout. This will likely appeal to those looking for bite-size chunks of wisdom. I would recommend this book to fans of Ryan Holiday and K.C. Davis.

"Meditations for Mortals" is a thought-provoking and insightful book that offers readers a chance to reflect on their own limitations and embrace the impermanence of life. As a follow-up to Burkeman's previous work, "Four Thousand Weeks," (which I really enjoyed) this book delves deeper into the concepts of time, mortality, and the human condition.

The book is structured as a four-week journey, with each day offering a meditation on a different aspect of life. Burkeman's writing is engaging and accessible, making complex ideas easy to understand. His tone is compassionate and empathetic, acknowledging the struggles we all face in a fast-paced world.

What sets "Meditations for Mortals" apart is its emphasis on self-reflection and mindfulness. Burkeman invites readers to question their assumptions and challenge their habits, encouraging a more mindful approach to life.

Overall, "Meditations for Mortals" is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading it.

Oliver Burkeman is my favorite self-help writer. The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking and Four Thousand Weeks are favorites in the personal development category. Probably because Burkeman doesn't really try to change you, he suggests subtle shifts in perspective which help you enjoy the life you already live. Meditations for Mortals is BRILLIANT. Once again, Burkeman is suggesting that the key to living the life you want is to embrace the life you have. Yes, there are some tweaks here and there which might prove helpful. Find what works for you. There is no quick fix, mostly because there is no fixing. This is not a guidebook so much as one human sharing their life with vulnerable honesty and offering to take your hand and invite you into your own story. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC.

I love and believe in this book so much that I will be reading it again in January with anyone who wants to join me. If you know me well-enough to have my number, text me and I'll add you to the group chat. I don't plan on having a daily in-person check-in but do think it will be helpful - and fun - to talk about what we agree with, don't agree with, what seems obvious, what we find challenging. Hopefully we can encourage each other to more fully appreciate the life we have. Looking forward to starting the new year with a new perspective!

NetGalley Review

I’m finding that a lot of meditation books are all the same and genuinely lack what I’d want in them. Western books profiting off eastern beliefs,

I must state that my review will be biased because I like Oliver Burkeman. His prior book about time management was both a confrontation and a comfort to me and this book is no different. I was confronted with the ways I have gone about situations, whether in a healthy or non-healthy way, but was comforted by the reassurance that it is all part of the process. This book was so helpful in understanding that imperfections are not something to be ashamed of, but to be embraced, much like the Japanese saying of wabi-sabi. As a recovering perfectionist, who still insists they have the time and energy of a young undergrad, and lack of responsibilities, to achieve everything, this book was a great comfort to the working-adult limitations I must acknowledge are hindering me from being young again, and that's okay; it doesn't make me any less or more.

I found this book an incredibly insightful reminder of how we fail to choose what is important to us in life as well as wise and convincingly phrased permissions to seek those things whenever possible. I often spend too much time in my head planning and doing whatever I think I should be doing rather than doing what I truly want to do. While a certain amount of this is necessary, the vast majority of it is not. Life is short, we are never in control, and we must chase joy whenever possible. While this seems obvious, humans have evolved to ignore those things quite a bit of the time, and society imposes norms that don't support them. This is not a prescriptive self-help book, but rather a gentle philosophical guide about how to approach personally realigning daily priorities and enjoying each day to the fullest. I highly recommend this book for anyone who feels they lose their way occasionally, and who doesn't? My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with a ARC of this book.

Prior to reading this book, I found myself inundated with various life happenings that I agonized over when the looming "deadline" approached for writing this advanced reader review. I shouldn't be going through this much turmoil over a silly, short (and uncompensated) review. The book's not that long, nothing compared to a fictional novel at least. I know this writer's style, nothing overly academic or pedantic, simple enough to get through. Why was I stressing myself over this?

It is in this mindset that I start my read only a few days before publication date. And what a read. I can't say that it completely eradicated my general anxiety in life, but it gave me some perspective with which I can ease my (totally self-inflicted suffering). Burkeman splashes a fresh coat of paint on classic philosophical viewpoints, well-packaged and well-adjusted for our modern, information bloated, hyper speed, consumerist era. The secret step by step system to taking control of your life, which I will spoil for you here, is that there is no such system at all. The limitations of human beings are such that total control is an impossible dream. When you're ready to confront it, here's a book to help you get there.

Burkeman asks: Time is finite, so what does it mean to live? This was great to read in short bits at a time.

That subtitle hooked me – Four weeks to embrace your limitations and make time for what counts.

And to be sure, the book does have an enticing layout, 28 daily meditations, manageable, bite-size philosophies to contemplate.

If Henry David Thoreau wrote this, I would have enjoyed it because we are both transcendentalists; we both share the same values. However, I don’t subscribe to the author’s philosophies.

Meditations for Mortals primarily doles out glib advice. For example, one meditation involves minding our own business.

But the world should be more loving. For example, my first job was working at Sears as a cashier. At this store, you could leave immediately after closing time if your cash registers were counted. However, an unlucky cashier might have a late customer and get stuck. This wasn’t a policy or a corporate mandate, but we would always ask the remaining cashier, “Can I do anything to help? Can I take your trash?”

This. This right here is what the world needs more of. Less judgment and more love.

I love the way Oliver Burkeman explains things and helps to shift my perspective. There were so many moments that I found myself nodding along and realizing that I was guilty of so many things that were wasting my finite time. This book was about so much more than just meditation, it's about taking back control of your time and focusing on things that are really important to you.

The book is divided into four different sections: Being Finite, Taking Action, Letting Go, and Showing Up. Each section has seven different days, so it's perfect to read and digest a little bit at a time. Both my husband and I read it at the same time and then spent a few minutes discussing it each morning over coffee. There is a lot of great information in the book and worth reading if you're looking to reclaim some of the dead weight and time suckers.

Thanks for Net Galley and the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.