logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
35m 21s

Why Don't We Have a 15-hour Work Week?

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

By 2030 we'll only work 15 hours a week, predicted the legendary economist John Maynard Keynes back in 1930. He thought advances in technology and wealth would let us earn enough money to live in a day or two - leaving the rest of the week for leisure and community service. 

How wrong he was. We seem to be working more than ever - with technology adding extra tasks to our workdays (like answering emails and monitoring Slack). Dr Laurie longs for more leisure time, but how can she tame her fear of being "unproductive"? 

Computer scientist Cal Newport explains how we all got into this mess - and why we still treat modern employees as if they were farm laborers or assembly line workers. Reformed "productivity junkie" Oliver Burkeman also offers tips on how to concentrate our minds on fulfilling and important work - and not little tasks that chew up so much of our days. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Nov 5
Reset Your Relationship with Stress (for National Stress Awareness Day)
On National Stress Awareness Day we've pulled a popular episode from our archive. Stress can suck. Many of us drown in it - worrying about past events and fearing upcoming challenges. We even stress about feeling stressed. So how can we reset our relationship with stress - benefi ... Show More
43m 27s
Nov 3
Listen Now: Decoding Women’s Health with Dr. Elizabeth Poynor
Here’s a preview of a new show I think you’ll enjoy, Decoding Women’s Health. On Decoding Women’s Health, Dr. Elizabeth Poynor makes the science of women’s health accessible—from hormones to metabolism to longevity—so you can thrive at any stage of life. A world-renowned gynecolo ... Show More
53m 50s
Oct 27
How Horror Movies and True Crime Can Make You Happier
Halloween isn't just costumes and candy. It's also a time when we indulge our interest in the scary and macabre. But there's also a taboo about gory horror movies and gruesome true crime shows - we often feel that being interested in blood and violence is unhealthy. The opposite ... Show More
44m 57s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 11
Why do We Still Need to Work?
A century ago, economist John Maynard Keynes confidently predicted that by 2030, we would only be working 15 hours a week. Yet, here we are—working harder than ever! While technology has dramatically boosted productivity, our work hours remain largely unchanged, and the prevalenc ... Show More
15m 56s
May 2022
Productivity Rules for Winning the Week with Demir Bentley
<span style="font-weight: 400;">A lot of the time as husbands and fathers we find ourselves in the mode of busy-ness, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we are productive. Being busy does not always equal that we are productive, but if we actually focus on productivity, we wi ... Show More
1 h
Mar 2024
Do Less, Accomplish More with Laura Mae Martin
Kayla is joined by author, speaker, and productivity coach Laura Mae Martin to discuss how her years at Google taught her the ways in which we can actually use our much needed downtime to optimize our work time flow. As the Executive Productivity Advisor at Google in the office o ... Show More
24m 37s
Jun 2025
Futurology: The Forces That Shape Your Future & Where's the 4-Day Workweek?
It makes sense that if you want to cut down on the amount of spam email you get, just unsubscribe from those emails. WAIT! That could make things worse. There is a better way to handle spam emails, and I begin this episode by explaining how. https://www.yahoo.com/news/warning-hit ... Show More
50m 39s
Apr 2025
1204: Productivity Beyond Hacks: Breaking Free from Just-in-Time Living With Megan Sumrell
"I didn't realize my life had gotten to a point where I couldn't even answer a simple question of what I do for fun." Discover the wake-up call that transformed Megan Sumrell's relationship with time—and how it can change yours too. Heather sits down with Megan Sumrell—time manag ... Show More
37m 45s
Sep 2022
How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett ~ Full Audiobook [self help]
How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett audiobook. Genre: self help 'Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say 'lives,' I do not mean exists, nor 'muddles through.'' -- Arnold Bennett knew a 'rat race' when he saw one. Every day, his fellow wh ... Show More
1h 30m
Dec 2024
Sunday Pick: How to be productive without burning out with Cal Newport | ReThinking
<p>Each Sunday, TED shares an episode of another podcast we think you'll love, handpicked for you… by us. This is an episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant. Cal Newport knows a thing or two about productivity: when he’s not teaching computer science at Georgetown, he’s writing for ... Show More
42m 40s
Oct 2024
Is Work Fundamentally Broken?
Laurie Ruettimann is a former human resources leader and current author and speaker on work place culture. She looks at how the overall system of capitalism is hurting us, what is broken about work, and what can be done. She shares her own journey through corporate America, despi ... Show More
44m 55s
Oct 2024
Travail : le choc des générations ?
Vivons-nous une grande marche arrière dans notre rapport au travail ? 4 ans après la pandémie de Covid qui promettait de redéfinir sa place dans nos vies, des grandes entreprises décident de mettre fin au télétravail, pendant qu’à l'Assemblée Nationale, la rengaine du “travailler ... Show More
1h 6m