logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2025
49m 38s

The art of choosing what to do

NPR
About this episode
The way we spend our hours defines our lives. This hour, TED speakers explore how we make choices about time, meaning and attention in a world of infinite options.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Today
Searching for paradise
We often view paradise as a place of safety, beauty, tranquility. It’s an ideal we long for but one we can rarely find. This hour, TED speakers search for utopia and come to terms with reality.Original broadcast date: November 10, 2023TED Radio Hour+ listeners now get access to b ... Show More
50m 6s
Jul 10
Tracking what your body needs
Our bodies are always sending signals ... but are we listening? This hour, TED speakers explore new ways to track and understand our health — from cutting-edge technology to simple, everyday habits.Guests include exercise physiologist Keith Diaz, genomicist Michael Snyder and wri ... Show More
50 m
Jul 3
The state of fashion
Whether you love fashion or hate it, we all have to get dressed in the morning, and the industry affects us in complex ways. This hour, the outrageous, environmental and seedy sides of fashion.Guests include designer Machine Dazzle, supply chain expert Aparna Mehta, journalist Am ... Show More
50m 5s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
Presenting 'TED Radio Hour': Work, Play, Rest
The past few years have shaken the fundamental ways we live. It's... disorienting. But it's also an opportunity to reexamine how we spend our time. In this episode from TED Radio Hour, speakers investigate evolving notions of what it means to pay our bills.See pcm.adswizz.com for ... Show More
50m 40s
Jan 2025
Wellness 2.0: Who Do You Want To Be?
<p>We all have to make certain choices in life, such as where to live and how to earn a living. Parents and peers influence our major life choices, but they can also steer us in directions that leave us deeply unsatisfied. This week: a favorite conversation with psychologist <a h ... Show More
47m 15s
Oct 2022
How To Build a Happy Life: Spend Time on What You Value
We try to use our time wisely—both at work and in leisure—but we often waste it. We may blame work for stripping us of recreation, but when valuable free time comes around, we can often revert back to more work. What explains the gap between how we use our time and how we want to ... Show More
33m 24s
Jan 2025
Is it ok to just work all the time?
For our first episode in the new year, a reflection on how we spend our time. What we devote our life to, and the roads we choose not to take. A conversation with Ira Glass.Tickets for the Search Engine live showSupport the show 
1h 3m
Sep 2023
SYSK Choice: The Secrets to Better Conversation & A Better Way to Meet Deadlines
Every day, you make a countless number of decisions, from what to have for dinner to what detergent to buy. This episode begins by looking at how humans make decisions and choices in life and how to recognize which ones you are probably wasting too much time on. https://fs.blog/2 ... Show More
49m 17s
Dec 2020
Move beyond the urgent
Schedule time to think about important things Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
4m 44s
Yesterday
Data Set 2: Your Choices Have Real Consequences
Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TPpyiI1rqmbBOkORjH2N0 Want a different life?Make different choices.🍵 UNLOCK 14 BIOHACKING POTIONS🧠 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD DASHBOARD: Make Better Life Decisions!Unlock FREE Mastery Checklist 🧪 ---------------------------- -- ... Show More
6m 28s
Feb 2022
A playful approach to creating music | TED Radio Hour
As kids, play comes naturally. But over time, it gets replaced by work. This hour, TED speakers explore how to reconnect with play -- to spark creativity, combat despair and find our way in the world. In this segment, host Manoush Zomorodi talks to Grammy winner Jacob Collier, wh ... Show More
19m 14s
Sep 2021
Time Management
Time is democratic. We all have the same amount of hours in a week. Laura Vanderkam studied how the most successful people allocate their time and shares it with you! She also has 2 podcasts. The one I produce is called Before Breakfast and it's jam packed with useful information ... Show More
27m 21s
Dec 2021
#269 — Deep Time
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks with Oliver Burkeman about our relationship to time. They discuss the perils of efficiency, being vs becoming, the illusion of time as a resource, parenting and childhood, work-life balance, the loss of leisure, the planning tr ... Show More
40m 4s