Oliver Burkeman: “I stared at a painting for 3 hours straight”

Could staring at a painting for three hours make you more productive? 

In this episode, I try a strange experiment inspired by bestselling author Oliver Burkeman.

Based on lessons from his book Four Thousand Weeks, I stare at Picasso’s Guernica for three hours.

No phone, no distractions, just a notepad and mic.

Did I go mad? 

Access the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/d4e55ac69d

You’ll learn:

Why investing time and effort can increase our appreciation (feat. the Mauritian ritual study).

How control impacts happiness, health, and even longevity (feat. nursing home experiment).

Why AI and “life-optimising” tools often leave us feeling more stressed, not less.

The power of patience (and how to cultivate it in a hyper-distracted world).

What happens when you do nothing for three hours…

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Access the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/d4e55ac69d

Watch the 3-hour time lapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paKup2BuN38

Sign up to my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

Oliver’s book Four Thousand Weeks: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/fourthousandweeks

Oliver’s book Meditation for Mortals: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/meditationsformortals

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Sources:

Burkeman, O. (2021). Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Burkeman, O. (2024). Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Langer, E. J., & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(2), 191–198.

Xygalatas, D., Mitkidis, P., Fischer, R., Reddish, P., Skewes, J., Geertz, A. W., Roepstorff, A., & Bulbulia, J. (2013). Extreme rituals promote prosociality. Psychological Science, 24(8), 1602–1605.