Hey y’all, it’s Reema. Sometimes, I think about my future self.

She’s more organized, in better shape. She wakes up early, she’s a great friend and she has really nice hair. I think I’m scared that if I don’t get to everything on all my to-do lists, I might never get to be her. Instead I’ll feel like I’ve wasted my time.

A lot of my friends feel this way, and I know some of you do too. So on this week’s show, we’re going to look at our obsession with productivity — the exhausting effort to be completely optimized in work and outside of it, and why it feels like what we do is never enough.

We’ll talk with neuroscientist Sahar Yousef about what a productivity mindset is doing to our brains. Later, “Can’t Even” author Anne Helen Petersen joins us, and we look back in history to see how millennials reached a burnout breaking point.

If you liked this episode, share it with that friend who’s already talking about New Year’s resolutions.

By the way, this is our last episode of the season — we’ll be back in 2021. To keep up with what we’re doing until then, subscribe to our newsletter! Here’s the latest issue, in case you missed it.

Finally, if you want to tell us what you thought of this episode or anything else, drop us a line at 347-RING-TIU (347-746-4848) or fill out the form below.

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