Why patience is a superpower | Oliver Burkeman | TEDxManchester

To say we live in an era marked by distraction and impatience is a laughable understatement. Oliver Burkeman makes the case for doing one thing at a time, and letting things take the time they take - and explains why this is a recipe not just for a more peaceful life, but a more meaningful and accomplished one too. Oliver Burkeman is the author of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, a book about embracing your limitations and getting round to what counts. Wharton Business School Professor Adam Grant described Oliver’s book as “the most important book ever written on time management”.
Previously Oliver wrote The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. For many years he wrote a popular column for the Guardian, ‘This Column Will Change Your Life’. In his email newsletter The Imperfectionist, he writes about productivity, mortality, the power of limits and building a meaningful life in an age of distraction. Oliver was born in Liverpool and now lives in the North York Moors. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@AdityaYadav-ku2qx]

Started watching the video, but had that nagging thought in the back of my mind that it's not moving fast enough, so felt like skipping ahead or just closing the video altogether. That is when it dawned on me that the feeling I had been feeling is the literal topic of the video and it has a name: impatience. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[@samanthafrancis2704]

Same here 😆

[@notagain3732]

Im crying

[@saudigold50]

Apt.

[@TinaTaraOfficial]

Lol 😂 that’s almost poetic

[@kukushka314]

oh how sweet it is that youtube offers 1.5 x speed playback ;)

[@stustrange6647]

My absolute favorite quote from this TedTalk: "When you surrender the attempt to dictate the speed of the experience, that's when the real experience can begin." O. Burkeman

[@varshaarora8351]

1. Practice creative waiting 2. Embrace the power of stopping 3. Learn doing one thing at a time

[@warrenbradford2597]

I'll remember these 3 steps of using the power of patience.

[@AmanVarmaa]

Thanks now i can skip watching the video

[@jasongraham7450]

“When you surrender the need to dictate the speed of the experience, that’s when the real experience begins”

[@warrenbradford2597]

I'll remember this when waiting in general. Thank you for this quote!Who and where did you hear, though?

[@jayabharath7570]

Yeah same question where did you hear this quote, it's philosophical and matches the bus life

[@motivationeyes2852]

*Everyone who reads this, we don't know each other and probably never will but I wish you all the best in life and all the luck in the world* 🗣️🗣

[@Mr.Snookertips147]

Thank you! I wish you the same

[@Felix-f6x]

thank u

[@michaeljohns5834]

I mean Pascal even went as far as saying (I quote): "“All of man’s misfortune comes from one thing, which is not knowing how to sit quietly in a room".

[@beppobarrendero74]

Really deep

[@georgeforall]

Did he have deadlines and bills to pay?

[@abstractart7941]

@@georgeforall Just a note that the actual quote refers to man's 'inability' to sit alone, not from 'not knowing.' With this shift, Pascal answers your 100 percent valid question : ) . Indeed, if people didn't have deadlines, bills to pay, people to see, they'd be able to sit at home, in peace. But that's not the case, so, we have all of our problems.

[@pisceanqueen1]

Yes, Patience is the FOURTH Super Power! Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness Self-control

[@alphonsus5887]

Gentleness is a virtue? I don't think this can be true all the time. You will probably just be naive, if you are gentle, then it's probably someone else's advantage.

[@Dawn56032]

Isn't joy also one of the 4 passions that pull apart from self-control?

[@VladimirTrujilloOG]

It´s not a super power, it´s actually a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The list you mentioned is in Galatians 5:22-23. And a really important and essential thing: you need the Holy Spirit of God to have it, because it is "the Fruit of the Holy Spirit".

[@pisceanqueen1]

Sorry guys; I don't actually think they are "super powers," that was just a fun way of saying it. 😄 The real power comes from Holy Spirit, just as Vlad said. ❤️

[@VladimirTrujilloOG]

@@pisceanqueen1That was a fast reply to my comment, “no patience needed” 😂 Thanks ! 👍🏻

[@olivierm.1353]

This Talk is basically about the prequels of any spirituality ideology. You can now move to the next steps : meditate, learn about living in the moment, reconnect with your true self and stop identifying yourself as your ego. Then discover inner peace and find yourself enjoying being patient.

[@ryanchan1680]

Watch me listen to the “power of now” 7 times 😁🥴😂

[@olivierm.1353]

@@ryanchan1680 yup, my favourite on the topic. I'm not a fan of religious references in most other spiritual approaches.

[@9othictoon]

“Let things take the time they take”🫶🏾

[@lorireposaify]

"By willing to go more slowly towards a solution, I actually went more quickly towards the solution. "

[@mathewblackman2794]

Absolutely marvelous. Mom always said, “Patience is a virtue.” In this virtue signaling world we now live in…. Mom knows best. Always did. Always will. Love you mum. ❤️

[@AbdallahBotan]

Thank you Oliver Burkeman. I really needed this talk and I'm starting to practice the patience.

[@ritatharp5238]

Thank you for sharing this, very interesting and very insightful.

[@noelbourne2215]

Great speech. Patience is definitely a virtue.

[@BeeSweet16]

Tolerating neglecting everything on your to do list hits me hard. I have several things on my list to do after work and for the love of god, I find myself doing just that. Neglecting others for one. Since one of the tasks has increased in brain power, I have dropped my other tasks to do. I felt guilty and angry. Now I understand I am just being patient and taking my time. I'm serious about what I want and my goal and who cares if it takes more than a day to power through? Or more than a week? I don't wanna skim or gloss, I want to absorb. I really needed to hear that. Reassurance that I'm fine and that it's actually good or okay. I love TED TALKS for things like this.

[@DamageOverTime]

I just realized I'm watching a TEDx Talk titled "Why patience is a superpower" at 1.5 speed. Oh, the irony!

[@Sunshine-pn2gy]

Patience is the fruit of the Spirit Gal 5:22

[@carlaboutte8164]

One of the best.

[@privategirl4716]

I'll always only be patient. Patience is a virtue. No lie. No bs. Seriously, oh yeah. It's very important to always be patient.

[@Jzb2700]

Patience is a virtue!

[@maryamsultana137]

Excellent superbly tremendously Golden awesome thanksgiving indebtedness pleased

[@TinaTaraOfficial]

And in the spirit of this Ted talk I am taking the time to write a comment 😅 Thank you so much for sharing your insights and knowledge. I will definitely take this to heart and make some changes in my life. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@namitagupta8241]

It not be an overstatement to say these Ted Talks have changed my life (even if in just a small way) for the better

[@FBI_open_up248]

That was a very helpful ted talk!! Thank you so much for this

[@IAmTheReignForever]

Finished watchin' this video. I am a Superhero, I am ... Mr. Patience!

[@cheriemonami]

There are people who benefit from busyness. And this can bring them success. It is also true that that isn't the case for everyone but now the message received is that to be successful, one must be busy. Challenging that is important because busyness is only one variable of success. There are many others.

[@brightemerald3924]

This video just popped up for me and I’m the Queen of no patience. Wow!

[@ganesanls8723]

Awesome

[@marleneventer8961]

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit ❤

[@Zephyr9810]

This talk is awesome, thank you for that - many have the problem of impatience without even knowing it's there (Me myself until one hour ago included 😀)

[@tatianamccabe]

I fully relate to everything you share here! Thank you!

[@yinyanglovebomb]

Control your fear of the unknown. This is defeating anxiety with patience.

[@HopefulTribe]

Well said, Oliver Burkeman! Thank you for the talk. I believe we've not only been conditioned to be busy all the time, we're pressured to stay busy. There's a "busier than thou" competition going on that's quite unpleasant. That's why we don't rush anymore at Hopeful Tribe. If there's not enough time to do it, that's ok. We'll finish it later.

[@alphonsus5887]

Thank you Tedx manchester. I needed this.

[@laura4love111]

Someone was tailgating me so bad while listening to this video. I pulled over and let them pass me. Turns out the person turned on the same street as me, and was visiting my next door neighbor. 😂😂😂 Was going to say something to the tailgater, but this video helped me hold my tongue.

[@vladimirgetselevich4704]

Thank you! These are actually very deep and profound observations.

[@JF098]

14:35 "The moment any task gets difficult, you just bounce off to another task instead so you never go through the difficult and challenging parts of any project." Ah... no wonder I give up on things so easily.

[@frankdelahue9761]

Patience is necessary to prevent chaos and disorder, society would disintegrate if we would not have any patience.

[@nada7sn7]

Thank you!

[@AKNOWLEDGEyourself]

Insane

[@Ericaaaaaaaaaa]

Watching this at 1.25x while folding the laundry 👀👀👀

[@joseaparecidosilva289]

Patience is what I need but it's to hard to get it.

[@warrenbradford2597]

I need to do better at being patient. I need to practice it more creatively before doing the latter two steps first.

[@kimberley1235]

Creative waiting... absolutely diamond 💎 ✨️... I do one thing at a time, but I've got ten things on my mind, and it's just a state of mind, that I've been in... 😇🎶

[@__simply_April__]

Patience is key. I’m working on it.

[@MrOgsuccess]

yes and unexpected and positive things can happen I let someone pass in a line and the guy offered me a cup of coffee just for that it was the first time I ever met the guy.

[@frankdelahue9761]

I really like the blue lighting.

[@glennchugg6015]

I enjoyed this, but I do have to admit to watching it at 1.6x speed... I don't have enough free time to watch too many videos.

[@alphonsus5887]

To practice patience you can try rewatching it at 0.25x speed.

[@Angelaalberto0309]

so true im trying to understand patience

[@hrrh]

2x speed 😀then get to the procrastination ted talk 👄

[@purplecarrot8982]

Great!

[@dr.florence]

I'm a huge fan of Oliver's work. I wished, though, he'd also consider the role of trauma in rendering people incapacitated to take any sensible decision. If it was all willpower, nobody would have problems. We all KNOW what to do, just that lots and lots of people can't because their experience sabotage their best efforts.

[@beppobarrendero74]

The more productive you want to be, the less you actually are

[@Mohit-mz1mk]

Patience is not good but very good

[@declanben6224]

Things escalate FAST, when you are not patient.

[@CosmicAcrobat]

Watching this is in 2x speed...

[@marko-pz4kg]

I could probably watch that painting for 3 hours but I actually wouldn't see it because I would think about something else. I'm not very patient person but at this point I think I mastered patient waiting for someone almost 2 years, because he's worth waiting for. Not sure if that will be gain but I'm determined to go that way until I'm here. 😁 I agree it's the point, to choose something or someone that make life meaning.

[@lucianok7731]

its all abt the composure

[@mohitkulkarni462]

how do you know if you are slow or patience?

[@chrisridenhour]

This lecture should have been three hours longer to demonstrate patience

[@spocekoli4309]

I Once Believed Taking Advice From Older Folk Was The Most Wise And Consequential Thing To Do. During These Conversation And Engagements That Seem Thrilling; The Ordeals Of Ones Intellectual Standing, The Ability To Grasp Understanding And Interoperate Knowledge , It Dawns On You.... Age. The Belief That Youthfulness Is A Myth, Seemingly Connected To Ones Joint Belief System. A System That Has Been Programed, Altered Based On Environment. Wisdom, " For Time Waits On No One." They'll Say For Facing The Inevitable Is Intangible To What Some Consider " An Identity Crisis" . At What Point In Life Does It Become A " I Am Looking For Words Of Advice" Conversation , To An " Looking To Deprive You , For Lack Of Belief In Your Own Self Betterment"? Realization.

[@the170jamie]

I got impatient watching this video

[@jordiespinafont2984]

Watch at x1.5

[@freesk8]

Wow, so refreshing: a non-politically biased TED talk! Thanks. :)

[@meridianheights6255]

That was okay, I guess. I don't have the patience to learn how to be patient.

[@denimyadav3826]

Me watching this video on 1.75x speed XD

[@ClydeCyrus]

Clicked this video by accident

[@daniele_petrini]

Me too!!

[@omniacontrariasunt]

And isn't it been a pleasure listening to him? 😌:")

[@sandysan4191]

Me watching the video at 1.5x: 👁👄👁

[@sasidharanc7632]

What is the effect of motor protein of the cell, in the state of patience, are they in stand still position?.

[@CedarsMountainsMan]

Can we paradoxically describe our LIFEstyle to a content rush towards DEATH?

[@АрайТұрғын]

New York

[@Doggieworld3Show]

Such a shame that we need a talk like this these days

[@kimberley1235]

Can't actually believe I've never seen this 😳 😅 .... BTW who... at all.... is fluent enough in any other language, to translate this? 🤔

[@indigo.98]

I watched this on 2x speed…

[@hibaqadir5011]

The fact that I watched this at 2x speed 😂

[@smilergal89]

😅😅 tragedy, I'm doing 3 things at the same time

[@shishodia1962]

Suiiiii

[@freesk8]

Watched this at 1.5x speed. :)

[@ure2grit931]

13:00 best academics were good at stopping

[@frankdelahue9761]

Impatience is a psychopathic trait. Psychopaths are very impatient people.

[@paultaylor7947]

Blah blah blah

[@mickinmerton8053]

I was a computer programmer and always felt that those that are successful are the patient ones.

[@katel8035]

loved this and completely agree, even though I watched it at x1.25 oh the irony

[@syedsuhail4736]

Watching this with 2.0 x speed

[@BladeBarn]

didn't have the patience to watch the whole thing so I guess ill never know

[@hottakeswithann3302]

"It's like when you surrender the attempt to dictate the speed of the experience, that's when the real experience begins." A very calming truth.

[@ArqamKarim]

Me who just pressed right arrow 💀

[@rocketsteps]

This is so good. Do one thing at a time in this context, is a real eye opener. I know about mindfulness and I try to employ it, but my self employment has me racing from one thing to the next. Thanks Oliver, lots to think on.

[@Kannot2023]

Féline predators have pacience to approach their prey. I think pacience gives a evolutionary advantage in hunting and fishing.

[@ashishnagar]

Or just get high ....

[@mayanujaim]

I wasn't patient enough to watch the whole video

[@nilanjanaghosh3432]

Great insight; patience makes you face reality to its real nature. Thank you sir for the lecture and the tips.

[@Painkiller8496]

I will be patiently hand wash my dishes later 😅

[@harrypearle9781]

TRY_WAIT This is s popular slogan in Hawaii. Maybe the trick is to wait but a few minutes to start with, and gain a sense of patience from this Also, waiting even a few seconds for others to say something, might encourage patience, too thanks

[@RosalieElnekave]

very relatable content especially for those suffering from high anxiety like myself... wisdom put nicely, thank you!

[@asmaaglal4275]

Best

[@_donjose]

shout out to all my crypto kings watching this right now relating like a maker PATIENCE!!

[@zebinamastero7671]

How can I pray for you today? You were highlighted to me! Did you ever come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? I feel like He is truly knocking on your heart today🕊🙏😊

[@vathelosfox4986]

Good talk i think we all need more patience in all aspects of life.

[@NoBSGuidesByZoran]

Thanks Cool man. I am 17 years old, and I was looking at one of my drawings, and I was shocked. It was beautiful but-You could see the very impatience it was drawn with. Thank you very much for the advice. I'll take my time doing things from now on.

[@michelegwilliams7783]

Great talk, such an important skill & very definitely makes life more enjoyable

[@marginalized945]

Ever been in a holding cell at the police station for 36 hours with nothing but a toilet and a 8x8 cell with no windows? Yeah, thats patience.

[@amodpataskar5673]

Good video but fails to clarify how impatience has come up, modern world has allowed us to access data, material not essential previously and forced us to make quicker decisions