Why Optimization Culture Is Making You Miserable artwork
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Why Optimization Culture Is Making You Miserable

Oct 20, 2026 · 50 min

This is a bonus episode of The Prof G Pod — beginning this week, we’re publishing an extra Conversations episode every Tuesday. Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks and Meditations for Mortals, joins Scott Galloway to discuss why our obsession with optimizing every part of life is making us more anxious, not more fulfilled. He explains why productivity systems and “maxxing” culture…