Mr. Burkeman is the author of “Four Thousand Weeks” and “Meditations for Mortals.” In these edgy and ominous days, anyone suggesting that it might be wise to pay a bit less attention to the dramas of ...

We spend our lives preparing to live. We tell ourselves that happiness starts when we finally get organised, lose those extra pounds, or clear our endless to-do lists. Oliver Burkeman's 'Meditations ...