2 · Chapter Summary 📍

10 minutes

A walk through Chapter 8 — the trap of treating every moment as a means to a future moment, and what it costs us to live our lives as preparation for a life we never quite arrive at.

3 · Discussion Questions 💬

25 minutes

Pick the ones that feel interesting — no need to go in order.

1. Burkeman argues most of us treat the present as a means to a better future. Where are you doing that — in work, in parenting, in fitness, in whatever?
2. When was the last time you were fully in something — not optimizing it, not posting about it, not improving for next time? What was different?
3. The chapter suggests "instrumentalizing" our lives — turning every moment into preparation — is a deep source of unhappiness. Does that match your experience?
4. What's an activity you could enjoy more if you stopped framing it as practice for something else?
5. Hobbies, says Burkeman, are most valuable when they're useless. Do you have one? What would it look like to protect it from optimization?
6. Where do you find it hardest to stop preparing and start living? Why there?
7. What's a small thing this week you could refuse to instrumentalize — eat the meal, take the walk, have the conversation, just for itself?

4 · One Take-Away 🌱

Last 5 minutes

Around the group, one sentence each:

• One thing you're taking with you from today.
• One thing this week you'll do just for itself.

Notes from the session

Filled in after we meet