Treat Your to-Read Pile Like a River, Not a Bucket
Oliver Burkeman
The problem is not too much junk but too many worthwhile things competing for your time. You cannot do it all, so treat your to-read pile like a river: pluck a few items, don't try to empty it. Accepting this frees you from guilt and forces you to choose what matters most.
24 Feb 2026
To return to information overload: this means treating your "to read" pile like a river (a stream that flows past you, and from which you pluck a few choice items, here and there) instead of a bucket (which demands that you empty it). After all, you presumably don't feel overwhelmed by all the unread books in the British Library – and not because there aren't an overwhelming number of them, but because it never occurred to you that it might be your job to get through them all.