Introducing Time Anxiety: The Illusion of Urgency and a Better Way to Live
My new book: coming April 15th, 2025.
Friends and readers,
I’m thrilled to announce the upcoming release of my new book, Time Anxiety: The Illusion of Urgency and a Better Way to Live.
The book comes out on April 15, 2025, and you can pre-order now from your choice of retailers:
(Those are just a few links to the most common merchants. Your local bookstore is great too! Pre-ordering anywhere is helpful to authors.)
There will also be audio and ebook versions. 🎧 📱
For readers outside the U.S., pre-order from your favorite local bookstore or Amazon site.
Pre-orders are a big deal for authors—they help books reach more readers. If you’ve enjoyed my work before, I’d love for you to reserve your copy! 🙏
What It’s About
Here’s how my publisher describes the book:
A powerful antidote to deadline dread, time guilt, and chronic rushing—from the New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup
In a world obsessed with squeezing the most out of every moment, the fear of falling behind can trap us in a paralyzing stress cycle. Incomplete to-do lists, unanswered emails, and unmet life goals haunt our thoughts, leaving us overstimulated and exhausted.
In Time Anxiety, Chris Guillebeau, author of the popular newsletter A Year of Mental Health, reveals that this pervasive sense of time scarcity stems not from a lack of hours in the day but from unrealistic expectations and misaligned priorities. Weaving together eye-opening research on time perception, executive functioning challenges, and the psychological roots of avoidance, he offers a bold path for redefining our relationship with the clock.
The first step is to build a tolerance for incomplete to-do lists and the inevitability of disappointing people, abandoning the goal of "catching up.” We have to set our own limits because no one else will. From there, Guillebeau guides readers through a process of:
Identifying cognitive distortions that make routine tasks feel high-stakes, regulating the nervous system through grounding techniques and breathwork, and embracing the goal of “good enough”
Uncovering the unwritten "time rules" that govern our days (“I return phone calls within an hour” or “I reply to every email the same day, without exception”) and creating new rules that better serve us
Weighing the trade-offs between competing values and priorities so we can invest our finite energy wisely, operating out of an empowered rather than a fear-based state
Ultimately, Time Anxiety is a call to wake up from the trance of busyness and reclaim our most precious resource. By breaking the habits of overstressing, overdoing, and underliving, we can start savoring our limited time on earth.
Featuring Illustrations by Emily McDowell
It’s not just a book … it’s a book with illustrations!
I was very excited to work with my friend Emily McDowell, who illustrated many of the concepts of the book. Some of you know Emily for the greeting card company she founded, or her popular Substack newsletter.
Here’s a little sneak peek:
Emily actually did 15 full-page illustrations for the book, in addition to a bunch of fun little elements that we used throughout the manuscript. I don’t want to spoil the surprise by showing too many of them now, so I’ll just note: the work is fantastic and I was so happy to work with her.
…And I’m Going on Book Tour!
Good news: Yes there will be a book tour! I’ll be traveling to at least 12 cities to meet readers, and I’ll share more details about that in early 2025. Stay tuned!
A Little Postscript About Books and Life
I’ve been writing online for 15 years, but books are still my favorite medium. I put a lot into this one, and I have to say … I really like it!
I don’t always feel that way—in fact, often I feel depressed and self-critical, which is probably a subject for another post. But the point is I like this one, and I think you will, too. 🤓
To my longtime readers in particular: thank you, as always, for being part of this journey. I’m excited to share this next step with you. ❤️
Looking forward to this. Will there be an audiobook version?
Looking forward to it, Chris. I put the link/book image on Bluesky.