Lucía Martínez Alcalde, author: We can't do everything (and that's okay)

In a time marked by haste, self-imposed demands, and digital overexposure, Lucía Martínez Alcalde's The Art of Not Getting Everything Done (EUNSA, 2025) is a necessary, almost urgent read. Far from promising magic formulas for achieving efficiency, this book offers something much more valuable: a sincere, luminous, and deeply human conversation about how to live truthfully amidst the chaos of everyday life.

Martínez Alcalde, a philosopher, journalist, and mother of three, draws on her own experience to offer a critical yet compassionate look at the lives of those who try to sustain everything without giving up: mothers, fathers, committed professionals who love intensely, dream big, and often live on the brink of exhaustion.

In recent years, experts and analysts have warned about a growing phenomenon: the "great burnout." Endless workdays, digital hyperconnectivity, family and social demands, along with the constant pressure to perform at our best, have generated a state of collective fatigue. A feeling of always being on the edge that has sadly become the norm. In this context, this book does not serve as a technical solution, but as a refuge of clarity and comfort.

From the first pages, the author invites us to stop pretending we can do it all. Her warm and thoughtful voice envelops us in an honest account, peppered with everyday anecdotes, cultural references, and questions that invite us to look within. Thus, what might seem like an essay on time management actually becomes a deeper reflection: what are we leaving behind while trying to accomplish everything?

One of the book's most powerful core themes is the way it puts words to the emotional and physical exhaustion that many women—and increasingly men—experience in silence. This exhaustion isn't resolved by getting more sleep, but by examining where and how we're living. The author clearly debunks the ideal of omnipresence and total control, inviting us to accept our limitations not as defeat, but as a more sensible and fulfilling way of being in the world.

In this process of liberation, it is key to question the myth of multitasking. Going against the prevailing narrative, Martínez Alcalde demonstrates that doing many things at once doesn't make us more efficient, but rather more distracted, more disconnected from what truly matters. The lines between work and personal life have blurred, and constant connectivity has made rest a luxury. We live informed, available, but mentally exhausted.

For this reason, the book also addresses the challenge of disconnection. In a culture where technology keeps us permanently online, learning to disconnect isn't a cosmetic option, but a vital necessity. Not only to recharge our batteries, but to inhabit the present with more authenticity.

Along these same lines, The Art of Not Getting Everything Done reflects on the importance of learning to say no. Not as an act of rebellion or selfishness, but as a gesture of lucid love: toward oneself, toward one's most valuable connections, toward what is truly essential. Saying no allows one to protect spaces of serenity, regain attention, and cultivate a less fragmented life.

Thus, the author also delicately debunks another deeply rooted myth: that of the all-powerful woman, always willing, tireless, and unwavering. In contrast to this idealized figure, she proposes a more realistic humanity: one that recognizes its needs, asks for help, and allows itself to falter without feeling less valuable. From this perspective, vulnerability doesn't weaken, but rather paves the way for more genuine and fruitful relationships.

However, the book doesn't stop at the diagnosis. It also offers a hopeful alternative: letting go. Not from passivity, but from trust. Letting go of control doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that not everything depends on us, that rest is also fruitful, and that sometimes the best things in life happen when we slow down.

Thus, The Art of Not Doing It All is an invitation to redefine success and productivity. Beyond to-do lists and measurable performance, it proposes a more human and freer approach, where the important thing isn't how much we do, but how much presence and love we experience what we do.

In a society that rewards speed, efficiency, and immediacy, this book reminds us with depth, tenderness, and courage that relationships aren't built in haste. That life isn't measured by what we manage to check off a calendar, but by the quality of our relationships, the depth of our rest, the freedom to know we're limited... and yet profoundly valuable.

Bibliographic record The art of not doing everything A conversation about fragility, big dreams, and chaos

Lucía Martínez Alcalde, University of Navarra Publications (EUNSA), 2025. Available at https://www.eunsa.es/libro/el-arte-de-no-llegar-a-todo_161302/