Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Ratings116
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings116
Average rating4.3
The average human lifespan is absurdly, outrageously, insultingly brief: if you live to 80, you have about four thousand weeks on earth. How should we use them best?
Of course, nobody needs telling that there isn't enough time. We're obsessed by our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction, and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Yet we rarely make the conscious connection that these problems only trouble us in the first place thanks to the ultimate time-management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.
Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of this problem. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' it introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life, showing how the unhelpful ways we've come to think about time aren't inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we've made, as individuals and as a society - and its many revelations will transform the reader's worldview.
Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman sets out to realign our relationship with time - and in doing so, to liberate us from its grasp.
Reviews with the most likes.
Short, sweet, and right to the point. For a chronic procrastinator like me (who also happens to be a mortal), I devoured this one in a day. Poses a lot of cool questions that makes you rethink how you're spending your time, life, and more, and man oh man did I need those questions!
Down-to-earth productivity discussion, made me think about my limited existence and ponder what's really essential in our lives. There's a lot about acceptance and being patient. The overall message is to take it slow and enjoy the ride. Good reflections.??
Self help and productivity type books are usually a hit or miss for me but I generally enjoyed this one and found useful ways to reframe thinking around using time. I liked the combination of philosophy and ways of thinking about time and mortality, anecdotal contributions, and concrete suggestions and action items – it was a great balance that offered value across multiple axes. Considering purchasing a copy for periodic rereads and so I can annotate. It's almost worth it alone for the references to other texts to be adapted as a reading list!
