Name: FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS
Rating: 4.360537190082645 (242 reviews)
ISBN: 9781847924018

OLIVER. BURKEMAN

Time-management for Mortals

FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS

Serah

Marcos Porto

Having all time in the world is not as efficient. Since you will not be able to share it with others. Having unlimited time isn't the answer 

Tam Nguyen

As with money, it's good to have plenty of time, all else being equal. But having all the time in the World isn't much use if you're forced to experience it all on your own. To do countless important things with time-to socialize, go on dates, raise children, launch businesses, build political movements, make technological advances-it has to be synchronized with other people's

Krystal

In a world geared for hurry, the capacity to resist the urge to hurry—to allow things to take the time they take—is a way to gain purchase on the world, to do the work that counts, and to derive satisfaction from the doing itself, instead of deferring all your fulfillment to the future.

Might need to tape this over my workspace 

Cloudface

The day will never arrive when you finally have everything under control.

This is something about the internet that I’ve always felt but have never been able to articulate. 

The technologies we use to try to get on top of everything always fail us in the end because they increase the size of the “everything” of which we’re trying to get on top.

To try to live in the moment implies that you’re somehow separate from the moment, and thus in a position to either succeed or fail at living in it . . . Living more fully in the present may simply be a matter of finally realizing that you never had any other option but to be here now. 

Maria Buitrago

"We labour at our daily work more ardently and thought- lessly than is necessary to sustain our life," wrote Nietzsche, “because to us it is even more necessary not to have leisure to stop and think. Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself.”

alternative: the unfashionable but powerful notion of letting time use you, approaching life not as an opportunity to implement your predetermined plans for success but as a matter of responding to the needs of your place and your moment in history. 

What's needed instead in such situations, I graduallv came to understand, is a kind of anti-skill: not the counterproductive strategy of trying to make yourself more efficient but rather a willingness to resist such urges — to learn to stay with the anxiety of feeling overwhelmed, of not being on top of everything, without automatically responding by trying to fit more in. To approach your days in this fashion means, instead of clearing the decks, declining to clear the decks, focusing instead on what's truly of greatest consequence while tolerating the discomfort of knowing that, as you do so, the decks will be filling up further, with emails and errands and other to-dos, many of which you may never get around to at all. 

One need not be a religious believer to feel some of the deep relief in that idea of being "on the receiving end"in the possibility that today, at least, there might be nothing more you need to do in order to justify your existence.

Storm

It wrenches us out of the present, leading to a life spent leaning into the future, worrying about whether things will work out, experiencing everything in terms of some later, hoped-for benefit, so that peace of mind never quite arrives.

Convenience, in other words, makes things easy, but without regard to whether easiness is truly what's most valuable in any given context.

So maybe it’s not that you’ve been cheated out of an unlimited supply of time; maybe it’s almost incomprehensibly miraculous to have been granted any time at all.

Once you give up unattainable goal of eradicating all your problems, it becomes possible to develop an appreciation for the fact that life just is a process of engaging with problem after problem, giving each one the time it requires - that the presence of problems in your life, in other words, isn't an impediment to a meaningful existence but the very substance of one.

Oliver Burkeman

Time is our biggest worry: there is too little of it. The award-winning, renowned Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman offers a lively, entertaining philosophical guide to time and time management, setting aside superficial efficiency solutions in favor of reckoning with and finding joy in the finitude of human life The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless struggle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life, showing how many of 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 that we could do things differently.

Time Management for Mortals

Four Thousand Weeks

Inspiring book with very common sense, but against the grain approach to life. Point is to understand and accept the finitude of life, time and ability and live life as it happens and not wait until some arbitrary milestone is reached. Somewhat repetitive, could be a shorter book even.

Aapo Kyrola

Ibrahim Seliman

I like his English style, how he constructs his thoughts, his British wit and humor, but while I appreciate many of his ideas, I can’t help but see him as a sophist. 

Shannon

One of the most profound books I've read. So many golden nuggets that will help you walk away with new paradigms to see the world through.

A helpful guide about how to think about time. I love how this didn’t really go down the self-help path, but rather went in the direction of philosophy and theory. 

Xi Hui Teo

A humane correction to the fantasy that life can eventually be brought under control. Burkeman makes limitation feel less like failure and more like the condition that gives attention, commitment and time their meaning.

House of Readers by BelVillage

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Provocative and appealing . . . well worth your extremely limited time." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of 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 that we could do things differently.

Scott Wilson

The premise of course is that you basically have 4,000 weeks in a lifetime. The surprise is that the author uses this amount of time in the perspective of overall history to emphasize just how little this will matter in the grand scheme of things.<br /><br />While the main idea being that you shouldn't place too much importance on the tasks that other people have on your to-do lists when the outcomes aren't really that meaningful - what was appealing is that you should instead focus on what will bring you and your North Star goals the most meaning and happiness. After all as a famous band once belted out, 'We're here for a good time, not a long time...."<br /><br />Definitely worth a read, and I'll be rereading it again once it has some time to sit with me - Here is hoping that the second reading will be able to pull out some bigger nuggets to share with you.

- this is the one and only self help book i've ever read so please be aware my opinions may not be very in depth since this is foreign territory for me

- i loved this book a lot!! not sure what the rest of the self help genre is like but i found the perspective burkeman takes here to be really refreshing and comforting

- not the type of self help that makes you more confident in your efficiency and being the biggest corporate badass clearing your plate faster than anyone around you, but gives you the peace of enjoying the time you have and giving you the path to spend it on what matters to you

smile??

- this is the one and only self help book i've ever read so please be aware my opinions may not be very in depth since this is foreign territory for me

- i loved this book a lot!! not sure what the rest of the self help genre is like but i found the perspective burkeman takes here to be really refreshing and comforting

- not the type of self help that makes you more confident in your efficiency and being the biggest corporate badass clearing your plate faster than anyone around you, but gives you the peace of enjoying the time you have and giving you the path to spend it on what matters to you

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “This is the most important book ever written about time management.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of WorkLife What if you stopped trying to do everything, so that you could finally get around to what counts? We're obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction, and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the question of how best to use our ridiculously brief time on the planet, which amounts on average to about four thousand weeks. Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of the challenge. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' it introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations. 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 tyranny. Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.

The smash-hit bestseller that will change your life

existential philosophy book disguised as a self help book

Brian Nguyen

I think this is a book everyone should read and re-read

Patrick Arminio

Valuable lessons for everyone on time, accepting limitations and living in the present fully. 

Cassandra Tang

'I loved this book' DERREN BROWN What if you stopped trying to do everything, so that you could finally get round to what counts? We're obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction, and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the question of how best to use our ridiculously brief time on the planet, which amounts on average to about four thousand weeks. Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of the challenge. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' it introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations. And it shows 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. 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 tyranny. Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count. 'A much-needed reality check on our culture's crazy assumptions around work, productivity and living a meaningful life' MARK MANSON, bestselling author of THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK 'The most important book ever written about time management' ADAM GRANT, bestselling author of THINK AGAIN 'A celebration of all that is most human... You'll emerge from his writing fortified by wonder' DERREN BROWN, bestselling author of HAPPY

Time and How to Use It

I have had irrepressible thoughts of death for the last month every time I go to bed, and last night I felt relief when I could move through it. I could move through it because of the characterization of finitude in this book. Lovely.

Emily McMeans

i wish every person on the planet could read this damn book

Melanie

A derivative take on time management, ‘Four Thousand Weeks’ uses a philosophical lens to explore man’s finite time on earth, or rather our finite being. We are time, we are all we have, yet at the same time, we are cosmically insignificant. 

Lindy

This program is read by the author. Time is our biggest worry: there is too little of it. The acclaimed Guardian writer Oliver Burkeman offers a lively, entertaining philosophical guide to time and time management, setting aside superficial efficiency solutions in favor of reckoning with and finding joy in the finitude of human life. The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless struggle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces listeners to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of 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 that we could do things differently. A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Really interesting anecdotes and very well-researched. I liked how the author included all types of sources. It was much more morality-focused than I needed but the central ideas about productivity and time management were so good and gave me a lot to reflect on. I appreciated the 10 practical steps at the end.

Liyah 🤎

A momento mori disguised as a book. The writing is very good with charming narration. While I enjoyed the content, the book took what could be a long form essay and drug it out into a book. 

Brock

Jakob Greenfeld

This one came highly recommended but left me dissapointed. My best theory for why it is so popular is that that it makes lazy unambitious people feel good about themselves. There’s clearly a huge market for that and kudos to Oliver Burkeman for tapping into that.

A simple reminder that your time is important. Cherish it. Protect it. 

Brandon Eckroth

I absolutely wnjoyed and needed this book and its reminders, questions and truths. Really enjoyed the in-depth and far reaching analysis of why we see and handle tome the way we do whilst sharing helpful questions and observations.

antonia maria wagner she/they

a capricorn multitasking while listening to this book 🤝 the author telling us that even if you optimize time you can’t control everything 

As someone who loves a good productivity book, this felt worth it for the discussions of our need to want to plan and maximize your hours/days/weeks etc but challenges that sense of control! 

Kyra Cracchiola

a capricorn multitasking while listening to this book 🤝 the author telling us that even if you optimize time you can’t control everything 

As someone who loves a good productivity book, this felt worth it for the discussions of our need to want to plan and maximize your hours/days/weeks etc but challenges that sense of control! 

Jenna

The best self-help book I've ever read. It challenged my perfectionism and provided me perspectives I had never considered before. I never thought productivity needed a crossover with mortality, but after reading this, I'm fully convinced that this should be a must-read for all productivity and self-help geeks. Thanks Anthony for celebrating that it took me less than four thousand weeks to finish this book. 🙄

Rohit Arondekar

A trip down various philosophies and other history of productivity with an emphasis on being aware of the finiteness of life and allowing oneself to focus on what is truly important. This was my first audiobook and I enjoyed listening to the author read his own work.

This was not what I was expecting, but in a good way. I was expecting a book of advice for time management and organization, and instead this book asked me why I want to control everything in my life so badly. It asked me why I’m so worried about “living in the moment” as if it’s possible to fail at living in a moment. It asked me why I always choose what feels safe rather than what will challenge me to grow as a person. This book came to me at the right time, because I’m currently in a position to make some changes in my life, but I’ve been too paralyzed to make a decision. I’m not saying my mind’s made up now, but I definitely feel more okay with the possibility that things might not go the way I planned (something that I have always struggled to accept). 

I gave this book 4 stars because, like many self help books, there were parts where I felt the author was repeating himself, and a few clumsy metaphors that felt like they were pulled out of a “how to write” book. But it was still a great, thought provoking read overall, and I’d highly recommend it to any anxious perfectionist out there who struggles to make choices or get anything done. Like me. 

This was not what I was expecting, but in a good way. I was expecting a book of advice for time management and organization, and instead this book asked me why I want to control everything in my life so badly. It asked me why I’m so worried about “living in the moment” as if it’s possible to fail at living in a moment. It asked me why I always choose what feels safe rather than what will challenge me to grow as a person. This book came to me at the right time, because I’m currently in a position to make some changes in my life, but I’ve been too paralyzed to make a decision. I’m not saying my mind’s made up now, but I definitely feel more okay with the possibility that things might not go the way I planned (something that I have always struggled to accept). 
I gave this book 4 stars because, like many self help books, there were parts where I felt the author was repeating himself, and a few clumsy metaphors that felt like they were pulled out of a “how to write” book. But it was still a great, thought provoking read overall, and I’d highly recommend it to any anxious perfectionist out there who struggles to make choices or get anything done. Like me. 

At the time of reading, a contrarian view on productivity that has actually helped me process my effort and energy more intentionally. 

Deep work and slow productivity by Cal Newport are great compliments to this read.

Jacob Medure

At the time of reading, a contrarian view on productivity that has actually helped me process my effort and energy more intentionally. 

Deep work and slow productivity by Cal Newport are great compliments to this read.

Definitely worth a re-read! Very insightful. 

FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS Time-management for Mortals

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