Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use it
- Downloads：4327
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-05 00:51:04
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Oliver Burkeman
- ISBN：1847924018
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Summary
Nobody needs telling there isn't enough time。
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。
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。
Reviews
Sara G
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Oliver Burkeman call himself a productivity geek。 As he describes it， “you know how some people are passionate about bodybuilding or fashion， or rock climbing， or poetry？ Productivity geeks are passionate about crossing items off their to-do lists。 So it’s sort of the same， except infinitely sadder。” His newest book， Four Thousand Weeks， is like a self-help book designed to help recovering productivity geeks recognize the emotional and mental traps laid by other books like “Getting Things Done，” Oliver Burkeman call himself a productivity geek。 As he describes it， “you know how some people are passionate about bodybuilding or fashion， or rock climbing， or poetry？ Productivity geeks are passionate about crossing items off their to-do lists。 So it’s sort of the same， except infinitely sadder。” His newest book， Four Thousand Weeks， is like a self-help book designed to help recovering productivity geeks recognize the emotional and mental traps laid by other books like “Getting Things Done，” “Eat the Frog，” or “The Four-Hour Workweek。” Drawing more from the field of philosophy than from time management， he systematically rebuts the arguments of Taylorist time management systems and instead provides suggestions for recreating “productivity” as a concept that encourages building communities and helping “geeks” find meaning in life。As a productivity geek myself， I’ve been following Burkeman for a while。 I’ve enjoyed his similar book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking and his occasional newsletter articles。 While Four Thousand Weeks covers similar， sometimes repeating ground， I am still glad that I read every word of this book。 It is the rare “self-help” book that would not have been better as a bullet point list or an article。 I enjoyed slowly struggling with these ideas， the pleasant voice of Burkeman nudging me on， and discussing them over beer with my partner。 I highly recommend it not just to geeks like myself but to anyone who struggles with FOMO or a classic mid-life crisis。 。。。more
Possibly in Michigan， London
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Now and then I pick up a time management book and don't finish it because I'm like 'I should really be doing the thing I'm putting off' or the method of time management would actually take a lifetime to institute making it better to carry on screwing up and getting only one thing done。 This book by Oliver Burkeman is perfect for me， and anyone else who has the same problem because they suspect that a） they'll never get on top of 'things' and b） they won't be satisfied even if they can fit in eve Now and then I pick up a time management book and don't finish it because I'm like 'I should really be doing the thing I'm putting off' or the method of time management would actually take a lifetime to institute making it better to carry on screwing up and getting only one thing done。 This book by Oliver Burkeman is perfect for me， and anyone else who has the same problem because they suspect that a） they'll never get on top of 'things' and b） they won't be satisfied even if they can fit in everything （which they really can't）。 This is a time management book for people who are really suspicious of time management books， basically， but who are also beleaguered by the prospect of their time 'running out' and not 'using' it in the right way。 The first half of the book is really good。 Burkeman points out we can't possess time - we can't waste it， put it aside， carve it out， etc。 Really really crudely， we *are* time。 Burkeman makes a lot of fleeting references to philosophy and to Buddhist concepts without really committing to any （I would genuinely love to know which principles he applies to his own life）， but I think it's a pretty powerful idea， that if we understood ourselves as our time， we would be more careful with what we pay attention to and what we allow ourselves to be distracted by。 He is good on distraction — how it's a way of avoiding discomfort。 I did think that every time I come to a difficult patch of work， I immediately go into the kitchen and start grubbing for snacks instead。 When we really commit to something that is very difficult and that we *want to do* （and requires cutting other things out of our lives） we're confronted with our finitude。 This is it - the project might not work out， it might not be a success。 The second half I found less effective。 It really sets out the idea that our time is made meaningful by other people。 There's a fascinating example of a Soviet experiment of a five-day week designed to keep the factories going， four days at work， one day off - all workers were assigned different starting days （signified by a colour）， which meant that it was only possible for friends to meet up， in some instances， a few days a year， unless they were lucky enough to get the same starting day。 I would have been interested in learning about its impact in more detail but it was sufficiently unpopular that it was acceptable to complain about in Pravda， so that's probably enough。 There are other examples like this， to demonstrate how our time is actually experienced differently with other people， in a way that allows us to experience it， ourselves as time， rather than feeling it 'slipping by'。 But this half was marred for me by a tendency that's slightly less annoying earlier on。 In talking about our fixation on the future， for example， he frequently says things like 'of course， this principle doesn't apply if you're a cleaner where it makes sense to be focused on the future， but isn't it crazy that an architect plans her career with one project after the other to reach a particular point of her career'。Ultimately， I think a time management system that really got to the bottom of our attitudes and fears about time and 'losing' it would be grounded on the principle that *everyone*， regardless of their job and background， should be able to live in the same way， and not feel that they are somehow less valuable and less able to do what they really want to do （I don't mean big projects， I mean spend time with family， for example）。 That probably involves tearing up society and our ideas about the value of work and status in the first place。 He does reference some of these movements to challenge work as identity but not in any detail， and if he did， it wouldn't be a book aimed at。。。a hypothetical you that is very much like a freelance writer or someone who has enough control of their life and enough resources to step back from their work。 It's not forceful enough to argue that we should all be able to do that。 For that reason， the book's not satisfactory to me。 There are other books that challenge a lot of the underlying assumptions here or give scary， invigorating examples of what it would mean to live your life exactly as you wanted to。 In particular， read David Frayne's The Refusal of Work and Strangers Drowning by Larissa MacFarquhar。 Both of these are political books and the first somewhat academic， but both really get to the questions that the format here really can't。 I think the book has some hard truths， but not for everyone！ 。。。more
Jess
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