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Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Kindle Edition

by Oliver Burkeman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 10,435 ratings

in Time Management Self-Help eBooks

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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.

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290 pages
Language

English
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Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date

August 10, 2021
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2644 KB
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The real measure of any time management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things.
Highlighted by 11,710 Kindle readers
Productivity is a trap. Becoming more efficient just makes you more rushed, and trying to clear the decks simply makes them fill up again faster.
Highlighted by 10,540 Kindle readers
The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder.
Highlighted by 7,358 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

Praise for Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Editorial Reviews

Review

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"In addition to whatever help it might offer, Four Thousand Weeks is also just good company; it addresses large, even existential, issues with a sense of humor and an even-keeled perspective. I found that reading it―Burkeman might balk at this particular way of describing it―was a good use of my time." ―John Williams, The New York Times

"Provocative and appealing . . . Well worth your extremely limited time." ―Barbara Spindel,The Wall Street Journal

"Burkeman is the self-help writer for people like me who find self-help books oversold on magical transformations . . . Four Thousand Weeks is full of such sage and sane advice, delivered with dry wit and a benevolent tone." ―Joe Moran, The Guardian (UK)

“Four Thousand Weeks will challenge and amuse you. And it may even spur you on to change your life.” ―Robbie Smith, Evening Standard (UK)

"[Four Thousand Weeks] is perfectly pitched somewhere between practical self-help book and philosophical quest . . . As with all the best quests, its many pleasures don't require a fast-forward button, but happen along the way." ―Tim Adams, The Observer (UK)

"Subtle, provocative, and multi-layered . . . Four Thousand Weeks offers many wise pointers to a happier, less stress-filled life, with none of the usual smug banalities of the self-help genre." ―Craig Brown, The Daily Mail (UK)

"This book is wonderful. Instead of offering new tips on how to cram more into your day, it questions why we feel the need to . . . My favorite kind of book is this one―a book that doesn't offer magic solutions to life because there aren't any. Instead, it examines the human struggle with intelligence, wisdom, humor, and humility . . . Reading this book was time well spent." ―Marianne Power, The Times (UK)

"I have long loved Oliver Burkeman's wise and witty journalism that both interrogates and elevates the 'self-help' realm―revealing its possibilities for absurdity while honoring the deeper human impulses that it meets. Four Thousand Weeks is a splendid offering in that spirit. This book is at once sobering and refreshing on all that is truly at stake in what we blithely refer to as 'time management.' It invites nothing less than a new relationship with time―and with life itself." ―Krista Tippett, host of On Being

"A wonderfully honest book, Four Thousand Weeks is a much-needed reality check on our culture's crazy assumptions around work, productivity and living a meaningful life." ―Mark Manson, bestselling author of Everything is F*cked and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

“This is the most important book ever written about time management. Oliver Burkeman offers a searing indictment of productivity hacking and profound insights on how to make the best use of our scarcest, most precious resource. His writing will challenge you to rethink many of your beliefs about getting things done―and you’ll be wiser because of it.” ―Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of WorkLife

“Four Thousand Weeks is a book to read and re-read, to absorb and reflect on. Compassionate, funny and wise, it has not left my mind since I read it. The modern world teaches us to pretend to be immortal―this book is a dip in the cold, clear waters of reality, returning us refreshed and alive.” ―Naomi Alderman, author of The Power

“We all know our time is limited. What we don’t know―but what Oliver Burkeman is here to teach us―is that our control over that time is also limited. This profound (and often hilarious) book will prompt you to rethink your worship of efficiency, reject the cult of busyness, and reconfigure your life around what truly matters.” ―Daniel H. Pink, author of When, Drive, and To Sell is Human

“Oliver Burkeman provides an important and insightful reassessment of productivity. The drive to get more done can become an excuse to avoid figuring out what we actually want to accomplish. Only by confronting this latter question can we unlock a calmer, more meaningful, more resilient approach to organizing our time.” ―Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of A World Without Email and Deep Work

"Insightful . . . Burkeman’s thoughtful, reassuring analysis will be a welcome balm to readers feeling overwhelmed by the (perhaps unrealistic) demands of life." ―Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Oliver Burkeman is a feature writer for The Guardian. He is a winner of the Foreign Press Association's Young Journalist of the Year Award and has been short-listed for the Orwell Prize. He wrote a popular weekly column on psychology, "This Column Will Change Your Life," and has reported from New York, London, and Washington, D.C. His books include Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. He lives in New York City.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08FGV64B1
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 10, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 10, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2644 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,397 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1 in Time Management Self-Help eBooks
- #2 in Time Management in Business
- #3 in Happiness

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4.6 10,435 ratings

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Customers find the book refreshing and deeper than usual. They describe it as a great, engaging read that puts things into perspective about life. Readers praise the writing quality as well-written and excellent.

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97 customers mention "Thought provoking"83 positive14 negative

Customers find the book refreshing and deeper. They say it puts things into perspective about life and helps them understand why they feel like they need to change. Readers also mention the author offers a kinder and more fulfilling alternative.

"...This book is thought provoking in its encouragement to re-think our relationship with time and productivity...." Read more

"...It’s heavily researched and referenced, with 13 notes pages and 8 pages of index...." Read more

"...new tricks to cram more into your day, this book takes a refreshing and deeper approach: it questions why we feel the need to do so in the first..." Read more

"It gives us some atypical ideas about time management...." Read more

56 customers mention "Readability"46 positive10 negative

Customers find the book great, entertaining, and worth buying. They enjoy the premise and say it spurred them to think differently. Readers also mention the book is engaging and well-written.

"...ramble a bit more than others, but overall this book is an engaging read and is well-written...." Read more

"...It can be funny, engaging, and at times tedious.The gist is “Finitude.” We have limited time...." Read more

"...The book is certainly worth reading, but it can also be alienating. YMMV." Read more

"Good read. Lots of notes now in my copy" Read more

50 customers mention "Writing quality"47 positive3 negative

Customers find the book well-written, thoughtful, and easy to read. They say it's a blend of self-help and philosophical writing. Readers also mention the book is a quick read, but meaningful.

"...more than others, but overall this book is an engaging read and is well-written...." Read more

"...There are dozens of great quotes throughout Four Thousand Weeks...." Read more

"...It can be funny, engaging, and at times tedious.The gist is “Finitude.” We have limited time...." Read more

"...It’s a perfectly crafted blend of self-help and philosophical writing, and it stands out as a wonderfully provocative read...." Read more

5 customers mention "Ease of understanding"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book cerebral, practical, and approachable. They also appreciate the down-to-earth, practical view of time management.

"...I’m so glad that I did! I love this book. The premise is simple but the exploration of the topic is a masterpiece." Read more

"This informed, down to earth, practical view of time management was all that the person who recommended it to me promised...." Read more

"Simple, short and full of practical ways to live a better life. You can find similar concept another books but they’re nice and organized here." Read more

"...This is the book to buy. It’s cerebral and easy to understand. if there was a sixth star, I’d award it." Read more

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TacoT

Helpful Antidote to the Quest for Productivity

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024

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I have spent the past 20 years of my life trying to juice as much productivity and accomplishment out of each minute as possible, to the detriment of my health and sanity at times. This book is thought provoking in its encouragement to re-think our relationship with time and productivity. A couple of chapters ramble a bit more than others, but overall this book is an engaging read and is well-written. I would definitely recommend reading it if you are the kind of person who is frequently anxious about your inability to get everything done.

One small warning: The author is mostly philosophical and still practical. The philosophical reasoning for many of the practical points relies on a secular point of view that come across as nihilistic, or at least skeptical of religion. That comes through in the book’s repeated mantra that no one really cares about your life in the grand scheme so don’t stress out so much about it (as well as its frequent quoting of atheist philosophers). While our lives are far less significant than the modern American stresses themselves out believing, another way to support the conclusion without taking such a strong stance on religion or the meaning of life is that in the grand scheme of your life, the small things you stress out about moment to moment really are insignificant. This comes through in the final chapter’s suggestion to do “the next right thing.” If you have any religious inclinations, you can take the author’s own philosophy for a grain of salt and still benefit from the overarching concepts.

Also note to the Author who I am sure reads comments on his books: Great job and I think I would love to get a beer with someone wired so similarly to me! Knowing that won’t happen (neither of us has time ;) ), I do recommend that you and other like-minded readers check out The Reason for God by Timothy Keller and Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller. I think you’d enjoy both books based on your love for philosophy and our shared search for significance and fulfillment.

71 people found this helpful

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Beguiled By Books

Great book on productivity and time management

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2023

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As a devoted productivity geek, I immediately got on the waitlist for a Kindle copy at my library. Once I finally got it, I was delighted.

The real measure of any time management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things.

The premise of Four Thousand Weeks is that an average person lives for only four thousand weeks. What will you do with that time? All of human history has taken approximately 310,000 weeks. We are but a blip, and knowing this, Burkeman asks the reader, how will you get everything done?

We don’t. Plain and simple.

Arguably, time management is all life is. Yet the modern discipline known as time management—like its hipper cousin, productivity—is a depressingly narrow-minded affair, focused on how to crank through as many work tasks as possible, or on devising the perfect morning routine, or on cooking all your dinners for the week in one big batch on Sundays.

Burkeman advocates not for Pomodoro techniques, bullet journals, and habit trackers but for actively choosing what you won’t do. He explains how we strive for things like Inbox Zero or crossing things off our to-do lists only for more things to find their way into our email and onto our lists. The key, Burkeman shares, is not eschewing stuff you don’t want to do in favor of what you do want to do but choosing what matters most for your time of all the things you do want to do. For example, you may not want to go to your upcoming reunion, so saying no to that event in favor of going on a vacation might be easy. We must genuinely manage our time when we want to spend time with our partner, write a book, learn to ski, adopt a pet, decorate cakes, and take a vacation. It’s much more challenging to choose what you won’t do when you genuinely want to do the things on your list.

The day will never arrive when you finally have everything under control—when the flood of emails has been contained; when your to-do lists have stopped getting longer; when you’re meeting all your obligations at work and in your home life; when nobody’s angry with you for missing a deadline or dropping the ball; and when the fully optimized person you’ve become can turn, at long last, to the things life is really supposed to be about. Let’s start by admitting defeat: none of this is ever going to happen.

There are dozens of great quotes throughout Four Thousand Weeks. I love the thought that you can only have three things or projects going on at any given time. To take on a new project, you must finish or quit one of your other three. I also appreciated how Burkeman addresses side hustle culture and burnout culture, which seems prevalent in the millennial generation (hi! That’s me!).

…it’s now common to encounter reports, especially from younger adults, of an all-encompassing, bone-deep burnout, characterized by an inability to complete basic daily chores—the paralyzing exhaustion of “a generation of finely honed tools, crafted from embryos to be lean, mean production machines,” in the words of the millennial social critic Malcolm Harris.

He also describes hobbies as critical, but it’s okay if you feel silly talking about them with others because you do them out of pure enjoyment – not with the goal you might one day monetize it.

When an activity can’t be added to the running tally of billable hours, it begins to feel like an indulgence one can’t afford. There may be more of this ethos in most of us—even the nonlawyers—than we’d care to admit.

Four Thousand Weeks is the book everyone must read to get over hustle culture and project mindsets. Sometimes the purpose of life is to enjoy existing.

The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder.

I instantly loved this book, and it will sit at the top of my recommendations for quite some time.

187 people found this helpful

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S. Dargin

Knowing you had Limited Time, what would you do differently?

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2023

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This is one intellectual man’s journey to a more peaceful life. The key is to accept our limited time, unknowns, and uncontrollable to find peace and productivity.

He uses universal truths on time based on insights from history, philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers; current and ancient Oliver offers an alternative way to look at time management. It’s heavily researched and referenced, with 13 notes pages and 8 pages of index.

He does this via many stories, history, and examples in dense sentences. It can be funny, engaging, and at times tedious.

The gist is “Finitude.” We have limited time. Four Thousand weeks if you live to be 80 years old. His premise is that to become empowered; you must accept the limitations and lack of control over your life. . You accomplish more of what matters and is meaningful to you. The book ends with ten tools to help you embrace your Finitude. The rest of the book is a journey to prove it, entertain you, and inspire you.

This is his journey and justification for his life. Much of it I can relate to. I, too, was a productivity junkie and taught project management. I found some places where I disagreed or didn’t have the challenges he had to overcome or differently. I was mentally arguing with him as I was reading. He comes across as a bit of an intellectual snob to me. He doesn’t seem to like “self-help,” yet this is what the book is about. He uses romance novelist Danielle Steele as an unhealthy example of time management and Rod Stewart as a good example. There are long winding sentences. There were a few words I had to look up the meaning.

I used this book for a book group, and there is something for everyone in this book.

69 people found this helpful

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Andrea

Gran libro

Reviewed in Mexico on June 21, 2024

Verified Purchase

Es un excelente libro que te hace repensar en las cosas a las que les estás invirtiendo tiempo

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Amazon Customer

A cold bath

Reviewed in Brazil on October 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book made me anxious, but it was an anxiety I had been postponing to feel. It made me realize what had been knocking the back of my mind for years and yet remained there, ignored, suffocated in the midst of endless chores and an ever accelerating to-do list.

Your time is finit, and what you can do with it is finite. You won't be able to do all that you want, but perhaps all that wanting is actually misguided. To want to much may be a symptom of not really being here, "now".

On the other hand, "being here now", as new age types often promote, is not exactly to be pursued in the same way such spiritual people day that you should. It's an uncomfortable feeling, and there are traps and pitfalls that inhabit this proposition or desire to "be here now". Falling into these traps makes us behave in a way that actually mirrors the productivity meatgrinder that is the attitude towards life pushed by the current culture.

This is not a mumbo jumbo self help "you can do it", nor is it some "lite feel age" book for you to feel good. It's a cold bath and a wake-up call. It will make you feel uncomfortable, not because of some new fact but rather because it will make you pay attention to what you've been avoiding.

Fer p.

Buen precio y artículo en buen estado

Reviewed in Spain on October 24, 2024

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Buen precio y artículo en buen estado. Poco más que añadir

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Mrs. Inessa Agnew

A brilliant must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2024

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This book makes so much sense. I wish I have read it many years ago! I am writing down some of the sentences and paragraphs from it into my diary. As when I read it it feels as if my coach talking to me.

Ayla

No time to read this? Then you DEFINITELY need to read it.

Reviewed in Belgium on May 24, 2024

Verified Purchase

If you live by your to-do lists and are in a constant anxious state to get more of it done, you need to read this book. It's not preachy or "self-helpy" at all, it just tells you how it is: you have about 4000 weeks on this planet. Are you going to spend it as a slave to a perfect future that will never exist, or are you going to start living right now?

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Literally, time management for mortals :)

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