Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman
Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman
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Four Thousand Weeks
Time Management for Mortals

Author: Oliver Burkeman

Narrator: Oliver Burkeman

Unabridged: 6 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/10/2021


Synopsis

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

This program is read by the author.

"Burkeman and his irresistible British accent shifted my paradigm a couple centimeters . . . 'The day will never arrive when you have everything under control,' he calmly whispered in my ear, and I think I believed him." - Vulture

"The philosophical tone of his delivery is perfect for [Burkeman's] thoughtful message: We can enjoy life more if we appreciate the present moment, stay in touch with our deeper selves, and nurture our connections with people and the natural world." - AudioFile Magazine

"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.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

About Oliver Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman worked for many years at The Guardian, where he wrote a popular weekly column on psychology, “This Column Will Change Your Life.” His books include the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Misha on November 10, 2021

A lovely and short book that I listened to the author read as an audiobook. The last chapter and appendix contained some tips that I wanted to remember, so I wrote them down here. Some of it are quotations from other authors, but that wasn't as clear when listening. Sorry other authors! 5 Questions: 1.......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on October 17, 2022

First of all, this is probably not the book you think it is, and that’s a good thing. Rather than offering cheap “time hacks” to get more of the same bullshit done, this more philosophical work is based on two important but uncomfortable truths: (1) In the short 4,000 or so weeks you have to live, y......more

Goodreads review by David on September 08, 2021

1. Could have been condensed into an article 2. Just read Ecclesiastes or a stoic and you’ll get the point 3. Had one good point: embrace what you’re doing and acknowledge that you won’t be able to do anything else in that moment.......more

Goodreads review by Liong on March 26, 2023

I like the title of this book, "Four Thousand Weeks". I learned a few things. I realize that we probably have 4,000 weeks to leave in our life if we can live until age 80. We must plan to live life to the fullest and enjoy each day. Figure out how to spend balanced time with family, friends, at the off......more

Goodreads review by Bella on April 26, 2024

"Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer".......more

Awards

  • Financial Times Books of the Year