Four Thousand Weeks
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 r
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A former productivity columnist argues that the average human life is about four thousand weeks long, and that no system fixes that. He offers a saner way to think about time, finitude, and what to actually pick.
Four Thousand Weeks is closer to anti-productivity philosophy than typical self-help. Burkeman pushes back on the assumptions of David Allen, Cal Newport, and similar productivity-focused writing.
Four Thousand Weeks was written by Oliver Burkeman, published in 2021 by Booket.
Four Thousand Weeks is 272 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Four Thousand Weeks takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Four Thousand Weeks is a standalone novel by Oliver Burkeman, not part of a series.
Four Thousand Weeks is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
