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A review by jarrahpenguin
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
5.0
Four Thousand Weeks is a look at how attempting to play by the time management/productivity paradigm popularized by our capitalist society is a fundamentally losing battle. Burkeman draws on the work of various philosophers and thought leaders to reimagine time management for humans who only have four thousand weeks on average on this Earth, who find themselves constantly overwhelmed, behind on their goals, and lacking a sense of purpose. Burkeman points the way to a more balanced, less anxious existence through accepting that we will never get done everything on our list, and that it's okay to take time to do things that aren't "productive" or future goal-oriented.
Even though Burkeman isn't the first person to have these ideas, as is obvious from the philosophers he references, he brings together these lessons in a very engaging and accessible way, and provides clear takeaway lessons that I've already started to reflect on and implement in my work and personal life. I found the observations on perfectionism and anxiety extremely helpful, as well as his take on how one can still make positive social/environmental change within this framework.
One limitation of the book is that because it's rooted fairly exclusively in philosophy and sociological observation, it doesn't consider how neuroscience links in to issues like our tendency to be distracted by social media. I wasn't sure that I fully bought Burkeman's explanation on device distraction (that it's mainly a way of assuaging the somewhat existential discomfort of sitting with the tasks we want to be focusing on), given what we know about the way social media works in our brains and the way that distractions might have different functions for people with, say, ADHD. But it's still a really good place to start thinking about these big picture issues, and there should be useful takeaways for most people who have issues with setting boundaries at work or in their personal lives, perfectionism, difficulty being present in the moment, commitment-phobia and/or anxiety.
Even though Burkeman isn't the first person to have these ideas, as is obvious from the philosophers he references, he brings together these lessons in a very engaging and accessible way, and provides clear takeaway lessons that I've already started to reflect on and implement in my work and personal life. I found the observations on perfectionism and anxiety extremely helpful, as well as his take on how one can still make positive social/environmental change within this framework.
One limitation of the book is that because it's rooted fairly exclusively in philosophy and sociological observation, it doesn't consider how neuroscience links in to issues like our tendency to be distracted by social media. I wasn't sure that I fully bought Burkeman's explanation on device distraction (that it's mainly a way of assuaging the somewhat existential discomfort of sitting with the tasks we want to be focusing on), given what we know about the way social media works in our brains and the way that distractions might have different functions for people with, say, ADHD. But it's still a really good place to start thinking about these big picture issues, and there should be useful takeaways for most people who have issues with setting boundaries at work or in their personal lives, perfectionism, difficulty being present in the moment, commitment-phobia and/or anxiety.