Root to Flourish READS: ‘Four Thousand Weeks - Time Management for Mortals’ by Oliver Burkeman

“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

 

This is a ‘Root to Flourish READS’ post, a monthly blog post feature offering a book recommendation. It’ll always be a book I’ve read and loved, and a book I believe can be beneficial in enhancing emotional wellbeing!

What’s it about?

Oliver Burkeman, a self-professed recovered time management and productivity ‘geek',’ with Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, offers up a new perspective on the concept of ‘time management.’

4,000 weeks = 76.9 years, the average human lifespan in the United States, according to the CDC in 2020 (77 years).

In this book, Burkeman offers up the problem: too much to do and not enough time, and the “anxious hurry” to get things done. And, he aptly points out that our obsession with becoming more productive and efficient, ironically, has little to do with the most meaningful parts of our lives.

We’ve entirely missed the point: we must make the connection between our daily struggles to “manage time” and the “ultimate time management problem,” how best to use our 4,000 weeks.

Why I love it 

It houses both practical suggestions and philosophical exploration.

It’s thought provoking. There is no question that this book will make you think. Many, if not most, of the concepts in this book are not new to me, but I so appreciated Burkeman’s perspective, allowing me to pause and consider.

It’s funny!

And, also unflinching. Burkeman acknowledges that we resist addressing the “ultimate time management problem” of how best to use our 4,000 weeks … because confronting and embracing the finite nature of our lives is terrifying.  

It’s optimistic. Ironically, reading a book about the impending end of your life may allow you to foster hope and enthusiasm, and to empower you to truly explore how you spend the rest of your days.

How might it enhance emotional wellbeing?

As I discussed in last week’s post, ‘Freedom lies in embracing the finite nature of your life,’ Burkeman’s recommendation to embrace finitude allows us the freedom to:

  • be mindful of, and then prioritize, what is truly most important to us, and to also decide what to neglect and disregard,

  • stop unnecessarily accommodating the wants, needs, and preferences of others, to our own detriment,

  • be free of FOMO, and

  • stop beating yourself up and accept that your best is good enough.

Ultimately, this book is about disengaging from despair and anxiety that may arise from the limited nature of our time on earth, and pivoting, to embrace that reality, and to allow it to fuel you to “start work on what’s gloriously possible.”

What next?

I’m a GIANT fan of the public library, borrow the book today!

If you want to buy the book, you can find it here, on Bookshop.org, Four Thousand Weeks:  Time Management for Mortals.

Or, if you’d rather listen to it, it’s on Audible, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.

I adore the podcast On Being with Krista Tippett. She interviewed Oliver Burkeman in January of this year. Worth a listen.

(TEASER: This book is also likely to be the first ‘Root to Flourish READS’ BOOK CLUB PICK!!! More details to come!).

 
Living Fully, Mindfulness, RTF READS, Longevity, Empowered BehaviorJulia King