Book Review: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

The author of Four Thousand Weeks belongs to a rare part of the personal development book club. Joining the likes of Brene Brown, their work has been featured at least once before! His book “Help” was very well-loved when it was critiqued in October 2017. So, it was a no-brainer to add this one to the list! Published in August 2021, this has quite rightly joined the ranks of multiple “best books of 2021” and hit the bestseller list straight away. If you want to know why I’m currently recommending this book to EVERYONE I speak to, read on!

We will start with the title. Four Thousand Weeks is the amount of time, on average, we have earthside. Yes, I know you are going to start doing the calculations right now as I did. It sounds far too short. But it’s approximately eighty years. The book is a rallying call for a new way of looking at time. As the wonderful Emma Gannon quotes “Life is finite. You don’t have to fit everything in … Read this book and wake up to a new way of thinking and living”.

The belief that we need to maximize our days and minimize “wasted time” is endemic to our feelings of overwhelm and dissatisfaction. This book feels like a conversation with a VERY sensible person; giving us a unique insight into “time and how to use it”.

The last time I had this level of insight and revelation into the history of rest and productivity, was in another book club book, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Four Thousand Weeks is a great partner, giving us the simple message:

Embrace your limits: Change your life: Make your four thousand weeks count. 

Burkeman draws on philosophy, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, to work towards changing our view and relationship with time; and ultimately, giving us the push to make the changes we need to regain control of our days. 

So in true Clara Cliff Notes Style, here are the four things I think you should know from Four Thousand Weeks:

 

1. The race against time isn’t inevitable

Whilst we are living in the grips of timetables, deadlines, always rushing against the clock, it hasn’t always been this way. The issue with time, and how we feel about it, is a relatively modern issue, which, you guessed it, drives a close partnership to capitalism! The society that we are in and its measures of success and community play an important part in how we feel about time; who we spent it with, how we spend it and what is seen as good enough! Whilst I don’t want to rush back to medieval times, there is something insightful with their approach to work and life balance. From a historical evidence perspective, they seem to have a better grip on things that we do now!

 

2. Accept you won’t get it all done

So many of us battle with the wish to rest and to take every opportunity, often sacrificing health, relationships or our own needs to make sure they happen. The simple message here is simply accepting that you can do everything. That isn’t a personality failure, or an issue of discipline, but human nature. You will have to let things go to live a decent life!

 

3. We will never control time

This concept took me a while to process; and is probably the most philosophical area of the book. We try and separate ourselves from time, as if it’s a separate entity. In fact, that is never going to happen as WE ARE TIME. Our very existence and the experience that we have is constantly moving, building experience, and moving us through these “four thousand weeks”. In the same way that water can’t step out of a river and watch itself, we cannot separate ourselves from time. The answer? Pay attention and be in the moment. That is when we feel engaged with what is happening in our lives.

 

4. Free time only counts when we can share it

In the chapter entitled “The Loneliness of the Digital Nomad” Burkeman highlight the research around the issues that we have when we can’t coordinate our diaries with our loved ones. I am sure we have all been there, the messenger tennis to find a time slot where you and your friends or family can meet up. You may have all the “free time” in the world, but it only matters when you can share that time with the people or activities that actually matter to you. 

 

Written during lockdown and the pandemic, this takes on a different view around time and how to use it. When the world temporarily shut down, albeit for worrying reasons, it gave so many of us an insight into life at a different pace. A window into what life could be like if we were more present and the external pressures of life were reduced. With this in mind, the Appendix of the book includes “Ten Tools for Embracing Your Finitude”, some action-focused ideas to really engage with life. Recommendations that I will take on board include:

 

• Decide in advance what you will fail at.
• Consolidate your caring.
• Practice doing nothing.

 

If this review has intrigued you, then I can’t stress how highly you need to get your hands on this book. It’s profound, honest, thought-provoking and practical; one that I know will stand the test of time (no apologies for the pun!) You can grab a copy through my bookshop link (the paperback is due in August 2022)

Check out the other reviewed books through this link.

Discover the next book club title in Creating Careers to Enjoy.