Reviews - Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

4.51k reviews for:

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Oliver Burkeman

4.21 AVERAGE

jmm11's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective medium-paced

natreadthat's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

My besties recommended this after I vented about there never being enough time to do all the stuff, see all the places, and check all the items off my to-do list.

I’m not typically a self-help reader and luckily this isn’t really that. Yes, it has tips and tricks for time management, but Burkeman’s focus is encouraging you to figure out what actually matters to you. Why? Because time isn’t infinite—we will all inevitably die someday, to-do list completed or not.

His advice is to step back from feeling like you can control everything simply because you can’t. Instead, figure out what you can and, perhaps more importantly, want to do. What are the “musts” in your life? What are the “shoulds”? He dismantles the productivity/hustle culture we all know too well (thanks in part to capitalism and the attention economy) and begs you to slow down, do less, and appreciate the mundane.

If you want a casual way to change your outlook on life and get slapped in the face with some perspective, this is your book!

Content Warnings

fourstringspark's review against another edition

4.5

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Not a time-management book of the boring business productivity sort. It's more of a meditation on the nature of time and how to use what there is of it to have a life well-lived. Everyone should read this, and the sooner the better (but it's never too late!) Highly recommended!

cynder360's review against another edition

4.0

challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

nora_fried's review against another edition

5.0

Don't be fooled by the title of this book. This is not a book on how to be the most productive person at work, in life etc. Without giving too much away -- all I'll say is that this book really changed some thinking patterns I had and Burkeman is a fantastic writer. The book was comforting yet challenging in all the best ways. Definitely recommend!