A review by emilyinherhead
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Truly a life-changing book, and one that I will be revisiting in the future when I need a reminder of how to approach my choices and priorities. I wrote down approximately one billion quotes, of which this is a small sampling:

So maybe it’s not that you’ve been cheated out of an unlimited supply of time; maybe it’s almost incomprehensibly miraculous to have been granted any time at all. (66)

…the core challenge of managing our limited time isn’t about how to get everything done—that’s never going to happen—but how to decide most wisely what not to do, and how to feel at peace about not doing it. (71)

The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short. But that isn’t a reason for unremitting despair, or for living in an anxiety-fueled panic about making the most of your limited time. It’s a cause for relief. You get to give up on something that was always impossible—the quest to become the optimized, infinitely capable, emotionally invincible, fully independent person you’re officially supposed to be. Then you get to roll up your sleeves and start work on what’s gloriously possible ahead. (234)

Fuck me up, Oliver. Thank you.