laurenasuzano 's review for:

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

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this is the type of book that doesn’t pretend to tell you things you don’t already know and i appreciate that most of all. it serves a worthwhile purpose to be reminded of these things, especially when so many people try to convince you otherwise, that you are or can be the exception to the rule if you just try hard enough. it’s liberating to be told that you don’t have to do the impossible, which you might not even have realized you were striving toward. i benefitted immensely from having learned a lot of these lessons in a college class: the science of happiness. i was extremely lucky to have learned so much about the psychology of subjective well-being and how to achieve it, but that background further serves to show that reminders of what we intuitively know are extremely valuable. i was explicitly taught these things and still forget to implement them in favor of the strive for the impossible. if i have any criticism it is for two things. firstly that the many references to the pandemic and its effect on this book does age its contents. the wisdom imparted feels less timeless and more suited to an audience still reeling from the effects of covid. secondly, and this is not necessarily an indictment of the book, it lacks much consideration or mention of mental disability, for which i’m sure very different coping mechanisms must also apply. it’s not lost on me that there would be too much to cover if that was taken into account and also that this book doesn’t purport to address those specific concerns. still, it felt like an oversight especially on the topic of our neuroses. overall, i can definitely see myself both recommending and returning to this book very often.