Book Information
Title : Four Thousand Weeks
Author : Oliver Burkeman
Publication Date : August 10, 2021
Genres : Nonfiction, Business, Self Help, Philosophy, Time Management
Pages : 288
ISBN-10 : 0374159122
ISBN-13 : 978-0374159122
How I met this book
To be honest with you, I do not really remember how and when I picked this book. This is because I probably bought this book sort of a long time ago. However, I can assume that I was trying to figure out how to use our time effectively. I was also questioning the right way to live with our lifetime. Also, I might have been overwhelmed by the amount of what I needed to do at that time. When I picked this book, I was about 23 years old or in my early twenty-something. So, I might have been intrigued by the title “Four thousand weeks”, which sounds not a lot of time. This actually represents our life span.
The exact motivations I had when I picked this book are still unclear. However, I am sure that I wanted to know how to live a meaningful life using our limited time, which made me start reading this book.
Summary of this book
Short Summary
Instead of confronting, we need to face and accept the reality that our lifetime is limited(four thousand weeks). By accepting and embracing the fact that what we can do, have, and control in our lifetime is finitude, we can live with less anxiety, irritation, and exhaustion and get to actually be the present moment. Choosing what’s the most important and what matters the most from so many options and possibilities makes our lives meaningful. Giving up hope that everything is being settled or controlled is the key.
Key Points
- Trying to get everything done is a part of denying the fact that our time is limited and running out.
- Ironically, the more productive we are, the busier we become. If you have more time and capabilities, you are more likely to be asked to do something.
- Rather than believing in getting everything done, choosing what matters the most and sacrificing other options is important.
- recognizing the present moment as a future resources (instrumentalism) or trying to be in the present moment means that you are actually not here
- Rest and leisure should not be taken for the future-fulfillment, but rather it should be taken for its own sake.
- Being patient can be trained by embracing the problems and radical incrementalism and staying conventional and original
- Time for only your own does not make us happy, but rather being in the time collaboratively makes us happy
- Understanding that our actions in life are limited helps us feel less anxiety. People will eventually forget these actions.
Fun Facts
- Decide, Decidere in the Latin word, means “cut off”.
- Business, negotium in the Latin word, means” not-leisure”.
- Comparing the group that can change their decisions and another group that is told their decisions are the final, the latter group shows more appreciation.
- Having time-off collaboratively is the key to make people happy.
- The delay of loading by one second on Amazon’s front page can lead the company to lose $1.6 billion in annual sales.
Favorite Quotes
“missing out is what makes our choice meaningful in the first place” (p.33)
“the undodgeable reality of a finite human life is that you are going to have to choose” (p.55)
“Any finite life – even the best one you could possibly imagine – is therefore a matter of ceaselessly waving goodbye to possibility” (p.60)
“you need to learn how to start saying no to things you do want to do, with the recognition that you have only one life” (p.78)
“when you can no longer turn back, anxiety falls away, because now there is one direction to travel: forward into the consequences of your choice” (p.88)
“attention is the beginning of devotion” (p.94)
“paradoxical reward for accepting reality’s constraints is that they no longer feel so constraining” (p.109)
“living more fully in the present may be simply a matter of finally realizing that you never had any other option but to be here now” (p.140)
“a good hobby probably should feel a little embarrassing; that’s a sign you’re doing it for its own sake” (p.159)
“the faster we go, the clearer it becomes that we’ll never succeed in getting ourselves or the rest of the world to move as fast as we feel is necessary” (p.118)
“if you always pursue the unconventional in this way, you deny yourself the possibility of experiencing those other, richer forms of uniqueness that are reserved for those with the patience to travel the well-trodden path first” (p.184)
“power over your time isn’t something best hoarded entirely for yourself: that your time can be too much your own” (p.201)
“to remember how little you matter, on a cosmic time scale, can feel like putting down a heavy burden that most of us didn’t realize we were carrying in the first place ” (p.210)
“quietly do the next and most necessary thing” (p.227)
How I felt about this book
After I finished reading twice, I still had some parts that I could not understand. However, this book taught me a lot of things. I feel like this book is different than other productivity, business, and time management books.
The main point in this book is that embracing the fact that we are limited in time and other things and giving up hope that everything goes well leads us to live now. This way of thinking made me realize how much I have been trying to see the future instead of being now. For example, I always make plans to try to get everything done well because I was worried about the future. But the reality is that what is going to happen to my future is not what we can control. This mindset reminds me of how unnecessary my anxiety was. On the other hand, the author explains that “trying” to be now does not lead us to be actually now, which is a little bit confusing to me.
Another big moment for me was when the topic was the decisions. There are so many options and possibilities in our lives now, which make us make decisions. I was thinking that I would like to experience as much and differently as possible. Therefore, I postponed to make decisions. However, this book makes me realize that what we can experience in our lifetime is limited, and making decisions is meaningful and devotional.
After reading this book, I will probably give up on my hopes more, especially what I cannot control. Also, I should value and appreciate the present-moment, as opposed to the future mindset.
Whom I recommend to read
- Those who struggle with time-management
- Those who have anxiety in the future
- Those who can not make decisions
- Those who want to live meaningful life
