Four Thousand Weeks

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

By: Oliver Burkeman

Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The instant Sunday Times best seller.

A Financial Times, Guardian and Observer Book of the Year.

One of the Daily Telegraph's 75 Best Books of 2021.

What if you stopped trying to do everything, so that you could finally get round to what counts?

We're obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the question of how best to use our ridiculously brief time on the planet, which amounts on average to about 4,000 weeks.

Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of the challenge. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' it introduces listeners to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman sets out to realign our relationship with time - and in doing so, to liberate us from its tyranny.

Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your 4,000 weeks count.

©2021 Oliver Burkeman (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"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." (Emma Gannon)

"A much-needed reality check on our culture's crazy assumptions around work, productivity and living a meaningful life." (Mark Manson, best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck)

"Comforting, fascinating, engaging, inspiring and useful, actually genuinely useful." (Marian Keyes)

Incredible!!

A truly important message. Oliver Burkeman has explained something that should be common knowledge, then expanded on it, and has done so in such an eye-opening way. This is a topic that normally gets grazed over from time to time, while 4000 Weeks in an opportunity to get fully immersed in that which needs far more attention in our society today. This is over 5 hours of "Ah ha" moments. I've already bought it for three people, and I'll be listening to and reading it many more times I'm sure. Hands down the most helpful book I've come across.

Insightful

Very good and insightful. Well told and a book one talks about afterwards. Life is short and full of fallacies.

Excellent modern philosophy of your time

Very well read by the author. Accept things as they are and do what is most important next, which could be to do nothing.

Completely different approach to productivity

I like the “less is more” philosophy, the value of slowing down and accepting our finite time on this planet.

You will never have time

Oliver, you nailed it. This is #1 of my 2021 list .
It is the book to read during xmass holidays. Perfect for self reflection.

A great reminder of life’s truths

And it’s only truth that sets you free! Easy to listen to & performed by the author

Realistic time management ideas

I loved this book. it had realistic ideas and really good ways to move forward without feeling guilty about stuff...

wonderful and very useful book

It is a very well made audiobook overall. I really enjoyed the naration and the fact that the lessons in this book were obviously lived and deeply felt by its author.
I would recommend it to anyone struggling with time management, self blame and feelings of unworthiness, anxiety and depression.
I learned a lot from it and it has given me a whole new perspective on life, helping me to start living fully and authentically every aspect of life, from the pleasant to the less pleasant ones.
I' ve even subscribed to Oliver's newsletter, which is filled with nuggets of wisdom and guidance, as is his book. You should definitely check out his website if you like the book. :)

great book

love books that remind me of the fleetingness of life. Paradoxically the recommendations are then to slow down and enjoy it. written by a "former productivity geek" I can relate.

Life changing and profound

this book is not a self help book. it's a life guide. thoroughly enjoyed it, and will often go back to it.