Four Thousand Weeks-Oliver Burkeman
BookNotes author: Oliver-Burkeman
This is an antidote to productivity books that promise ways to do more with less time. There are no life hacks in this book. Instead, Burkeman writes a philosophical treatise on what it means to live. You-Will-Die and Our-Lives-Are-Brief and limited, so Any-Decision-Eliminates-Others. The antidote to this is to Slow-Down, Practise-Doing-Nothing and Embrace-the-Wonder-of-Being-Alive. It’s a beautiful, funny but also wise book that made me reassess my relationship to productivity and stop trying to do everything. Reading it on a beach in Croatia helped of course.
Key Ideas
- You-Will-Die and Our-Lives-Are-Brief.
- Be-Present and Slow-Down. Instead of rushing through everything, [[ Let Tasks Take the Time They Take ]]
- Choose-What-is-Important and eliminate everything else. Remember Any-Decision-Eliminates-Others so you need to narrow down what to focus on. set-limits-on-what-you-do.
- Attention-is-Everything. Try to maintain it but remember Distraction-is-Inevitable.
- Sit-With-Discomfort to make it easier to bear. Acknowledge what is difficult and Acknowledge-Your-Limitations
- There-Will-Always-Be-a-Gap-Between-Dreams-and-Reality
- Social-Media-is-Designed-to-Capture-Our-Attention. It also changes what we think is important.
- Productivity-Makes-You-More-Rushed
- Things will always take longer than you plan.(Hofstaders-Law)
- Worry-is-an-attempt-to-control-the-future
- [There Will Always Be a Gap Between Dreams and Reality]
Criticisms
- Accepting life how it is can stop the desire for change. Burkeman acknowledges this within the text but I think it needs more examination, especially on a social level. This is because Self-Help-Ignores-Systemic-Solutions.
Notes mentioning this note
"Be Present"
It’s important to be present in your life. Not living in the past, looking at regrets or decisions you have...
Hofstaders Law
This is a law from cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter that says a task will always take longer that you are...
Embrace the Wonder of Being Alive.
Yes, [[You-Will-Die]], but the face you are here at all is incredible. We are the universe experiencing itself. We are...
Acknowledge Your Limitations
In order to live in the present, you have to accept you are limited in what you chose to do....
Any Decision Eliminates Others
Because [[Our-Lives-Are-Brief]], we have to [[decide what is important to you]] We can’t do everything, so what we chose to...
Attention is Everything
Attention is the most important resource we have. It is what we use to define our world, how we [[Be-Present]]....
Choose What is Important
Because [[Our-Lives-Are-Brief]] and [[You-Will-Die]], it’s important to [[Acknowledge-Your-Limitations]]. Once we have done this, we need to [[Be-Present]] and focus on...
Productivity is a trap
Getting lots of things done means your day fills up with more tasks, most of them unwanted. It also makes...
Pay yourself first
When you earn money, pay yourself first no matter how little. You do this before you pay everything else as...
Sit With Discomfort
Instead of turning away from discomfort, the best way to deal with it is to sit with it. You have...
Make-Time-by-Jake-Knapp-and-John-Zeratsky
A productivity guide, like more practical version of [[Four-Thousand-Weeks-by-Oliver-Burkeman-2021]]
Social Media is Designed to Capture Our Attention
[[Twitter]]and Facebook are free because they capture our attention. I have spend hours on [[Twitter]], not doing anything but refreshing...
Worry is an attempt to control the future
Worry is an extreme reaction to an unstable environment. You cannot control everything but because [[our minds are problem solvers]],...
Three projects only
Stop yourself getting overwhelmed by limit the amount of things you focus at any one point.[[set-limits-on-what-you-do]].
Set Limits on what you do
There’s too much to do at any one time, too much to research, to watch, to listen to, to enjoy...
There Will Always Be a Gap Between Dreams and Reality
It’s easy to imagine the perfect life, down to each small detail. It’s harder to put it into practise, because...
Be intentional with your time
In order to [[Choose-What-is-Important]], we need to be intentional with how we use our limited time on this earth ([[Our-Lives-Are-Brief]])....