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.