Four Thousand Weeks

tags:: on/time-management #source/video #source/book
author:: Oliver Burkeman
read:: true

Watched Ali Abdaal's summary of the book.

Because we have clocks, this makes us keep track of time a bit obsessively.

The more we split up our day, the more it starts to feel like this conveyor belt of boxes that we have to fill up efficiently. So we make allegedly the most of our life.

Time Problems

The most stereotypical book is going to imply you can get everything done you would want to, provided you can render yourself optimally efficient.

No, you don't have time for all the things that matter.

Yes, you might fail at doing the things that matter.

The future appeals more to use than the present moment because it appears to us in a multitude of pleasant forms all at the same time. – Henri Bergson

In Denial

We use two methods to go in denial about how many things we can get done.

Clearing the decks

Putting off big tasks that get us to our goals and clear the decks of small but urgent tasks that "need to get out of our way first because we need focus."

Submitting to distraction

The truth is that most of us are willing accomplices in our own distraction.

Distractions are, yes, well-engineered, but ultimately just a way to face relief from the discomfort of facing our own fears.

Your whole job can be a distraction. Or anything else like a relationship. That you sort of half enjoy but don't truly see as meaningful.

The Solution

Embrace your limits.

  1. Accept defeat: you can't get everything done, it's not possible
  2. Rediscover wonder: compare the time of being alive to not being alive. Existing itself is an amazing coincidence.
  3. Find meaning in finitude. If we had infinite time, ultimately nothing would really matter.

Action Points