Four Thousand Weeks Audiobook By Oliver Burkeman cover art

Four Thousand Weeks

Time Management for Mortals

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Four Thousand Weeks

By: Oliver Burkeman
Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
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About this listen

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

This program is read by the author.

"Burkeman and his irresistible British accent shifted my paradigm a couple centimeters . . . 'The day will never arrive when you have everything under control,' he calmly whispered in my ear, and I think I believed him." -
Vulture

"The philosophical tone of his delivery is perfect for [Burkeman's] thoughtful message: We can enjoy life more if we appreciate the present moment, stay in touch with our deeper selves, and nurture our connections with people and the natural world." -
AudioFile Magazine

"Provocative and appealing . . . well worth your extremely limited time." —Barbara Spindel,
The Wall Street Journal

The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces listeners to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 Oliver Burkeman (P)2021 Macmillan Audio
Personal Success Philosophy Time Management Well-being Essentials Inspiring Witty Thought-Provoking
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What listeners say about Four Thousand Weeks

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Total perspective shift!

This is the book I didn't realize I needed. The anti-productivity time management book. Fantastic.

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fresh, much needed perspective

great book, so spot on. if you are someone who feels like you get more and more behind the more that you do, listen to this.

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Stop living for the future

We have heard about living in the present moment, but this book gives us insight into why we don’t and offers practical, witty and even sobering reasons as to why we should. Simply put, we are rarely satisfied and modern technologies and so-called efficiencies have made us impatient and less satisfied. The optimal future person that we are constantly working towards being is stealing our joy and our time on this planet. Being an underachiever by society’s standards is not a flaw, it’s inevitable. Accept that, set your own standards and cadence, and feel the weight on your shoulders ease up. Side note: After hearing the part about how most of us are too impatient to read because we can’t make reading happen faster, I felt a guilty about getting the audible copy and putting it on 1.3X to make it move a little faster.

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Great Book on Productivity, Happiness, and Life

A coherent look at how to use your limited time to be productive and happy without driving yourself crazy.

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Overall a good book.

More for the overprotective and neurotic types. May be discouraging for the severely underproductive folk.

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Did I just get personally attacked?

Wow. A bit shocked by this book. Almost felt like it was pointing me out of a crowd and asking me to repent. Sweet Jesus, that was incredibly relatable.

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must listen to. An eye opener. loved it.

A really good book. Must listen to . An eye opener. Excellent book.

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When time management meets Zen

This is one of the best books I've ever listened to listen to on Zen tzen that's not about Zen, lol. The office does a great job of bringing into awareness what actually matters. I do not think that this will be what people expect but I do think it is what people need.. Well done!

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Really interesting & helpful

I enjoyed this book. There were lots of revelations and one liners that I felt were helpful and will be easy to remember & apply in my life. It’s a thoughtful book on how to approach time. The present moment is the only real moment, the only thing we truly have. ❤️

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Excellent. Useful.

This is a well-read, thoughtful, book that gets to the fundamentals. It’s startling at times, and energizing.

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