So, a few references in the blog over the past few weeks to the book Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
Oliver Burkeman reads the book himself if you want it on audible or your audiobook of choice.
This was recommended by Chris (Barrow) when he was last at the clinic and whenever Chris recommends a book, I always pay attention.
Four Thousand Weeks is the average amount of time a person lives (80 years old) and is an astonishing book on a reconsideration of how you might want to use the majority of that time.
It’s a book about time management except it isn’t and it’s a book about setting priorities except it’s different.
Burkeman has a following but he has transformed his life from somebody who was obsessively efficient, and target based to someone who understands that he will never, ever complete or finish or get to the end of everything he ever tried to do.
It’s not unusual for me to rave about a book but it is more unusual for me to say that this book has changed the way I think.
It stacks up with books like David and Goliath and Talking to Stranger by Malcolm Gladwell or Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed.
It’s made me reconsider what I think about when I wake up in the morning and how I approach my day and I’ve bought it in hard copy to always have and to annotate and to return to and to loan to very special people who will loan it back.
It’s a mixture of philosophy and observation and practical advice and also metaphor and stories that explain why you should think about this stuff and how you can apply it to your own life.
It’s referenced scientifically too but not too heavily, and it truly is a life’s work explained in only a few pages, a gift from someone trying to help you not make the mistakes that they have made.
If you find you’re always chasing the end of an inbox.
If you’re constantly dissatisfied with the fact that although you seem to be successful, you have an emptiness inside because you feel like you’re letting yourself down by not completing everything.
If you realised that everything in your life including your calories and the steps you take during the day and your bank balance are counted, then I think this might be the book for you.
If you keep looking at other people and imagine ‘how do they fit it all in’?
I really do recommend that you get hold of this as soon as you possibly can.
I won’t read a better book this year and I suspect neither will you.
Blog Post Number - 3008
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