Book SummaryFour Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Four Thousand Weeks

Most people rush through life, trying to complete all their to-dos and maximize their productivity because they believe they should be able to “get everything done.” However, in Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman argues that the idea that you can wield perfect control over your time is a delusion that only fosters guilt and unhappiness. His solution is for humans to accept...

Four Thousand Weeks Summary Part 1 | The Delusion: You Believe You Can Gain Total Control Over Your Time

Burkeman contends that you and most humans live with the mistaken belief that if you try hard enough and find the right time management solutions, you should be able to gain total control over your time.

(Shortform note: Burkeman alludes to various time management solutions, but what are some of these solutions? One solution is Brian Moran’s advice to separate your time into three different blocks, during which you tackle different activities. You dedicate yourself to thought-intensive projects in one block, administrative tasks in another, and mental rest in the third. Using this approach should give you control over how you spend your time, claims Moran.)

According to Burkeman, having total control over your time encompasses 1) the ability to complete all necessary tasks and projects, both short-term and long-term, in the time you’ve allocated them and 2) the ability to decide exactly how to spend your time.

(Shortform note: Burkeman contends that his definition of having total control over your time is a delusion. However, delusion or not, the belief that you...

Four Thousand Weeks Summary Part 2 | The Reality: You’ll Never Have Total Control Over Your Time

We’ve just described the delusion you and most humans live under, which is that if you’re disciplined and use the right tools, you can gain control over your time. Now, let’s turn to the reality: Contrary to the promises of self-help gurus and time management tools, you’ll never be able to wield total control over your time, alleges Burkeman.

(Shortform note: Others disagree with Burkeman’s claim that common time-saving tools and tricks don’t work, arguing that the only reason these tools may fail is that you don’t know how to effectively use them. If you develop time-awareness and planning skills before testing out time-saving tools, you should be able to use them to gain greater control over your time, they claim.)

Let’s discuss the three reasons why it’s impossible to have full control over your time:

Reason #1: The More Time You Free Up, the More Tasks Appear to Occupy It

According to Burkeman, the more tasks you complete, the more tasks will appear to occupy your newly freed-up time....

Four Thousand Weeks Summary Part 3 | The Solution: Accept Your Limitations and Work Within Them

Now that you know why you’ll never have enough time to do everything you want and how believing that you do causes you to suffer, let’s move on to the solution Burkeman proposes to this problem. The solution involves accepting two unpleasant facts and using tactics to work within the limitations those facts set up.

We’ll describe each fact you must accept and the tactics Burkeman proposes for working within them:

Fact #1: You’ll Never Feel as Though You’ve Mastered Your Time

The first fact about your time you must accept is that you’ll never have enough time to complete all the tasks and work you want to, insists Burkeman. Relatedly, you’ll never be able to meet your and society’s expectation of “getting everything done,” and you’ll never have total control over how you spend your time. When you accept this, you free yourself from the burden of trying to meet unrealistic expectations, and you’ll become happier.

(Shortform note: Burkeman writes that when you stop clinging to the belief that you have control over your time, you become happier. One specific, happiness-generating benefit of letting go of society's unrealistic expectations of productivity is that when...

Shortform Exercise: Develop Your Patience by Drawing Out Completion of a Project

Enhance your capacity for patience by working on a big project over many shorter periods of time.

Think of a large project you’re working on or want to start working on and describe it briefly. How long will this project take you? (For example, you want to complete an art project you’ve been working on, which you estimate will take you 20 hours.)

Shortform Exercise: Incorporate Purposeless Time Into Your Schedule

Make time for purposeless activities like hobbies to keep you grounded in the present.

Make a list of hobbies or leisure activities you enjoy. These can range from small, daily activities (like doing a crossword puzzle) to more involved pursuits (like traveling). If your list is long, pick three to five activities you feel you can commit to pursuing now.