Reviews tagging 'Death'
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman
9 reviews
justinlewry's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Four Thousand Weeks is packed to the brim with interesting perspectives and practical ideas.
Oliver Burkeman writes in such an accessible way that makes this book a pleasure to read.
I connected with so many ideas that I felt compelled to write lengthy reflections about my favourite passages and perspectives after finishing each chapter.
This book has genuinely had a significant impact on me, and I've already recommended it to about five people I know!
Oliver Burkeman writes in such an accessible way that makes this book a pleasure to read.
I connected with so many ideas that I felt compelled to write lengthy reflections about my favourite passages and perspectives after finishing each chapter.
This book has genuinely had a significant impact on me, and I've already recommended it to about five people I know!
Moderate: Death
janonesork's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
2.75
This book should have been an article.
It's very philosophical and not much practical. If you are lazy already (as I am), you probably won't get much from this book.
Halfway through I realized that instead of reading this book, I should be spending my precious time better. I'm honestly suprised I was able to finish.
Perhaps if someone if very hustle-oriented, they might benefit from this, but they probably don't have the time to read this anyway.
It's very philosophical and not much practical. If you are lazy already (as I am), you probably won't get much from this book.
Halfway through I realized that instead of reading this book, I should be spending my precious time better. I'm honestly suprised I was able to finish.
Perhaps if someone if very hustle-oriented, they might benefit from this, but they probably don't have the time to read this anyway.
Moderate: Death
bkjoap's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This book really made me rethink how I was living my life. Although the concept of only having 4000 weeks as a human-being was overwhelming Oliver Burkeman turned it into something that was easy to digest and gave me a sense of calm and how I was spending my days.
Moderate: Death
prettiestwhistles's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
Moderate: Death
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Violence, War, and Alcoholism
kcarney86's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Minor: Death
zombiezami's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Wrecked me in the best possible way
Graphic: Death
Minor: Cursing, Police brutality, Violence, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, War, Mass/school shootings, and Racism
plethora's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Provided a lot of historical, philosophical context for how we've gotten to where we are as a culture concerning productivity, output, and how to use our time. Many sources of those who've thought these things before. Not so much a handbook as it is an anthology of the human experience on time, life, and the decisions we do - and do not- make within them.
Graphic: Death
Wait until you're in a good head-space for this book. Its existential tangents can be jarring if you yourself have had difficulty addressing death, meaning, and your place within the universe. While the author pragmatically broaches these subjects with flecks of levity, not everyone may be ready to address these concepts upon reading.samkilbride's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Minor: Death
bluejayreads's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
This is a bizarre book to review. While I was reading it I found it groundbreaking and earth-shattering, but as soon as I stopped reading for a moment I could no longer remember what was actually so profound about it.
I can’t even really give you a succinct statement on what the book was about, because it was “about” many things. It was about how leisure has become another task, the failure of time management systems, the invention of the modern idea of time during the Industrial Revolution, the creation of meaning through conscious choices, and that you are definitely going to die someday and the end is sooner than it seems. And probably a few other things too, there were a lot of topics in this book.
If I boil it down to a single message, it would be something like, “Life is short and you can’t do everything, so pick what you actually want to do and ignore the rest.” Which is not at all groundbreaking and is a message I’ve heard from a good 80% of self-help products. Oliver does make some good points. He points out that time management systems fail because they’re built on the premise of helping you to do everything when we, as finite mortals, are inherently incapable of doing everything. He also proposes that doing things has meaning because we are choosing to do that with our limited time to the exclusion of all the other things we could do with our time – which is an interesting point to think about, but he uses the example of a marriage having meaning because you chose this one person to the exclusion of all others, and as a polyamorous person that’s not at all what gives my marriage meaning.
I think it’s the way that it’s written that makes this book feel so profound, because every time I put it down the feeling of this book containing incredible deep wisdom completely disappeared. You can’t do everything, and this fact should be obvious. But I suppose we all need reminders every now and then, and this is a good book to remind you of that fact.
Moderate: Death
Extended and frequent discussions of death and your own mortality
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