A review by chelsraealberto
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

An ESSENTIAL read!! Can’t recommend this book enough. I was introduced to it during the podcast “Factually!” with Adam Conover in the episode titled “Death to Productivity with Oliver Burkeman.” This book was informative, enlightening and wildly therapeutic. It is a book that everyone should read and will find intensely relevant, and ESPECIALLY so if you are an ADHDer. I will absolutely be purchasing this book to be able to come back to it time and time again. I cant wait to be able to annotate the pages and share passages with friends. As an ADHDer this book was deeply healing. The book is a well executed philosophical exploration of our desire to dominate in our relationship with time, heavily supported by research. It covers the evolution of our concept of time, current events, trends, both recent and deep history. Burkeman’s approach to writing is so satisfying as he balances between macro/micro lenses, anecdotal/historical events, and personal/ societal implications, spanning large swaths of time, cultures and topics. His perspective is from a Western lens but he addresses that element head-on throughout the book while including customs, histories, and philosophies from credited sources across the globe. If you are interested in the themes of anti-productivity, anti-hustle culture, internalized and societal ableism in terms of time, rest and productivity, rest as self and communal care, you will absolutely find this book illuminating and engaging. Likewise if you are a productivity junkie, anxious planner, chronically overwhelmed, self-proclaimed hustler, or looking for tips on time management, you will enjoy and learn from this book.