Oliver Burkeman Four Thousand Weeks

 

Oliver Burkeman Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How To Use It (Bodley Head / Penguin, 2021) 273pp

 

I have possibly saved you a little of your four thousand weeks by reading this book for you, but you might enjoy it and gain from giving it a little more time. For those in a hurry, it comes with five application questions towards the end (p220ff) and an appendix of “ten rules for embracing your finitude.”  

 

Burkeman quotes Carl Jung’s advice (in a letter of 15^th December 1933 to Frau V.) that if one wants one single, definitive way to live, one ought to join the [Roman] Catholic Church “where they will tell you what’s what.” Burkeman refers to the book of Ecclesiastes and more than once, I seem to recall, to the teaching of Jesus, but there is no doubt in my mind that this book would have benefited from more Bible and perhaps a little less Zen. Nevertheless, there is certainly wisdom here for those with ears to hear, even if the Christian would have fundamental and ultimate differences and not follow him in everything.

 

Burkeman argues that we should give up on the false illusion that we might somehow master time, gain perfect control of our lives and get everything done. Rather he suggests that if we honestly embrace our finitude (even to some extent) we might have more "bright sadness" (Richard Rohr), "stubborn gladness" (Jack Gilbert) or "sober joy" (Bruce Ballard) and focus a bit more on some stuff that really matters.

 

Some of the headings might give a flavour of the book: In the Long Run, We’re All Dead; Choosing to Choose; The Limit-Embracing Life; The Efficiency Trap; Facing Finitude; Becoming a Better Procrastinator; We Never Really Have Time; We Are Here; Rediscovering Rest; Cosmic Insignificance Therapy.

 

Work tends to expand to fill the time available. Efficient people often get given more responsibility. Every email to which we reply might generate a couple more replies.

 

There is no end to what we might do and we cannot do it all.

 

He urges a good kind of procrastination which enables us to say “no” and only pursue maybe three important on-going projects at any one time. In fact, is there actually one big thing you really want to do?

 

Probably the only way actually to get what matters to us done is to do it: today! Perhaps if we could give our first hour to what matters to us each day we would make real progress.

 

Some things, some good and attractive things, will need to be neglected. The problem is not necessarily so much that there is lots of annoying trivia in our lives we can’t eliminate (the dishwasher is always going to need emptying) but perhaps that we are spending time on our sixth or seventh priority rather than the most important stuff.

 

Probably it will not be catastrophic to neglect some things. And even if there is a cost, say to not satisfying all the expectations of your boss or your neighbours, that cost might be worth paying for some greater end. Burkeman urges that we decide in advance what to fail at and practice strategic underachievement in some areas. Pick your battles.  

 

If there is good procrastination (a level of care in choosing some things and neglecting or delaying others), a negative kind of procrastination (perfectionism or paralysis) is to be avoided. We might do well to ignore The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and commit to some stuff, even if we imagine there might be other better stuff out there. We do well to be present and to live life, rather than spend all our time imagining what might be. Perhaps we should just take the next step and do what seems good, right or necessary rather than fretting too much about what it is.   

 

In a way our life experience consists only of that to which we give our attention. We are often distracted (from what we think matters to us), sometimes willfully and sometimes by ourselves. It is surprisingly hard, but worthwhile, to sometimes slow down, be calm and present and do nothing. Face reality and how it feels without evasion.

 

We should not limit our ambition, holding off until some future point when we expect to be really competent and in control. Burkeman says: "I sometimes think of my journey through adulthood to date as one of incrementally discovering the truth that there is no institution, no walk of life, in which everyone isn't just winging it, all the time. Growing up, I assumed that the newspaper on the breakfast table must have been assembled by people who truly knew what they were doing; then I got a job at a newspaper." (p224f)

 

There is stuff to do which of intrinsic value. Making your family a nutritious meal is worth doing even if it wont win you a Nobel prize. We may find novelty and value even in the mundane if we can do it with some level of care, attention and dedication. Probably many of us ought to focus a bit less on work and more on our key relationships: how might they be if we gave them more focused and thoughtful engagement? Be curious. Wonder. Hope.  

 

Try embracing spontaneous generosity. If you have a positive impulse, why not follow it? Do something good or kind.

 

If a few people enjoy your novel, maybe it is worth writing even if you turn out not to be the next Tolstoy. And it may be that much of your Life’s Work may not have obvious, quick or complete results. We can only live the lives we are given and, in a sense, we are all like the medieval cathedral builders who never got to see the full fruit of their labours.