Four Thousand Weeks
by Oliver Burkeman
★ Top 25 book of 2021 · #24 on Best Books of 2021
Burkeman starts from the fact that a life of eighty years lasts only about four thousand weeks. He rejects the urge to get everything done and offers a more realistic way to approach time and build a meaningful life.
Best for: Overwhelmed people tired of to-do lists who want a more realistic view of time
Four Thousand Weeks is #24 on BookWard's Best Books of 2021, out of 59 2021 books that cleared our data bar.
What Four Thousand Weeks is about
If you live to 80, you get roughly four thousand weeks. Oliver Burkeman starts from that sobering number and asks how we might spend them well. He looks at our overflowing to-do lists, crowded inboxes, constant distraction and shrinking attention spans, and argues they trouble us because they are symptoms of a deeper problem: what to do with a short life.
His answer rejects the modern urge to get everything done. He points out that our unhelpful habits of thinking about time are choices made by individuals and by society, not fixed truths, which means they can be changed. Drawing on philosophers, psychologists and spiritual teachers, old and new, he offers tools for building a meaningful life. The tone is reflective and wry. It will suit anyone who feels permanently behind and wants a kinder way to think about time.
Four Thousand Weeks on the Best Books of 2021
Four Thousand Weeks came out in 2021. Of the 59 books first published in 2021 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #24 on our Best Books of 2021 list.
Why it made the list: 343 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (20 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2021 list
- She Drives Me Crazy Kelly Quindlen, #22
- The Things We Leave Unfinished Rebecca Yarros, #23
- People We Meet on Vacation Emily Henry, #25
See all Best Books of 2021 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2020 Best Books of 2022.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 299 want to read it, 10 are reading it now and 34 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 from 20 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 49 | 55% |
| Reader love | 86 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 39 | 20% |
Questions about Four Thousand Weeks
When was Four Thousand Weeks published?
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman was first published in 2021.
Was Four Thousand Weeks one of the best books of 2021?
Four Thousand Weeks is #24 on BookWard's Best Books of 2021, out of 59 2021 books that cleared our data bar. 343 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (20 ratings).
Why is Four Thousand Weeks on the Best Books of 2021 list?
343 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (20 ratings).
More of the best books of 2021
- The Love Hypothesis Ali Hazelwood, #1
- Twisted Games Ana Huang, #2
- Project Hail Mary Andy Weir, #3
- As Good as Dead Holly Jackson, #4
- You've Reached Sam Dustin Thao, #5
- Twisted Love Ana Huang, #6
See the full Best Books of 2021, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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