4,000 Weeks, Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
In addition to being funny, this book challenged my notion of time itself and how to think about the 4,000 weeks the average person experiences. Time management itself is a bit of a false promise, Oliver Burkeman wants you to know right off the bat. Proper time management, we are told, results in Inbox Zero at the end of every day; resting at home in a state of Nirvana. The author sees through this, however. Anyone who develops a mastery of task completion is quite naturally assigned more tasks. It reminded me of a friend who made partner at his law firm. It was like winning a pie eating contest, he told me, where the prize was all the pie you can eat. Ug. This book explores how might we “manage time” in a more fulfilling way.
Mr. Burkeman gave me several good things to contemplate. Even before I saw Neo learn Kung Fu in The Matrix through a data port in the back of his head, I’ve longed for a faster way to process information. I’m a really slow reader. (I can, however, listen to most podcasts and audiobooks at 2-3 times normal speed.) Burkeman would urge us to accept the fact that any task takes some amount of time to complete. Whatever task you’re engaged with at any given moment, give it the time required to do it as well as you need to. Reading a book. Mastering a skill. Cultivating a relationship. Part of their value comes from the time invested. This is how life works, he reassures us. Problems, too, sometimes simply require time for a solution to emerge.
Here’s a concept that I keep thinking about. Time is a network good. We can argue that money is valuable based on its quantity. More is better. Smart phones don’t work that way, however. We don’t need more than one smartphone for it to enjoy its full utility. Its value comes largely from its networked ability to connect us to others with smartphones. Time works the same way. A life of leisure and luxury spent in complete isolation is really not very valuable at all. The value of our time increases based on our ability to find ways to spend it with people we like. That should be the stuff you cram into your 4,000 weeks. I hope you find some ways to connect with those you care about this weekend. Thanks for reading.
|