Four thousand weeks.

That’s how long we live if we’re lucky enough to celebrate our 80th birthday.

Crazy, isn’t it?

We rarely think of our lifespan in terms of weeks. When we do, it seems painfully short. And that’s the point that Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, wants to drive home.

Oliver, author of The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done,  is a self-professed time management geek.

But after reading scores of books, he concluded that most time management tactics result in an illusion of productivity. They don’t get to the root of why we feel the need to be time wizards. They don’t tell us how to overcome FOMO. They don’t mention the importance of relaxation or play.

Instead, most advice furthers the false narrative that we can do it all and have it all. This narrative leads us to endlessly spin our wheels. Just one more task, just one more project…only to have five more take its place by the end of the week.

If this sounds familiar (and exhausting), then Oliver has a different perspective to offer.

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What did you learn from 2020? 

That question carries a lot of weight, doesn’t it? 

Collectively, all of us experienced an unprecedented year. In March 2020, the world changed overnight. 

Working from home became the norm. The market shot up and down and up again. Bitcoin skyrocketed. Housing prices held at unfathomable highs. We saw a global reckoning around social justice. 

Needless to say, our internal and external worlds experienced rapid shifts. We may still feel ungrounded.

And now we’re dealing with the aftermath, asking questions such as, “What do I really want out of life? How can I form a plan when there’s still so much uncertainty?”

The answer: become nimble. Embrace flexibility. 

At least, that’s the conclusion Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa reach during this interview.

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