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Four Thousand Weeks
- Author
- Oliver Burkeman
- Narrator
- Oliver Burkeman
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 26 August 2021
- Run Time
- 5 hours 54 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Popular psychology, Time management, Social and political philosophy, Popular philosophy, Social, group or collective psychology, Literary studies: general, Popular science
- Rating
- 4.9 (8 reviews)
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What to expect
A life-changing gift of a book: What if you tried to stop doing everything, so you could finally get round to what counts?
**The Instant Sunday Times bestseller**
Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations.
Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman sets out to realign our relationship with time - and in doing so, to liberate us from its tyranny.
Embrace your limits. Change your life. Discover how to make your four thousand weeks count in 2026.
'Life is finite. You don't have to fit everything in... Read this book and wake up to a new way of thinking and living' Emma Gannon
'Every sentence is riven with gold' Chris Evans
'Comforting, fascinating, engaging, inspiring and useful' Marian Keyes
© Oliver Burkeman 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
Critics Review
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This book is wonderful. Instead of offering new tips on how to cram more into your day, it questions why we feel the need to ... My favourite kind of book is this one ... it examines the human struggle with intelligence, wisdom, humour and humility.
The Times
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Perfectly pitched somewhere between practical self-help book and philosophical quest ... as with all the best quests, its many pleasures don't require a fast-forward button, but happen along the way
Observer
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Life is finite. You don't have to fit everything in. Enjoy your life. Breathe out. Read this book and wake up to a new way of thinking and living
Emma Gannon, author of The Multi-Hyphen Method
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A wonderfully honest book, Four Thousand Weeks is a much-needed reality check on our culture's crazy assumptions around work, productivity and living a meaningful life
Mark Manson, bestselling author of Everything is F*cked and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
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His book will challenge and amuse you. And it may even spur you on to change your life. At the very least reading it would be a good use of one of your four thousand weeks
Evening Standard
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I loved this book - it's a celebration of all that is most human: a deep dive into the value and potency of our finitude. Where we might buckle under pressure and uncertainty, Oliver quietly restores our centre of gravity within. You'll emerge from his writing fortified by wonder
Derren Brown
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A beautiful, uplifting read. Reading Oliver Burkeman, I feel my shoulders relax and my mouth curl into a smile of admiration. Witty, modest and refreshingly sane
Robert Webb, author of How Not to Be a Boy
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Comforting, fascinating, engaging, inspiring and USEFUL, actually genuinely useful
Marian Keyes
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Oliver Burkeman provides an important and insightful reassessment of productivity. The drive to get more done can become an excuse to avoid figuring out what we actually want to accomplish. Only by confronting this latter question can we unlock a calmer, more meaningful, more resilient approach to organizing our time
Cal Newport, bestselling author of A World Without Email and Deep Work
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We all know our time is limited. What we don't know - but what Oliver Burkeman is here to teach us - is that our control over that time is also limited. This profound (and often hilarious) book will prompt you to rethink your worship of efficiency, reject the cult of busyness, and reconfigure your life around what truly matters
Daniel H. Pink, author of When, Drive, and To Sell is Human
User Reviews
Book 4.9
Narration 5.0
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5.0 5.0
Good audiobook, sensible every day suggestions but also deep thoughts to mull over
Torak 2026-03-01 -
5.0 5.0
A very motivating book
EM2024 2025-01-22 -
5.0 5.0
I’ve really enjoyed this audio book. Will aim to listen again as such valuable thoughts and advice. Very clearly read.
iPosie 2023-06-13 -
5.0 5.0
Amazing book, I thinking I will listen again in order to embed the ideas talked about in this book!
NP 2023-01-06
Details
- Author
- Oliver Burkeman
- Narrator
- Oliver Burkeman
- Duration
- 5 hours 54 minutes
- Release Date
- 26 August 2021
- ISBN
- 9781473564954
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Popular psychology, Time management, Social and political philosophy, Popular philosophy, Social, group or collective psychology, Literary studies: general, Popular science
- Rating
- 4.9(8 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(8 reviews)
Synopsis
A life-changing gift of a book: What if you tried to stop doing everything, so you could finally get round to what counts?**The Instant Sunday Times bestseller**Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations.Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman sets out to realign our relationship with time - and in doing so, to liberate us from its tyranny.Embrace your limits. Change your life. Discover how to make your four thousand weeks count in 2026.'Life is finite. You don't have to fit everything in... Read this book and wake up to a new way of thinking and living' Emma Gannon'Every sentence is riven with gold' Chris Evans'Comforting, fascinating, engaging, inspiring and useful' Marian Keyes© Oliver Burkeman 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
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