By ROBIN POWELL
There’s nothing quite like the start of a new year to focus our minds on the passage of time. It’s an annual reminder that life is short, and that, as each year passes, we’re running out of that most precious commodity, time, to do the things we want to do.
How, then, can we make the most of however much time we each have left? Author Oliver Burkeman addresses that question in a book called Four Thousand Weeks, which takes its name from the approximate length of the average human lifespan.
The book turns the whole concept of time management on its head. Any attempt to master your time, Burkeman explains, is futile: you simply won’t have enough time to do all of the things you aim to achieve.
“The day will never arrive,” he writes, “when you finally have everything under control… and when the fully optimised person you’ve become can turn, at long last, to the things life is really supposed to be about. Let’s start by admitting defeat: none of this is ever going to happen.”
The logical solution, Burkeman suggests, is to accept that harsh reality and to alter your approach to life instead.
Here are seven changes you can make to your mindset, which, he says, can help you to lead a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
1. Come to terms with your mortality
Sorry if this seems a morbid note to start on, but it’s a crucial point to grasp. Regardless of whether or not you believe in an afterlife, it’s an absolute certainty that every one of us will one day die; and yet most of us spend our lives avoiding or denying this fundamental truth. Coming to terms with your mortality, Oliver Burkeman explains, is actually quite liberating. It reminds us that time is a finite resource and helps us to focus on how we want to spend however much time we have left to live.
2. Do what’s important for you
Here’s another uncomfortable fact that Four Thousand Weeks invites us to embrace: in the context of the history of the universe, our individual lives are essentially insignificant. Hundreds or thousands of years from now, the fact that you or I once walked this earth simply won’t matter. But instead of being terrified at that thought, Burkeman suggests we come to terms with it, and release ourselves from the impossible standards we set for ourselves to make our lives remarkable. The key is to make the time we have count, and devote it to the things which matter most to us.
3. Accept that you can’t do everything
In centuries past, people wanted to be rich so that they wouldn’t have to work as hard. But the growth of capitalism put paid to that. For many of us, being busy is a badge of honour. Even (and perhaps especially) wealthy people achieve success at the cost of living a contented life. Again, Burkeman’s prescription is to accept reality: you simply don’t have the time or the energy to achieve everything you want to. Indeed the more you try, the more frustrated, stressed and empty you feel. Only when you acknowledge this fact can you begin to focus on what’s important.
4. Prioritise your goals
One of the key lessons from Four Thousand Weeks is the importance of prioritising your goals. Work out what your biggest goals are, and then, instead of procrastinating, make time in your schedule to work on them. But don’t try tackling too many goals at once; ideally focus on one at a time. Also, identify your lesser priorities; ask yourself, do I really want to make time for this task or friendship, or is it something you can do without? Could removing it from my list of priorities altogether free up time to spend on the most important things?
5. Learn to deal with distractions
Being distracted is part of being human. After all, life is full of unexpected events which command our attention. Even when we’re doing something we really want to do, we can let our focus wander. Again, accepting this reality is very important. But, says Burkeman, we also need to limit the negative impact of distractions, particularly from digital technologies. Especially harmful, he argues, is social media, which wastes our time and distorts our perceptions of the world. So, for example, he suggests making your smartphone as boring as possible by removing all of your social media apps and turning on the greyscale mode in your settings.
6. Live for the present moment
One of the problems with our obsession with time management, Burkeman argues, is that it means we spend too long thinking about the future, when we ought to be living in the present moment. An example of this is our tendency to over-schedule. Trying to control your future, the author agues, only transfers your stress to worrying about the next event or project. Another manifestation of living in the future is what he calls the “when-I-finally” mindset — the way we tell ourselves that we’ll start enjoying life when we find our ideal partner, land our dream job, or whatever it is. Remember: even if, right now, you don’t enjoy living in it, the present moment is all you have.
7. Find time to relax
The seventh and final takeaway from Four Thousand Weeks is that finding time to relax — yes, truly relax — is an essential part of finding contentment. The problem, Burkeman says, is that we have a tendency to fill our free time with productive activities. So, for example, we see parties as networking opportunities, or weekends as an opportunity to broaden our professional skills or decorate the house. We often feel guilty about enjoying something for its own sake, whether it’s savouring a stunning view or a beautiful piece of music, or watching our children or grandchildren laughing and playing. We need to prioritise downtime, leisure and just plain fun.
No time like the present
These are big changes to make. They require time, thought, effort and self-discipline. And the temptation, having resolved to act on a book like this, is to put it off until you feel less busy or distracted. But, as Burkeman says, that time may never come.
There’s no time like the present to start living more authentically, because life is short — typically around four thousand weeks. Who knows? Yours may be shorter than that.
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management or Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman, is published by Vintage Publishing.
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