4,000 Weeks

I’ve just finished a book with that title by Oliver Burkeman - the sub-title is Time Management for Mortals. Four Thousand weeks describes the amount of time someone has if he/she lives to be 80. My own life is now 4,260 weeks. That seems like quite a lot until it is compared to a universe of 13.8 billion x 52. As a cosmic comparison, it puts me in my place.

At the beginning of 2021 I promised myself that I would post something twice a week during the year. I fell off just before Christmas with some other activities taking precedence - and then felt guilty. Why? It’s not as though this site has many readers. It’s a perfect example of how we set goals for ourselves and then beat ourselves up for what we don’t do in comparison with what we do accomplish.

I received a Christmas gift that is an excellent choice for someone in in the 4,000 week plus category. It invites one to reflect on one’s own life by writing an answer to a question that is sent once a week. At the end of the year, it is compiled in a book. My father wrote a good family history exploring the ancestors so that let me off the hook. but this is a good assignment.

Burkeman has many ideas and the book is worth a read for anyone like me who has read too many books on time management. Perhaps the most important one is that we are time - time is spent not managed - especially in terms of working too hard toward some future that is unknowable. Another idea I liked - perhaps a better one for a retiree than someone actively working to earn a living - is to abandon a “to-do” list - which I have kept religiously using the Bullet Journal format - for a “done” list. It’s more honest and allows one to see whether time is being spent on things that really matter.

I’ll end 2021 - pandemic ridden as it is with cancelled travel plans - with an intention to write the blog once a week - and the memoir above for the other weekly assignment. In both cases the real gift is being here on earth to do them.

Happy New Year