Itty Bitty Book Review: 4000 Weeks

“The Undodgeable reality of a finite human life is that you are going to have to choose.”

This quote sums up the book really nicely for me — I really liked the layout of the book with lots of references to persuade/convince or to further our curiosity. The book really underlined the importance of the power of choice and that it is even more important given that we can only do so much.

The book has some nice flip thinking to conventional attitudes that just make perfect sense with great, visual examples to demonstrate the ideas throughout the book.

It really has provided this productivity geek with a sense of calm about how I can learn to relinquish some of the controlling techniques I had used before, in a bid to get things done. I have recognised areas that I can improve and look forward to learning more about myself as I put those into practice.

I see synergy between this and some of my recent reads:

Atomic Habits: process not goal driven

Courage to Be Disliked: You are Ok as you are, Acceptance, Interpersonal relationships, the power of choice, boundaries.

7 Habits: Interdependence/Synergy — People and community, Mission Statement (Focus finite capacity), The importance of the power of choices

Top Takeaways for me:

• Open & Closed lists
• Harder Boundaries
• Strategic Underachievement
• Curiosity rather than Expectation
• Evaluate how I deploy conveniences.
• Improve Patience (for consistency)
• Evaluate things based on their value as experiential as much as about productivity.

Affiliate link to purchase via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3P7Eyqh