The To Do List in 4000 Weeks

Hey there 👋🏻

I recently finished two books by Oliver Burkeman: Meditations for Mortals and 4000 Weeks. Both fall under a similar category of personal development and time management.

I know, time management. Every time we hear that word, it feels like we’re being reminded it’s a skill we should get better at. Maybe less distraction, fewer TV shows, less doom scrolling. And maybe more family time, more productivity rituals, or more meaningful stuff—however you define meaningful.

But if I had to put time management in perspective after reading both books: for whatever we choose to do, we pretty much have 4000 weeks to do them.

If you do the math, 4000 weeks is around 76 years. According to 2023 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the average American male lives to 75.8 years, and women to 81.1. So 4000 weeks is about what we can expect.

Of course, there are always outliers. Some people live to be 100. On the flip side, some only live into their 40s, or even younger.

The post got dark real quick, didn’t it? I had the same feeling while reading both books.

As a pain management pharmacist, I’m reminded daily that pain and suffering don’t discriminate. There’s no fairness in who gets diagnosed with terminal cancer at 38 versus 78, or who ends up in a debilitating car accident at 41 versus 81.

Luck plays a bigger role in life than we’d like to admit. It often determines whether we get more than 4000 weeks or less.

If you and I are lucky, we may still have some unforeseeable amount of weeks left. And if we can’t see 1000 weeks ahead of us, what would you want to do in the next 12?

It doesn’t have to be anything grand. Mine looks something like this:

• Keep writing about things that interest me

• Make an effort to spend time with my cat

• Take a few more steps growing PainRx

• Go to the beach when I can

• Talk to my mom

• Be mindful

What would your small goals look like? I’d love to hear them.

See you next time (written in week 1711 of my life)

SP