Last Wednesday, I checked off every single task on my to-do list—17 items, perfectly slotted into calendar blocks. As someone who practices and teaches the Getting Things Done (GTD) method with Notion, I pride myself on having a system that keeps my days structured and productive. Meetings were brief, emails succinct.
On paper, it looked like a masterclass in efficiency. But at the end of the day, sinking into the couch, something felt deeply off. I’d been productive—but not present. I’d moved quickly, but not meaningfully. Despite doing everything “right,” I couldn’t shake the question: Did any of it actually matter?
Oliver Burkeman captures this feeling with eerie precision in his book Four Thousand Weeks. As a journalist who’s spent years dissecting the productivity industry, Burkeman doesn’t offer hacks or time-saving tactics.
He offers something deeper: a way to think differently about how we spend our time—and why. In a world that glorifies optimization, his concept of the “Time Compass” is a quiet but powerful rebellion. It’s not about doing more, Burkeman writes, echoing Greg McKeown in Essentialism. It’s about doing what counts.
Why Doing More Isn’t the Same as Doing What Matters
When we talk about productivity, we usually focus on efficiency—filling calendars, checking off tasks, maximizing output. But Burkeman argues that the real challenge isn’t getting more done, but deciding what’s actually worth doing in the first place. The Time Compass flips the question from “How can I squeeze more into today?” to “What would a meaningful use of today even look like?”
Hospice nurse Bronnie Ware heard it again and again from patients in their final days: I wish I’d lived a life true to myself, not the one others expected of me. That insight hit Burkeman hard—and it hits us, too. Because even the most organized life can drift if it’s not guided by something deeper than deadlines.
Think back to your own schedule yesterday. How many of your decisions felt intentional? How many were simply reactions to someone else’s urgency? The Time Compass is a principle that helps you answer those questions, not after the fact, but in real time. It’s how you stop letting your calendar tell you who you are.
A Five-Second Pause That Can Change Everything
So how do you actually use a Time Compass?
Start small. The next time a decision comes up—whether it’s accepting a meeting invite, opening your inbox again, or skipping your afternoon walk—pause for five seconds and ask yourself: What would my future self thank me for choosing right now? It’s not about finding the perfect answer. It’s about breaking the reflex.
Let’s say another “urgent” email lands in your inbox. The old habit might be to reply instantly, just to clear the notification. But your Time Compass gives you a moment of pause. Is this really urgent? Or can it wait while you protect the next twenty minutes for focused work or rest? That small decision, repeated over time, starts to shift how your days unfold.
It might feel too subtle to matter. But as James Clear writes in Atomic Habits, real change happens through tiny, repeated choices. Each time you consult your Time Compass, you reinforce that your time is yours. That you’re not just reacting—you’re choosing. And over time, those choices begin to shape a life that looks less like a checklist and more like a reflection of who you actually want to be.
Your Four Thousand Weeks Are an Invitation
Ultimately, the Time Compass isn’t a system to perfect. It’s a practice to return to.
Today, choose one moment to protect. Just one. It might be your morning walk, a conversation with someone you love, or an hour of uninterrupted work on something that matters. Then tomorrow, do it again. These moments aren’t interruptions to your productivity. They are the point of it.
Four thousand weeks isn’t a countdown—it’s an invitation. Choose one moment today your future self would fight to protect.
Then protect it.
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