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> She's saying plainly that majority of your quota (hours) is spent towards work, if those amount of time is not spent towards "moving you toward where you want to be", then those time is counted as wasted

Well, yes, that’s the bourgeois part.

The fact is, most people work to survive because they have to. That’s perfectly fine and respectable and it doesn’t need a large amount of self-realisation guilt tripping thrown on top by people who want to sell self-help books.

People don’t need to strategically tackle their career and its progression to live meaningful life. They can if they want to and have the luxury of being able to do so but I will always oppose anyone describing work as wasted time on principle.




Books/articles like this is presenting a world view. I don’t think they think this is the only way we should view the world. But I guess they are preaching a way to view the world, and as any preacher does they try to convince you why this is a better way.

(Somewhere they did mention not all people have the luxury to practice this, but she did documented examples where people in less-than-ideal situation have it turned around and do what they love.)

Regarding self-help, she said

“There are other ways in which 168 Hours does not aim to be like many self-help or time-management books. I approach this not as a productivity guru, but as a journalist who is interested in how successful, happy people build their lives. I am particularly interested in how people who are not household names achieve the lives they want, and what we can learn from their best practices. There are plenty of books out there on Fortune 500 CEOs’ or celebrities’ tips for success. I’m more interested in the woman down the street who—without benefit of fame, outsized fortune, or a slew of personal assistants—is running a successful small business, marathons, and a large and happy household.”

Excerpt From 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think Laura Vanderkam




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