Today is an exciting day for 168 Hours. The paperback version of the book is out today in the US. It’s the same 168 Hours we all know and love, except with a new preface, and in a cheaper and more portable version. If you’ve been thinking of picking up a copy, I would greatly appreciate an order this week.
What is 168 hours? It’s 24 x 7 — the number of hours in a week. I think this is a better way to think of our time, because it gives us a more complete picture of it. Thinking in terms of 168 hours shows us how much time we really have. As one small example, people who work 50 hours per week often assume they have no time for a personal life. But if you work 50 hours, and sleep 8 hours per night (56 hours) that still leaves 62 hours for other things. For comparison’s sake, the CDC only asks us to exercise for 2.5 of those hours!
168 Hours is more than just a book about why we have more time than we think, however. It’s also a sociological look at how people spent their time in the past, and how we spend it now. It looks at why much of what we “know” about our over-worked, sleep-deprived American life is wrong. It busts several assumptions that dominate the cultural narrative. Here’s an interesting factoid: women spend more time with their children now than in 1965. Even though a far higher percentage of us also work for pay these days! And finally, the book looks at how successful people do it all — build thriving careers and thriving families — while nurturing their personal passions as well.
I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it. As I say in the new preface, I’m still trying to grow into my own advice. But the truth is, by working on the precepts in this book, over the past year I’ve really had the most exciting, full, rewarding year of my life. I hope you’ll be able to say the same thing. To order the book, click here, or follow the “buy the book” links for lots of different retailers. Thanks again for all your support!