I do not tend to read much philosophy, and largely steer away from self-help books or those on "mindfulness", but Arnold Bennett's How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day looked as though it was worth a read. This piece, comprised of twelve different short essays, comes complete with rather a long preface, which Bennett stresses should be read at the end of the book.

I enjoyed Bennett's prose style; it felt chatty, wise, and intelligent. How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day is primarily about how to make the most of one's time, and tips for how to stop putting things off and to start getting on with them. Mildly amusing and quite enjoyable, How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day is rather a short, but memorable book, which offers some respite from our chaotic world.

Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) writes a collection of essays (circa 1908) describing how to live a satisfying, self-directed life. I listened to the LibriVox recording by Mark F. Smith. In twelve chapters, the author develops different overlapping ideas (with strategies) for designing one's daily life. The twelve chapters include: "The Daily Miracle" (the importance of valuing our time); "The Desire to Exceed One's Programme" (the problem of "not enough" time in a day); "Precautions before Beginning" (don't over-program your day); "The Cause of the Trouble" (re-conceptualize your day as 2 days--1 8-hour day of sleep & 1 16-hour day of activities); "Tennis and the Immortal Soul" (repurpose your evenings to do something constructive); "Remember Human Nature" (be content with your time & have 1 day of rest); "Controlling the Mind" (practice daily morning meditation/concentration exercise); "The Reflective Mood" (practice daily evening self-reflection); "Interest in the Arts" (read about the arts to learn about the world); "Nothing in Life is Humdrum" (everything is interesting with a deliberate, different perspective); "Serious Reading" (read interesting poetry [or history or philosophy] and reflect on it too); and "Dangers to Avoid" (don't over-program your day; but, do actually try to program your day). While some readers might struggle with the century-old English cultural references, other readers seeking a subtly humorous, self help book about the qualitative dimensions of time management should be amused.

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, a very short work, (or perhaps more appropriately called a pamphlet), by Arnold Bennett, insists on the very high importance of living to the fullest, constantly and with all expedience. It is not a time-management guide, (as the length and title would suggest), but more of a brief examination of the importance of truly living, as opposed to mere monotonous and melancholy existence. General aims, and the means to employ them are suggested, and the author, (whom I have grown to admire), has a curt and tact way of asserting himself and what he has to say. It is surprising to note that a problem which I had thought only seriously prevalent in today's world of endless, (and usually mindless), electronic stimulation, that of a habitual and perpetual laziness from which follows an endless dissatisfaction with lack of accomplishment, existed in the pre-electronic world. Granted telephones, and possibly radios, would have been fairly common in 1910, it is practically nothing in comparison to today. I digress, however. I suppose this is one element of humanity that hasn't changed in a century.

The work starts with noting the preciousness of time; how it is a gift, (a gloriously beautiful one), and it is entirely taken for granted. How we have a constant and steady supply of it, entirely unmolested in the future. He then proceeds to say, (and he personifies a skeleton, pointing his finger at us in a tone of mockery), that all people are dissatisfied with their use of this so precious gift. That one who wishes to go to Mecca and never leaves Brixton lives with the perpetual torment of lack of accomplishment, and is worse off than the man who died along the rough trail. Any finite amount of accomplishment would only recognize a lack of a greater amount of it, and thus, the author proposes, we must learn to live with it. To always live, and enjoy living, accomplishing what we may, inspecting life with a childish curiosity and joy, and yet, be content with the fact that we will never satisfy ourselves with our accomplishments. "Let me principally warn you against your own ardour. Ardour in well-doing is a misleading and treacherous thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can't satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers. It isn't content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, "I've had enough of this.""

There is serious emphasis on the removal of all instances of merely "wasting time". Constantly, you should be 'alive', not merely existing; not vegetating. Consider the last paragraph. To be alive does not at all mean incessant advancement towards accomplishment, as that is not a source of life, (though it should be a product of it), but rather, to do something of value and to enjoy doing it. All too often do we sit idly by as the great gift of time constantly presents itself, while we, with discomfort, refuse it, and prefer to maintain a state of hypnotic stupor over engaging vivacity.

Bennett warns us not to be too ambitious in our attempt to live, fail, and revert to our prior state of sleepy existence. He cautions us to remember human nature, to allow room for failure and mistake. What a magnanimous change of direction it is to transform your entire life from a state of passivity to active, strenuous living! Always try hard, allow room for failure, and when it does show its face, (for it can never be entirely killed, but it can be reduced), do not drop your whole endeavor, do not shame yourself, (for failure is quite natural), make note of how that particular instance could be avoided, pick yourself up again, and keep at it.

So far the narrative covers the importance of true living, the unfortunate state of its rarity, and the emphasis we must make to do so. The following chapters concern how it is to be done. This section, I believe, is very important, and due to it being so short, is worth careful review, note and meditation, to fully digested. It is asserted that life begins with the control of your mind. He says that this is entirely possible, despite popular belief, (perhaps more so in his day than in ours), and even simple. All that is needed is constant persistence. "And without the power to concentrate-that is to say, without the power to dictate to the brain its tast and to ensure obedience-true life is impossible. Mind control is the first element of a full existence.". He instructs us to merely, (even in the course of our daily business, such as "on the train to work" or its modern equivalent), to merely focus on something (be it a book, idea, something you are looking at, or whatever else), ponder it and do not be distracted. When you are, merely redirect your focus, and resume. Beyond this, regular persistence is the only key to success.

Another emphasis is quiet reflection. More specifically, (and I think this to be a brilliant practical definition of 'reflection', which is so vague and arbitrarily used in most cases)- to study one's self in the form of reviewing how our conduct aligns to our principles, and to the share of our actions that were well guided by reason. I paraphrase, but with the review of this passage of text, I can confidently say this is what was communicated, just more concise. It is also encouraged to consider what one read the previous day during this time of reflection. For reading alone is almost pointless if we do not thoroughly consider its value and implications on our life. Oh, how we might learn and benefit from this, and yet it is so often ignored! How our lives might be so wisely guided!

Following this, (and thus the transition from the previous 'phase' to the present), it is encouraged to take interest in the arts, literature, and for those who dislike both, life itself, or whatever you fancy. This section seems less essential than the previous, and I think not so quite as applicable. Although this does not at all necessarily mean an appreciation of the cliche way in which one might say that. This could very well apply to any thing or practice, thoroughly examined and appreciated. Golfing, sailing, music, painting, or what have you. Learn about them, examine them, appreciate them, enjoy them. To do this is to cultivate a growing interest in, and satisfaction from, art. I apologize for my summation of this being reduced to simple imperatives, but this is clearly what the author is saying. Is there not so much beauty overlooked in so many things? Is not the hand of God so visible? As it concerns reading, it is emphasized that poetry is the 'highest form of writing', which I would disagree with, (herein lies some of the subjectivity), and beyond that history and philosophy, (which I would accredit to the highest value of the written world). No guide as to how to go about doing this is given, merely the emphasis to do so.

He then goes on to say that nothing in life is "humdrum", that all things follow the universal Law of Causation. All things can be enjoyed and examined through this lens, that all effects have a cause, and that they themselves are a cause. Virtually anything can be learned from through this lens, except logic and free will, and thus this nullifies the statement that something is pointless, "humdrum" or boring.

It is concluded by a series of warnings. The fist of which is important to know, heed, and take to heart, to not become a snobby, know-it-all brat. You will have no positive relations with anyone except your own admiring reflection. Secondly is to note that you should maintain your routine, (or 'programme'), and not worship as an object of religion, or give it so much priority that you cease to do other things of importance, (such as visiting a friend who comes to town and lives miles away, or such). Effort and regularity are what your routine should be constituted of, not obsessive adherence to. It is even noted that you will defeat your own ends by thinking about your routine, and not what it is constitutes. If in the process of doing your 'step 1', all you are thinking about is your timing in relation to 'step 2', then step one would have been entirely wasted. Avoid this. He also says not to try to go from one to the next with hurried impatience and too much attention to your effort, and not on that which you are doing.

The author lays out a rather vague timetable as to when these suggestions ought to be done, basing them off of the typical workday of a middle-class office worker in London at the height of the Victorian Era. Due to this, it will suffer more in my review. Life, being common to all who exist, ought not to be so confined. Granted, I don't expect him to not write and give examples from the perspective of his era, but honestly, he tells us to "do such and such as you are on your train to work ... or do this while you are walking home ... etc." I think everyone's individual situations should render this portion of the book virtually worthless. The positive review comes only from the message imbued, and its general aims in achieving it, not his particular, "this ought to be done on the train etc. It indeed causes the message to suffer, and thus, I have to chip a star off of the otherwise five star message and implication of this work. Along with this necessitating that the fifth star be withheld, is that there was much to be said that wasn't, and what was may have been quite incomplete. I do appreciate the "short and sweet" essence to it, but something so serious as living life to its fullest ought to be given more attention. More could have been said of what 'living on 24 hours a day' would look like in detail, more examples of the right ways of doing something, (nothing was said of work or even the weekends), except for that the suggested 'three hours in the evening' would add zest and enrichment to the entire day. In fact, all that is covered is this three hour session! Even for these three hours were not seriously instructed as to what specifically we ought to do other than, "read" "reflect" etc. How exactly ought we to read and reflect beyond the basic implications of what is said? Notwithstanding, even though these two things are of immense value, there is much, much more to life than merely reading and reflecting, and the book certainly could have covered what it did cover more thoroughly, and much more could have been said. Howbeit, the message that it does convey is of such great importance that this easily deserves four stars.

A positive point would be the matter-of-fact, curt manner of speaking in which the author employs his message. It does make it easier to follow, and I absolutely appreciate that it isn't written with the frilly, weenie sort of means, which tolerates anything and everything. It's more of a "get off your ass and start living!" than a "come on, you can do it! I know it's SO hard, but you've got to try. It's okay, just keep at it". What little is said, (and not enough), is communicated well.

Considering that it would take you perhaps an hour to read this, I would absolutely encourage you to do so, and heed what it says! This certainly a worthy use of your time, and not a pathetic joke like so many widely-read books of today are.

Why so many 5-star reviews, Amazon? is it really the draw (the lure. hook in mouth. sinker) of a free book?

... because this is a turn-of-the-century version of GET OFF YOUR ASS AND ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. To be sure, those are useful words for us living in the time of Teh Internet -- yet the author omitted How -- and I am more interested in Why (also omitted).

It's like talking to a smart friend who has very useful ideas to make us better in decision making, focusing, understanding art better and applying art into our lives while also pointing where things could go wrong and how we could prevent these mistakes.

Aside, there are great suggestions in the book for further readings from its time, which could be the mother of the best work yet to come later.

The amount of quotes needed to be highlighted is astonishing! One would think that it is a practical book, telling you how to cram everything into our 24 hours slot; however, it has more of a philosophical touch to it.

The author starts the book with an argument about how precious life is, how we all have this precious pearl of unstructured 24 hours per day (and no more). How we can all turn a new leaf if we want to. He encourages people to start changing from now on because the future hasn't happened yet. He then goes off introducing the block of time technique that is quite popular among this century's time management books. He suggests some activities to do in those block like reflective thinking, knowledge seeking, and to just notice things.

It's funny how he had predicted the life of almost everyone nowadays since 1910s. His average man works for 8 hours per day, not any less than any modern average man in 2013.

However precious those advices are, my favorite was the end part of the books; when he starts to warn us against some of the practical mistakes we will make once we go on this adventure: you will very likely to be a prig; don't bite off more than you can chew; and keep your self-respect in check in times of failure.

A 4 star for this marvelous classic. Timeless. And numerous.

8.0 This one actually spittin. Was weary at first but Mr. Bennett has me sold. This is a perfect read to start the year and I definitely hope to make it a regular. Controlling the Mind was far and away my favorite chapter. Serious Reading was also very good. It is funny how the first few chapters have aged though. But you know its a good book when it holds up through time. I really appreciated his writing style as it was a mix of down to earth and authoritative, which I feel every good teacher should be. My man was straight roasting me though:

"The second suggestion is to think as well as to read. I know people who read and read, and for all the good it does them they might just as well cut bread-and-butter. They take to reading as better men take to drink. They fly through the shires of literature on a motor-car, their sole object being motion. They will tell you how many books they have read in a year. Unless you give at least 45 minutes to careful, fatiguing reflection (it is an awful bore at first) upon what you are reading, your 90 minutes of a night are chiefly wasted."

I love it so much. Lots of good quotes in this book.

I also appreciate his unashamed recommendations and hope they turn out to be as good as he chalked them up to be.

What a G

Muy buena lectura !!! Cortito y concreto!!! Para reflexionarlo hasta el final!!!

You might expect from the title that this book will be some kind of time management tome, but it is anything but that. The author is intent on making sure that people 'live' rather than merely 'exist'. He proposes just one method for this 'living': to use your time wisely and learn to expand your mind and concentration. Some of his advice may seem archaic, and yet it is still quite relevant today. In this age of mindless entertainment, it may be even more important to make an active decision in how to use your daily allotment of hours.

Knowing that the book is old enough doesn't alter the truth that it adds nothing to managing your time.

Estaba emocionada por leer este libro por exactamente la razón que el autor expresa al principio: casi nadie habla del tiempo, exceptuando la expresión de que vale oro.

Por un lado, no me decepciono el pequeño libro. Al contrario, no sé cómo en tan pocas páginas logró comunicar tantas ideas, tips, opiniones, etc. El sentido del humor del autor me encanto, me recordó al libro “Aura”. Sin embargo, sí estuvo complicado leerlo, no tanto por el vocabulario, sino por la estructura. Me pareció que a veces se perdían las ideas por todas partes.

(*Spoilers*)

En cuanto al contenido, hubo una parte en específico que me pareció que deja demasiado abierta la interpretación del mensaje y por ello me pareció frustrante. Indica que hay que dedicar, cada dos noches, 90 minutos de nuestro día al “cultivo trascendental de la mente”, ¿qué significa esto? No lo explicó, lo que me pareció una lástima.

Me gustaron los tres consejos principales que da para aprovechar el tiempo (concentración, estudio del “yo” y cultivo de la mente). Me di cuenta de que aplico algunos de los tips que menciono y que en efecto son muy eficientes.

For some reason I teared up reading this tiny book.

You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.

You may urge that this feeling of continuous looking forward, of aspiration, is part of life itself, and inseparable from life itself. True! But there are degrees. A man may desire to go to Mecca. His conscience tells him that he ought to go to Mecca. He fares forth, either by the aid of Cook's, or unassisted; he may probably never reach Mecca; he may drown before he gets to Port Said; he may perish ingloriously on the coast of the Red Sea; his desire may remain eternally frustrate. Unfulfilled aspiration may always trouble him. But he will not be tormented in the same way as the man who, desiring to reach Mecca, and harried by the desire to Reach Mecca, never leaves Brixton.

"Well," you say, "assume that I am braced for the battle. Assume that I have carefully weighed and comprehended your ponderous remarks; how do I begin?" Dear sir, you simply begin. There is no magic method of beginning. If a man standing on the edge of a swimming-bath and wanting to jump into the cold water should ask you, "How do I begin to jump?" you would merely reply, "Just jump. Take hold of your nerves, and jump."

The chief beauty about the constant supply of time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoilt, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your career. Which fact is very gratifying and reassuring. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose. Therefore no object is served in waiting till next week, or even until tomorrow. You may fancy that the water will be warmer next week. It won't. It will be colder.

Yes, books are valuable. But not reading of books will take the place of a daily, candid, honest examination of what one has recently done, and what one is about to do- of a steady looking at one's self in the face (disconcerting though the sight may be.)

Forget the goal; think only of the surrounding country; and after a period, perhaps when you least expect it, you will suddenly find yourself in a lovely town on a hill.