Book Review: Big Time

Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance by Laura Vanderkam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recently read Laura Vanderkam’s Big Time: A Simple Path to Abundance, a practical and insightful book about changing how we think about and use our time. Her central message is that, rather than viewing time as scarce, we can be more intentional about how we spend the 168 hours available to us each week—and, ideally, learn to love how we spend our days.

A few ideas stood out: track how you actually spend your hours, think in terms of a 168-hour week rather than a single day, dream big while planning small, and deliberately protect time for health, relationships, work, and joy.

From a nutrition perspective, I found the message especially relevant. Healthy habits don’t require a perfect schedule or large blocks of free time. Small, consistent choices—planning meals, preparing nutritious food, taking a walk, or making time for sleep—can add up over weeks and months.

One important caveat: the idea of “time abundance” may resonate differently depending on a person’s circumstances. Long work hours, caregiving responsibilities, and limited resources can create very real constraints on how much control someone has over their time.

My favorite idea from the book? Choose a yearlong project and make steady progress toward completing it. There’s something powerful about giving yourself an entire year to work on something meaningful.

I highly recommend Big Time to anyone interested in productivity, time management, and being more intentional about how they spend their days.

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