80,000 Hours - by Benjamin Todd (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A ridiculously in-depth guide to finding a fulfilling, AI-proof career

"This career guide is among the most thoughtful and grounded I've seen."--Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity

You have about 80,000 hours in your career: 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, for 40 years. That makes it the most important decision you'll ever make.

Choose well, and you can have a more rewarding, interesting life, and also help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. Choose poorly, and you could waste decades.

So what should you do? Most advice is based on no research, offering only misleading platitudes like "follow your passion." It's surprisingly out-of-date, focusing on traditional paths rather than those most likely to thrive in an age of AI.

Benjamin Todd is the founder of 80,000 Hours, a nonprofit that has spent over fifteen years researching how to have a fulfilling and impactful career that still pays the bills. In this book, he introduces a tried-and-tested toolkit that has already helped thousands of people change their career paths. It covers:

- What really makes for a dream job, and why it probably doesn't involve "following your passion"
- How to have a positive impact in your career, and why doing so might involve focusing on AI as much as on climate change
- Which roles are likely to be automated, and how to ensure yours isn't among them

Whether you're just starting out, looking to switch paths, or want to have a bigger impact in your current career, it's full of practical tips and tools that can help. You'll come away with a plan to use your 80,000 hours in a way that's rewarding, future-proof, and makes a difference.

Review Quotes

"This career guide is among the most thoughtful and grounded I've seen."--Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity

"Perhaps no one has thought harder about how to spend your working life than Benjamin Todd of 80,000 Hours. This book is a lively, readable, thorough guide to one of life's most consequential decisions."--Brian Christian, bestselling author of Algorithms to Live By

"Every college grad should read this."--Tim Urban, creator of Wait But Why

"Excellent. 80,000 Hours is the most informative book you can read if you're stuck trying to make one of life's most important decisions. If this had been published a decade earlier, it'd have saved me many restless nights."--Hannah Ritchie, author of Not the End of the World

"A ridiculously in-depth guide about how to find that perfect career for you."--Ali Abdaal, YouTuber, ex-doctor, and productivity entrepreneur

"If you're worried about wasting your life, read this book."--Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind

"The best book ever written about how to have a fulfilling and impactful career."--Liv Boeree, poker champion and science communicator

"This will resonate with those seeking to contribute to the greater good."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Benjamin Todd is the founder and president of 80,000 Hours. Dissatisfied with the career advice he received at university, he began researching the guidance he wished he'd had. Over the next ten years, he grew 80,000 Hours from a student society in Oxford into a non-profit with over fifty staff, reaching four million readers a year, going through Y Combinator, and earning coverage in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and BBC News. The organization's advice has led thousands to change career path, including individuals who have helped launch the field of AI safety, taken key roles preventing the next pandemic, and donated hundreds of millions of dollars to charity. Today he writes about what to do about advanced AI. Benjamin holds a Master's degree in Physics and Philosophy from Oxford, and speaks Chinese, badly.