
Learn to use your most precious commodity—time—to truly live.
Arnold Bennett’s classic book, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, has been changing the way people use and consider their time since it was first published in 1910. In the intervening century surprisingly little has changed—we still struggle to make use of our time and are often plagued by the persistent worry that we are not making the most of our lives. Bennett encourages readers to stop merely following the rote patterns of their lives and leverage their free hours by viewing time as a commodity like money—each of us is allotted exactly 24 hours every day to spend as we see fit. What we make of our lives will ultimately be a result of what we make of that time.
Bennett’s prescription is simple, but revolutionary: consider the time outside your work day as an entirely separate day, sixteen hours (give or take) during which you are free to do anything you like to grow and improve yourself and your happiness. Building on that premise, he helps readers begin to take control of their time—starting with just 90 minutes three times a week—and use it to truly live. Bennett’s writing is realistic and his advice transcends the years since it was first written. How to Live on 24 Hours a Day is an honest and refreshing perspective on how we can seize control of our time and spend it in the wisest way possible.
Enoch Arnold Bennett was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist, whose novels and plays generally reflected middle-class life in north Staffordshire. He was born in Hanley, Staffordshire (which is now Stoke-on-Trent), the son of a solicitor. He was educated in Newcastle-under-Lyme. After school, he worked for his father, and in his spare time he was a journalist. At age twenty-one, he moved to London to work as a solicitor's clerk. In 1889 he won a writing competition in *Tit-Bits* magazine and decided to become a full-time journalist. In 1894, he became assistant editor of the periodical *Woman*, for which he also began writing serial fiction. His first novel, *A Man from the North*, was published in 1898, the same year he became the editor of *Woman*. In 1900 he left the magazine and moved to Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, to become a full-time writer. In 1903 he moved to join the artist community in Paris, where he wrote several novels and plays. In 1908 he published *The Old Wives' Tale*, which was a best-seller. He visited to America in 1911 on a much-publicized trip. His excellent detective fiction includes *The Loot of Cities* (1905), six stories about Cecil Thorold, a rogue-detective millionaire "in search of joy' and not above blackmail and theft to corral his criminals. [Leslie S. Klinger, *In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes* (2011)] During World War I he was Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information. He refused a knighthood in 1918. In 1922 he separated from his French wife and fell in love with the actress Dorothy Cheston, with whom he stayed for the rest of his life. He died of typhoid at his home in London in 1931.

Learn to use your most precious commodity—time—to truly live.
Arnold Bennett’s classic book, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, has been changing the way people use and consider their time since it was first published in 1910. In the intervening century surprisingly little has changed—we still struggle to make use of our time and are often plagued by the persistent worry that we are not making the most of our lives. Bennett encourages readers to stop merely following the rote patterns of their lives and leverage their free hours by viewing time as a commodity like money—each of us is allotted exactly 24 hours every day to spend as we see fit. What we make of our lives will ultimately be a result of what we make of that time.
Bennett’s prescription is simple, but revolutionary: consider the time outside your work day as an entirely separate day, sixteen hours (give or take) during which you are free to do anything you like to grow and improve yourself and your happiness. Building on that premise, he helps readers begin to take control of their time—starting with just 90 minutes three times a week—and use it to truly live. Bennett’s writing is realistic and his advice transcends the years since it was first written. How to Live on 24 Hours a Day is an honest and refreshing perspective on how we can seize control of our time and spend it in the wisest way possible.
Enoch Arnold Bennett was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist, whose novels and plays generally reflected middle-class life in north Staffordshire. He was born in Hanley, Staffordshire (which is now Stoke-on-Trent), the son of a solicitor. He was educated in Newcastle-under-Lyme. After school, he worked for his father, and in his spare time he was a journalist. At age twenty-one, he moved to London to work as a solicitor's clerk. In 1889 he won a writing competition in *Tit-Bits* magazine and decided to become a full-time journalist. In 1894, he became assistant editor of the periodical *Woman*, for which he also began writing serial fiction. His first novel, *A Man from the North*, was published in 1898, the same year he became the editor of *Woman*. In 1900 he left the magazine and moved to Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, to become a full-time writer. In 1903 he moved to join the artist community in Paris, where he wrote several novels and plays. In 1908 he published *The Old Wives' Tale*, which was a best-seller. He visited to America in 1911 on a much-publicized trip. His excellent detective fiction includes *The Loot of Cities* (1905), six stories about Cecil Thorold, a rogue-detective millionaire "in search of joy' and not above blackmail and theft to corral his criminals. [Leslie S. Klinger, *In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes* (2011)] During World War I he was Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information. He refused a knighthood in 1918. In 1922 he separated from his French wife and fell in love with the actress Dorothy Cheston, with whom he stayed for the rest of his life. He died of typhoid at his home in London in 1931.