Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek
Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
I discovered Tim Ferriss because of the podcasts he has been doing with Kevin Rose. I loved most of what Tim has to say, and I find him completely fascinating. One of the episodes mentioned Ferriss who wrote the 4-Hour Workweek and since I loved what he had to say I naturally wanted to read his book.
Now those of you who know me know I’m not an avid reader, I would much rather watch a movie or YouTube video synopsis as I don’t have much of an attention span to sit in one place for more than 5 minutes. I have to tell you his book captivated me, I loved it, and it made me do a lot of thinking about the way the world operates (and in my job communicates).
I took some notes and decided to type them up so anyone who reads this post could benefit. I highly recommend buying the book, but if you aren’t going to buy the book, here are some of the things I found interesting (note these are my notes, so it may not all make sense to you). Hope you find this useful and buy the book!
Key Insights & Wisdom
- The goal of the book is to free up time and automate your income
- Ferriss nearly fails kindergarten (begins his disdain for authority)
- Ferriss had a joy of baseless overconfidence
- Don’t be a “living dead”
- Would you tell me, please, which way I out to go from here? That depends a good deal on where you want to get to, said the Cat. I don’t much care where…said Alice. Then it doesn’t matter which way you go, said the Cat. – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.
- Have mini-retirements throughout life
- Focus on being productive instead of busy
- There is never a good time to have a baby, just like there is never a good time to quit your job to do what you love
- Ask for forgiveness, not permission
- Emphasize strengths, don’t fix weaknesses
- Risks aren’t that scary once you take them
- Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty
“It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time and energy consuming.”
Questions to Ask Yourself
- What would you like to do if there was no chance of failing?
- List 5 things you dream of having, being (great cook), doing (visiting Thailand)
- What would you do day to day if you had $100 million in the bank?
- What would make you most excited to wake up in the morning to another day?
Productivity Principles
Effective vs. Efficient
Being effective vs. being efficient. What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it.
Parkinson’s Law
Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion.
Question Everything
Am I being productive or just being active? Are you inventing things to do to avoid the important?
“Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.”
— Albert Einstein
Practical Implementation Tips
Communication Management
- Check email twice a day at 10am and 2pm
- Turn off the audible alert in Outlook
- Use 2 telephone numbers (office and cell for emergencies)
- Respond to voice-mail with an email
- If someone proposes a meeting, request resolution via email instead
- Meetings should only be held to make decisions about a pre-defined situation
Automation Resources
- Wordtracker.com
- no-ip.com – can redirect traffic (DNS) in 5 mins
- Freestockphotos.com
- Getty.com – professional photos
- tollfreemax.com
- Angel.com – get an 800# with professional voice menu
Mindset Shifts
- Emergencies are seldom that. People are poor judges of important and inflate minutiae.
- Never automate something that can be eliminated
- The bottom line is you only have the rights you fight for
- It’s amazing how someone’s IQ seems to double when you give them responsibility
“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
— Bill Gates
My Favorite Quote from the Book
Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round? Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight? Or gazed at the sun into the fading night? You better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last.
Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask: “how are you?” do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last.
Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow? And in your haste not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die cause you never had time to call and say “hi”? You’d better slow down, don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the fun of getting there. When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift thrown away. Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
Robin Martin says:
Just bought the book based on your comments. Can’t wait to read it. Thanks for the insight!!
stephanie says:
This was a great book! You probably have already seen this, but I ran across this today…
Tim Ferriss put out a call for people to post videos of how they’ve implemented 4HWW in their own lives and he got some amazing responses:
http://bit.ly/6rbNgc