The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated)

I had seen the uber-orange cover of The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss all over: Bookstores (duh!), backseats of cars, airplane terminals, frat houses and more. Yet despite its proliferation into the hands (and Kindles) of millions of people all over the world, and its catchy headline, I had yet to read it. In fact, I had no inclination to read it whatsoever.Quite frankly, I had no idea what it was about. Plus the title made it sound like it belonged on an infomercial and not in my book collection.Things changed when I started listening to the Tim Ferriss Show podcast just a few weeks ago. The podcast is fantastic and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it; I highly recommend it.From what I’ve noticed, if I enjoy reading someone’s articles or website, I generally enjoy their podcasts (the same holds true vice-versa). So when I saw that it was available for only $1.99 on Kindle I didn’t hesitate one bit.Can I really only work 4 hours?That’s what everyone wants to know. For the most part, no it is not feasible for most. In fact, Tim repeats in his podcasts and presumably other mediums that The 4 Hour Workweek is not to be taken literally. Rather, it drives the point home of what the book is really about: Optimizing your time, eliminating distractions, and finding passive streams of income to allow you to do minimal work while having maximum freedom.It’s a solid concept. In fact, there really is little basis for the traditional 9-5 schedule:How is it possible that all the people in the world need exactly 8 hours to accomplish their work? It isn’t. 9– 5 is arbitrary.”The idea behind this book is to essentially turn the idea of working hard on its head:Being busy is a form of laziness— lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective— doing less— is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.”Many books of this nature are simply filled with fluff, woo-woo, and other law of attraction platitudes, but The 4 Hour Workweek is absolutely filled to the brim with productivity tips. This makes the book worth the price of admission alone (that goes for the full price hardcover too!)There are a few concepts that he really stresses throughout the book and that will allow you to eliminate and optimize.The first of which is the 80/20 principle, also known as the Pareto Principle. This principle states that 80% of results (profit, happiness etc.) comes from 20% of output. Once Tim discovered this principle, he applied it to his nutritional supplement company so that he could focus on the select few clients that brought him the bulk of his income, and to eliminate the pesky customers who were nothing but trouble.Sure, it cost him some income, but it allowed him to reduce his stress exponentially and freed up a plethora of time.A second major principle is Parkinson’s law, which states:… that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. It is the magic of the imminent deadline. If I give you 24 hours to complete a project, the time pressure forces you to focus on execution, and you have no choice but to do only the bare essentials. If I give you a week to complete the same task, it’s six days of making a mountain out of a molehill.”The best approach to Parkinson’s Law is to1. Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/ 20).2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson’s Law). The best solution is to use both together: Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to income and schedule them with very short and clear deadlines.”There are a plethora of other tidbits of wisdom throughout, such as:Check e-mail twice per day, once at 12: 00 noon or just prior to lunch, and again at 4: 00 P.M.At least three times per day at scheduled times [ask] the following question: Am I being productive or just active?More is not better, and stopping something is often 10 times better than finishing it.Getting Your Own Personal AssistantOne of the most engaging and laughable topics in the book was the chapter on virtual assistants (VA). I say laughable because it’s actually incredibly feasible to have a 3rd world virtual assistant, and I couldn’t help myself from laughing at the idea of having a team of Indians heeding my every beck and call.Consider this:If you spend your time, worth $ 20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $ 10 per hour…”Makes sense. Plus there are other good reasons to consider getting a VA:Getting a remote personal assistant is a huge departure point and marks the moment that you learn how to give orders and be commander instead of the commanded. It is small-scale training wheels for the most critical of NR skills: remote management and communication.”The Original Internet EntrepeneurWhen I began to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, I noticed something: I had read this before. But it wasn’t because Aurelius was plagiarizing content 2000 years in the future, rather it was the inverse.I’ve noticed this phenomena with The 4 Hour Workweek in that much of the content seemed all too familiar with the Digital Nomad and lifestyle design communities and advice of today. But seeing as it was written originally in 2007, one could say it was the first of its kind.In fact, the proliferation of internet entrepreneurs are likely a result of this book.On that note, look where Tim Ferris is today. He’s not lounging on a beach in Guatemala making money off his supplements. Rather, he’s busting his ass in Silicon Valley helping startups turn into massive success stories.This is no fault of his; I just think many readers of this book and these internet entrepreneurs lose sight of this. They get caught in finding ‘passive income’ and settling for 1-3K a month; just enough to make do in a foreign country of their choice.This is what I wanted for so long, but now this doesn’t seem like enough. I’d much rather be doing what Tim is doing now as opposed to what he recommend in his book.Don’t Follow This Book Like the GospelAgain, the 4 Hour Workweek isn’t designed to be taken literally. This is a pattern throughout the book.In fact, much of the information regarding internet marketing and asking a boss for a remote work agreement is completely useless for me and may be for you. Yet, overall I was really impressed with the book. There was plenty of solid, actionable advice throughout. In fact, I’ve already marked this book down as one I will have to read again to internalize the concepts that stood out to me.http://masculinebooks.com/2015/05/26/the-4-hour-workweek-by-tim-ferriss/

Follow your bliss, and doors will open", Joseph Campbell famously stated. In "The Four Hour Work Week" Tim Ferriss details how he has followed his bliss, and the doors have certainly opened for him. Rather generously, he then tells us how to do the same.I found this book to have much that is very worthwhile. There is an enormous amount of information here, and the reader is free to pick and choose what he/she wants to take or leave. It has changed my life for the better.Some reviewers commented that they found the first half of T4HWW fascinating, but then lost interest. Assuming they are not the very time-deficit folks Ferris talks about, this is probably because the first portion of the book is entertainingly anecdotal, while towards the middle it becomes heavy with lists of information sources - web sites, organisations, reference books and so on. I have personally found this later section to be incredibly useful. That's because I have read and re-read the book with an intention to actually use it. I get the sense that a lot of the critics have never really tried to apply the book's philosophy and specific tips, and quickly returned to re-testing the keypads on their Blackberries.I found many of the listed web sites very useful. I have always wanted to feel the rush of being a colonial master, so I have hired book editors, programmers, virtual assistants, and translators from sites mentioned in the book, and all at very inexpensive prices. If I hadn't read the book, I would not have been aware of that these people even existed; or at the very least, would never have thought that I, with my one-man writing/publishing business, could ever use them.One other philosophical positive, Ferris is scathing of the modern culture of work for work's sake, information overload, and time wasting with gadgets. I fully concur. People are wasting their lives tapping away on mobile phones, Blackberries and lap-tops, just like I am now. There's a whole world out there waiting for us when we unplug from the matrix of the money and machines society. I personally loved the stories Ferris relates about his experience with this.Some people have expressed concerns about the ethical side of this book, and someone compared Timothy Ferriss to a snake oil salesman. I don't share this view, but I understand it. A clear statement of ethics earlier in the book would go a long way - what is right and wrong. In one section detailing how to become an expert, Ferriss says that the idea of expertise is largely a myth. All one really needs to do is read the three leading books in the field and come up with a new angle, then sell it. It may well be true that you could pass yourself off as an expert doing this, but I don't see it as being ethical, because it is a deliberate deception. If you have a brilliant idea, a fair enough; but you shouldn't be telling people what to do or what to buy if you don't have significant experience and knowledge of the subject (go into politics instead, where you will find lots of friends). To be fair though, Ferriss much later states that he will not work with unethical or dishonest people.Nonetheless, I do agree that it is often great - and very freeing - the break the rules; but the golden rule is never do harm to others.Towards the end of T4HWW, Ferris encourages the reader to act upon what really moves us, what makes us happy; and he asks us to be of service to the world. "Take time to find something that calls to you, not just the fist acceptable form of surrogate work" (p. 297), he writes. Once we have decided this (or "permitted" might be a better word), the task is to find out how to help others, the future generations, to do the same. He then implores us to develop a habit of charity.This very closely approximates my own approach to life, as I've outlined in my books. One thing I would suggest though, is developing a set of specific tools to enable you to really follow your inner guidance system. I call it listening to the "Sage". Ferris doesn't address this issue specifically.I suspect T4HWW will work best for western audiences. Besides being a lot fatter and generally more annoying than just about everyone else, studies tend to show that westerners are more individualistic and free-thinking than other cultures. In comparison, Asian cultures have a low tolerance for ambiguity and change (Singapore has the lowest capacity in the world, Hong Kong, where I live, is fifth last - so don't come here trying to change anyone's mind). A central point Ferriss makes is that people develop life and work habits which drain their souls of vitality, spontaneity, and the adventurous spirit of the child (I am in complete agreement). To shift those habits one has to begin to jettison the conformist, conservative and restrictive culture of one's society.It is unfair to criticise Timothy Ferriss for not always having followed the formula outlined in T4HWW. He's a relatively young man in his early 30's who is finding his way through the world with active experimentation, by being adventurous. He is following his Bliss. So give the poor New Rich kid a break. I say, "Well done, Tim. Keep up the good work!" - and it is how to do good (fun, vitlising) work that he is teaching us. And as Ferriss points out on his web site, the title should not be taken too literally. The author doesn't work four hours a week. He merely does what he loves, when he wants to do it, where he wants to do it. That's what I call smart. That's living your Bliss.I give Timothy Ferriss' "The 4 Hour World Week" a 5-star rating. It is potentially life-changing. This is not a book you read just once for inspiration. It is hands on, and chock full of practical tips and know-how. T4HWW will work best for those who have an entrepreneurial and freedom-loving spirit, those who like to think outside the box, and preferably outside the country. It is highly recommended.Marcus T. Anthony, author of "Sage of Synchronicity" and "Integrated Intelligence."

This is not a book review.The book is not pirated, and the print is clear. However, a better quality of paper could have been used for durability.

Un libro interessante ben scritto e che fa riflettere

Big fan of Tim Ferris and this is another great book from him. Well written and easy to read this book provides some great tips/insight which are still great to date.It's got great practical information in their which definitely makes you look at things in a different perspective. Interesting read.Hope you found my review helpful.

The book is absolute 10 but I wouldn't recommend it as the first book to read it's too long for the first book. It will make you bored and you won't read other books 📚

El libro 'The 4-Hour Work Week' de Tim Ferriss ha sido una revelación para mí. Con una perspectiva fresca y audaz sobre la productividad y el estilo de vida, Ferriss desafía las normas convencionales de trabajo y ofrece estrategias prácticas para vivir más y trabajar menos. Me ha inspirado a replantear mis prioridades y a buscar una vida más balanceada y rica en experiencias. ¡Un libro esencial para aquellos que buscan romper con la rutina y vivir al máximo!