The Wealth Spa

Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

Posted on 18. Jul, 2007 by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein in Life Balance

Want to work just 4 hours per week, and still make enough money to enjoy the lifestyle you want? 

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss -  is a brilliant and fun book that I highly recommend to teach you just how to do that — work as little as possible to get what you want.

He advocates many of the same theories as Alexandria Brown and Dan Kennedy — being an entrepreneur, not trading time for dollars, outsourcing, protecting your time/access, leverage — but adds that with a new idea of true independence to location and mini-retirements. The premise is to set up your business to such that you can answer your email 1x week, never check your voicemail, outsource almost everything, and live abroad 6 months at a time. And, instead of working like a dog for 30 years so you can retire "someday" – take mini-retirements now.

I do have to disclose that Timothy is a bit of a 29-year old bachelor punk, but I find him very entertaining (similar to Dan Kennedy old crotchety man-ness).

Some of his more entertaining tips include forcing yourself to be okay with being uncomfortable by placing calls to celebrities, making eye contact with everyone you meet for 2 days, and laying down on the floor in the middle of Starbucks for 10 seconds.

Some great advice I have already put to use:

• Only check email 2x a day, at noon and 4 pm. Wow, how efficient I become when I keep my mail program closed. And, my business has not yet exploded.
• Stop work at 4 pm. I am spending 4-5 pm in an activity that I would do if I was financially independent. Not sure what those activities are yet — so far I have spent the time shopping, at happy hour, and reading a book in the park.
• Act as if you could only work 2 hrs a day. Now I am spending the first 2 hours doing the most important work for the day, instead of spending it on email. As such, I am able to get my work for the day done by mid afternoon, if not earlier — since I do the most important work first.

And re the outsourcing … if you think that outsourcing takes advantage of people, or if you think unions are great, you may not like this book. This book is for smart, independent, capitalist-minded people, especially those who want to change their life and outsource their business to people who want to work for them (whether they are located in the U.S or overseas).

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Tags: 4-hour workweek, Book Review, Book Reviews, leverage, life hack, outsourcing, productivity, Time Management, timothy ferriss