The Book: Four Hour Work Week

[Justin Razmus]

Have any of you read "The Four Hour Work Week"? I am curious to see what your thoughts are on this book. Here are mine:

I enjoyed the way the book challenged our common perception of what work must be. Does work need to be our life, even if it makes us rich? Do we have to work 40+ hours to week to make enough money to live the life we want?

It really got me thinking. I know there are a lot of parts of this book that people think are plain crazy, or are not possible, but I believe most of what is in there could work for someone.

For those of you that have read it, what points do you agree with? Do you have any BETTER ideas? Also, what points do you completely disagree with?

(ps - I hope it's OK for me to mention another book on Steve's site. Go buy Steve Pavlina's book right now! It's called "Personal Development For Smart People".)

[Chris Cade]

I really enjoyed this book - it's sort of a 'catchall' resource for lots of little topics that he's brought together well into a lifestyle remodeling approach.

I have a copy and plan to reference it as needed.

[mustard76]

I love the concept of Lifestyle Design, but there are some ideas in the book I just didn't agree with - like lying to your boss to work remotely.

But the premise of the book is solid: spend some time thinking about your ideal lifestyle and then figure out what it would really take to achieve it. The answer is not always a million dollars, especially if you are creative and don't need to accumulate expensive toys to be happy.

[Chris Cade]

Originally Posted by mustard76

I love the concept of Lifestyle Design, but there are some ideas in the book I just didn't agree with - like lying to your boss to work remotely.

I must have missed the lying part. When I read that part, I just saw it as strategically aligning your maximum effectiveness with working remotely.

Although I must admit, since I already was working remotely at that point I skimmed the that chapter and could have easily overlooked if he said that he encourages people to lie to get what they want.

[Peek]

I like the book. Actually I just finished reading it.
In the coincidence there is something similar what Stave is writing about the previous post on how to make money in recession.

the difference I've found is, that Steve points out that adding Value is the goal, although Tim points to dreamlines for which you need cash.

Still both ways can be a good concept as long as you know what you want.

Have fun, in 4 hours per week,

[Grandiouse]

I believe it's a really good starting point for people - especially those who want to get out of the corporate system because they want more freedom to pursue their dreams.

The book is simple, organized, and presents great ideas. The reason I say it's a good starting point is because a lot of people's dreams in the beginning of having time freedom is to travel, get new toys, spend more time doing what they want to do.

But I like how Tim Ferriss includes a section at the end about how true happiness is about providing service (value). So after the initial freedom, traveling, and toys..many probably wonder, is this all there is to it? And that's where Tim really hits it home by explaining what he believes about giving back to the community in service.

[elbrunetto]

I read it a couple of months ago and really liked the fresh approach to work and life it offers (designing your lifestyle and treating every undertaking as a project with a budget that you have to accumulate first). Apart from some high-level ideas, one of the biggest benefits of this book is a massive collection of links to online resources about cheap travelling, ordering goods to resell, becoming an expert, licensing ideas and more.
Unfortunately not all of them are very easily applicable outside of US but I'm probably asking for too much ;-)

[Doku]

I liked it from this perspective:

Look around you at your older friends and relatives that are "retired." Are they really retired, or are they working part time, or looking to go back to work part time, or ... Most people really don't completely stop working when they get old, unless they are somehow incapacitated. But everyone plans on retirement for when they are going to "do what they have always wanted." Why not "retire" early in life when you CAN do the things you want?

[vMike]

I liked the book, it encouraged me to do more traveling and try some other exciting things. Lots of good resources and fresh ideas.
But besides that I disagree with many points there, it's quite shallow.
Great marketing by Tim though!

[Buttercat Apocalypse]

Loved it, it uncovered an area of incongruency in my beliefs and smashed 'em up with some heavy-duty common sense. Reading it was an important step in my quest for freedom, if only to hear that someone else had managed it and that it didn't have to be as hard as all of the sheep want it to be.

[alizaki]

Originally Posted by Justin Razmus

For those of you that have read it, what points do you agree with? Do you have any BETTER ideas? Also, what points do you completely disagree with?

I wasn't a huge fan of the book, but I was inspired enough to start up my own digital concierge for busy people, with a twist: we use technology and a great training program to be more effective than the companies mentioned in the book. Is working great, lots of satisfied clients.

Can't say I live the 4HWW life though, startup and growth pains and all!

[openeyes]

Ferris also keeps a rather good blog:

The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

Since December 4th he's had his own show on the History channel as well, Trial by Fire. I'll have to see if I can watch it online somewhere ...

[Still Growing]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I own a business and I feel as if I have the ability to have the business run itself.

But I think Timothy is missing the point !

In this day of overworked people its refreshing to read about someone working 4 hours per week however life really is about balance. Too little work is also bad for you and also for society as a whole.

If you do something you love you do not dread doing it.

Where is Timothy's passion for his business?

This book is great for selling you the dream of a fruitful life with less work however imagine what type of business Timothy could build if he put his mind and attention into it.

[vMike]

Originally Posted by Still Growing

I really enjoyed reading this book. I own a business and I feel as if I have the ability to have the business run itself.

But I think Timothy is missing the point !

In this day of overworked people its refreshing to read about someone working 4 hours per week however life really is about balance. Too little work is also bad for you and also for society as a whole.

If you do something you love you do not dread doing it.

Where is Timothy's passion for his business?

This book is great for selling you the dream of a fruitful life with less work however imagine what type of business Timothy could build if he put his mind and attention into it.

exactly my thoughts! I guess the book was marketed mostly to people who have jobs.
I also own a business and this gave me a perspective on trying to outsource more, but the plan is to grow bigger and expand rather than outsource everything and let it run by itself.

I think a man should eventually strive to be good at what he does and pursue his goals, dreams, rather than shifting focus from one fun activity to another. Living the lifestyle he describes is fun and refreshing, but as is somewhat unfulfilling if you do it for long.

[JE Gonzalez]

Tim Ferriss does much more than just his business. He consults, he speaks publicly, he writes,goes on adventures, takes dream jobs. He himself says that when he is not working, he is working his ass off. Maybe not in a business, but in so many ways, and that is what he puts his mind into: new and challenging endeavors.

[jendoe]

I kept hearing references to this book, and seeing this thread finally pushed me over the edge - just got a copy from the library and have read about half of it.

So far, I think it's awesome. Seems to really match up well without alot of the thoughts I've been struggling with.

I've been really stuck in the corporate thing - and am a very obvious misfit there But it's draining me, and feels like it's killing every good aspect of myself It hurts.

I hadn't considered myself someone that wanted to really "run" a business, but his examples of businesses that you set up, and then basically "manage" from afar sounds great. I don't know yet how do-able it is, but it seems like he gives alot of practical advice (how to pick a product, how to market) and examples of people who have actually done it.

And, I agree with everyone - of course I want to be adding value to the world. Right now, I haven't got a clue how to do that and my job is killing me, draining me to the point of not being able to get much else done. I think being able to "own" a business like Tim describes and use it to free up and time and pay the bills would be a fantastic way to give me the freedom to learn what I really should be doing, and to go out and do it

Today was my last day of work, vacation has started, and I don't go back til Janauary, so I'll finish up the book and start trying to figure out some way I can actually implement the ideas...

[abcZen]

I think its a good book that gives people inspiration, I just don't like the title choice.

Think about this, the title is 'The Four-Hour Workweek' and that was only decided because of a PPC campaign and that title got the most clicks, more people wanted a four-hour workweek than a 5 hour workweek or 3 hour workweek. It just connected better with people.

Therefore, the contents of the book wasn't specficially aimed at working 4 hours, just cutting down on what you do already. I still highly recommend it though...

[Froztwolf]

It has some amazing and fresh ideas. It really reinforced what Steve Pavlina speaks so much about: that a job is for suckers.

Ferris' way of going about doing it doesn't seem right to me though. By telling you a job is a sucker's game and that you should outsource all your work it feels to me like he's telling you to make a sucker out of other people by outsourcing your work to them.
His method is non-sustainable because not everyone can do it.

What I really do love about the book is how concretely he shows that more is not necessarily better when it comes to effort of earning money. Every self-development guru tells you this but Tim Ferris shows you through his own incredible life. It never sunk in this well before.

And you guys that find it sad that he doesn't work more and build up an incredibly huge company: you need to read the fable of the mexican fisherman again.

[Brutha]

Originally Posted by Froztwolf

It has some amazing and fresh ideas. It really reinforced what Steve Pavlina speaks so much about: that a job is for suckers.

Ferris' way of going about doing it doesn't seem right to me though. By telling you a job is a sucker's game and that you should outsource all your work it feels to me like he's telling you to make a sucker out of other people by outsourcing your work to them.
His method is non-sustainable because not everyone can do it.

There are a lot of people, especially in the developing world that want to have a job that pays something.
If you can give everybody in Africa a job that pays 5$/day you would reduce the hunger in the world by a magnitude.

And you guys that find it sad that he doesn't work more and build up an incredibly huge company: you need to read the fable of the mexican fisherman again.

That assumes that the reason to build a successful business is to be wealthy.
Maybe a better reason to build a great business is to improve the world?

In this day of overworked people its refreshing to read about someone working 4 hours per week however life really is about balance. Too little work is also bad for you and also for society as a whole.

The quanity of your work isn't important at all for society but the quality.

Tim Ferris lives an active life.
He has projects that he finds fun, like the project that lead to the History channel show.
He produces his blog.
He wrote a book.
He gave a few lectures at a harvard class.

He does all those things with his free time because he thinks that they are fun to do instead of doing them for the money.
But he also competed at the Tango world championship because that's also a project that he enjoyed.

He fills his time with projects that he is passionate about.

[Froztwolf]

Originally Posted by Brutha

There a lot of people, especially in the developing world that want to have a job that pays something.
If you can give everybody in Africa a job that pays 5$/day you would reduce the hunger in the world by a magnitude.

Fair point.

Originally Posted by Brutha

That assumes that the reason to build a successful business is to be wealthy.
Maybe a better reason to build a great business is to improve the world?
The quanity of your work isn't important at all for society but the quality.

Not really. Expecting Tim Ferris to build a huge company because then he can change the world is just as unrealistic to me as expecting the mexican fisherman building a huge company to get rich. You can't let others impose reasons on why you should do something.

Originally Posted by Brutha

He does all those things with his free time because he thinks that they are fun to do instead of doing them for the money.

My point exactly

[Brutha]

Not really. Expecting Tim Ferris to build a huge company because then he can change the world is just as unrealistic to me as expecting the mexican fisherman building a huge company to get rich.

The point of the fable isn't that it's unrealistic but that there no difference between having a huge company and don't having it because it doesn't change the quality of life.

[jendoe]

Originally Posted by Brutha

The point of the fable isn't that it's unrealistic but that there no difference between having a huge company and don't having it because it doesn't change the quality of life.

I've heard the story before. The point that I took away was that, in this case, "creating a huge company" is "work for the sake of work". It's asking the fisherman to spend alot of time and energy doing something he doesn't care at all about (growing and running a huge company) so that in the end, he can do the things he enjoys (spending time with his family, hanging out with his friends).

It's a silly middle step, and the whole point of the fisherman is to see that you can go DIRECTLY to the real goal - the fun part! - without doing the whole "nose to the grindstone" bit in the middle.

It fits with Tim's book perfectly

Anyway, I finished the book. Loved it. Going to get a copy for myself (I had borrowed this one from the library.) Still no ideas on how I'm going to *implement* any of this but...

What's interesting to me is, up til now, I had really been trying (very hard!) to figure out what my *thing* is. Where I can create the best value, where I can be the most "me", where I can really contribute and feel passionate...

4HWW has me thinking that maybe instead of a crappy, soul-sucking job in a company that I hate to support myself while I figure out all those things, maybe I can find something much less soul-sucking and time-consuming that will still support me and leave me enough time and energy (rather than feeling drained and brain dead all the time!) to pursue my other interests.

I'm sure this isn't a new thought for alot of people, but he really does make it seem do-able.

[Justin Razmus]

One thing I took away from this book is designing your life the way you want it to be. The fisherman story is great. Just because you could do things "bigger" does not mean that is what will fulfill you. I have had to take a few steps back and look at what I am doing, several times in my life. I have done well with my business, but I had to re-build everything because it was taking me in a direction I didn't want to go. It is good to have a plan, and then learn to implement it by learning from others that have done it before you. I am a firm believer in learning from other's mistakes. I've already learned from enough of my own!

[jthomson71]

I think this book is very timely as it is becoming evident with technology our entire lives are going to change. We can easily work anywhere we want, I have been working remote for over a year and have even spent 3 months working from Ecuador where my wife's family lives. I also think we are going to live longer and the idea of postponing our entire lives until that magic number of 65 and then "really starting to live" is just crazy and becoming out of date. Now if you plan to sit in a cube at a job you hate for 40 years then yes, maybe by 65 your ready to stop participating in the world, but the reality is if you stay healthy and live a life you enjoy why not find a way to just incorporate work(income) into a life and lifestyle you enjoy so you don't have to put your life on hold. I think some of the concepts that sound way out there now will be fairly common place in the next 5-10 years. Corp america is falling apart and people are starting to find ways on their own of creating a life and lifestyle they enjoy while creating value for people around them.

[MisterEThoughts]

What I have read, is definitely great. I am 50 pages into the book. I will read some more and update my response.

[stayfly]

best book ever!

[RT Wolf]

Nah, you guys are missing the point. He may not have a passion for one of his business, but he did become a best-selling first-time author, topped the NY Times list, become an A or B list blogger and has become one of the most recognized names in silicon valley in under a year. That sounds like an amazing achievement to me.

BTW, do what you're totally passionate about. If you're totally passionate about your businesses, hooray!

Originally Posted by Still Growing

This book is great for selling you the dream of a fruitful life with less work however imagine what type of business Timothy could build if he put his mind and attention into it.

Originally Posted by vMike

exactly my thoughts! I guess the book was marketed mostly to people who have jobs.
I also own a business and this gave me a perspective on trying to outsource more, but the plan is to grow bigger and expand rather than outsource everything and let it run by itself.

I think a man should eventually strive to be good at what he does and pursue his goals, dreams, rather than shifting focus from one fun activity to another. Living the lifestyle he describes is fun and refreshing, but as is somewhat unfulfilling if you do it for long.

[DayInTheLife]

I am reading the book and liking it. The main principles behind it are great (batch processing, passive income, outsourcing, 80/20 rule etc), and I will be employing them in my life.

But there is a bit of a ruthless tone to the book. For example, he suggests you do not ask people "how are you?" so they do not get a chance to talk about anything non-business-related. It's all in the name of saving time and living the life you want, but I couldn't be quite as terse with people as he suggests. I have seen videos of his lectures, and though his ideas are great, I don't find him to be a particularly likable person.

Maybe a 6-hour workweek would work just fine for me

[Bleicke]

His somewhat rude behaviour is put on to make a distinction between work and friendship. If you only work to support yourself financially, not because you love the work, why would you build personal relationships and spend time on it you could spend with your real friends?

In traditional 40 hour work, you spend so much time at your workplace that your coworkers will become your friends. It's just normal after spending 8 hours a day with someone for a while! You don't need friends if you only spend 4 hours a week on the job.

One thing I'm wondering about the 4hWW is this:

Steve says to make money from a passion that you develop a skill in and then sell it.

Tim Ferriss says to pick some thing that you know enough about to make money off to support your passion.

I can't figure out the discrepancy, or if one of the two is right and the other is wrong. Both approaches sound reasonable, but I can't make my mind up or sort them together.

Any help on that?

[jaydeschizo]

The book is excellent to start thinking about life and lifestyle. But as a practical guide to achieving the desired lifestyle, it's not so valuable.