The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss topped the charts of business books in 2007. When I finally got my copy from the library, I didn’t quite know what to expect. In fact, I thought it would be more theoretical, with fewer concrete “how to’s.” And while there were a few things I liked, I was surprisingly lukewarm about a book I thought would be a “must read.” (Perhaps this suffered a bit from my falling in love with Accidental Branding, which I read just before 4-Hour Workweek and will review next as my first “must read” in 2008.)
What I liked: The book repeats in various ways over and over that you need to redefine your ideas about success. Just because others may judge your life (as well as their own) based on how much money you make, which car you drive, where you have your vacation home and the size of your McMansion, McBoobs or McWardrobe doesn’t mean that you have to. In fact, I loved the part where he says that what prompted him to take charge of his life was that he was horrified by the vision of himself turning into a “fat man in a red BMW convertible” (I’ll never be able to pass another one of those guys again without laughing my head off.) However, if that’s why you need to read this book, i.e., for a priorities realignment–you might want to check out either The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubormirsky or Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss. Both are on order for me at my local library.
I skimmed over the sections on getting over your fear of adjusting your lifestyle, as I’ve already done this. I run a company while my son is in school and in bed. So they could be helpful to budding entrepreneurs. I did like Chapter 2, which discusses “10 Rules That Change The Rules,” as it was thought-provoking:
- Retirement is worst-case-scenario insurance;
- Interest and energy are cyclical;
- Less is not laziness;
- The timing is never right;
- Ask for forgiveness, not permission;
- Emphasize strengths, don’t fix weaknesses;
- Things in excess become their opposite;
- Money alone is not the solution;
- Relative income is more important than absolute income; and
- Distress is bad, eustress is good.
I also found his section on eliminating information interesting. He gives suggestions, such as asking yourself, “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?” and practicing the art of nonfinishing. This used to be a tough concept for me, until I just couldn’t get past the beginning of Cold Mountain. This was literally the first book that everyone else liked that I didn’t, and it marked the first time I didn’t finish a book I had started. This was actually a very “freeing” moment in my life and even today helps me review business books. I don’t read chapters that don’t pertain to my immediate needs.
The outsourcing section was also quite good because Ferriss gave clear details on how to do it. I’m actually going to look into the phone services he mentions. I already outsource my website to India (which only works due to the incredible project manager over there–when he wasn’t on the project for a while, it was a total disaster). I may see about using India for further isolated research/database work.
I liked his challenge to prioritize your work (and eliminate the rest) by shortening your hours. If you only have four hours to work today, what would you do? Not that I needed help here. Ask any working parent. So, for those naysayers who think a working parent (mom or dad) can’t get it all done in less time, this book is a good one to show your boss/investors/employees, etc.
All in all, there was a lot of good information in here. Especially the fact that, like Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist, it goes against almost every boomer-led company philosophy based on the value of face time and defining yourself through your career. Not that I don’t like boomers. I just love when people shake up the establishment (and, yes, I’m celebrating the results in Iowa).
But, back to the topic at hand:
There were two big detractors in the book. First, it reminded me of Keith Ferrazzi’s book, Never Eat Alone. It had a lot of good information, but the whole time I was thinking, “Only Keith could pull all this off.” That’s sort of my feeling with Ferriss’ book. Only Tim Ferriss could do this because of his personality, energy, lack of dependants, etc. Second, I did find some useful tidbits, but I’m an entrepreneur who can dictate my own schedule and, in some sense, income. I also run a company that is designed to be more and more automated every day. I’m not sure how this would work for an employee (He does devote a lot of pages to that issue–but it’s under the premise that you can persuade your employer to accept this). Or, if you’re someone who bills by the hour, beyond the outsourcing chapters, I’m not sure what else you can do except get a new career.
The Top Shelf Bottom Line: 4-Hour Workweek is an interesting footnote in business, as it documents a change in our society and our attitudes about work and culture (which I would argue is for the better). There are definitely some good takeaways for entrepreneurs who need ideas on how to further automate their businesses or for anyone needing to realign his or her priorities. But it didn’t make me put down the book and rush over and redo my business plan (which generally is a factor in making my “Must Read” list). However, that may be because I have already implemented much of what he says. So I would love to hear your input on this one since, based on sales, everyone must have read it (and no doubt helped Tim make it to a one-hour workweek).
**Sidenote: I had to laugh the other day as I caught a episode of The Jetsons and George’s job is literally to push a button a couple of times a day. Tim Ferriss would be so proud.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.3 Responses to “Working Mondays from 10 to 2 (a 4-Hour Workweek)”
Leave a Reply
January 4th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
[…] Here’s another interesting post I read today by Top Shelf Reading Picks […]
January 7th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Based on your review of this new book, it seems like you enjoyed reading it and recommend it. It is and interesting thought when the author said that we need to redefine our ideas about success. Just because others may judge your life (as well as their own) based on vanity, wealth and appearance, doesn’t mean that you have to. I might read it soon too. Javier.-
January 7th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Hi Javier - I think people will take away different things and his main message of “enjoy life on your own terms” is one we all need to hear from time to time. Also, I employed the author’s suggestion of only reading the sections relevant to you. That being the case, there may be some gems in there that I missed as they were in sections that weren’t relevant to me at the moment. Let us know what you think if you do read it!
Diane