The back cover of Tim Ferriss’ book, “The 4-Hour Workweek“ warns people not to read it unless you want to quit your day job. I did not believe that statement at first, but I have to admit that it is true. This book is inspiring to any future or current entrepreneur. And, it is just as good as Seth Godin’s “The Dip“ and Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It“. That’s some pretty awesome motivational, inspiring company.
I know that this is not a personal finance book, but “The 4-Hour Workweek“ is a book that should be on everyone’s bookshelf. This book is a career and productivity book, and it will help you in your work life to be more productive and earn a greater living. So, it is personal finance related in a way. Any book that can help you become better at your job, earn promotions, and eventually earn more money should round out your personal finance reading.
“The 4-Hour Workweek“ is about escaping from the nine to five rat race and living the life and retirement of your dreams. Ferriss calls his method in the book “Lifestyle Design”. He advocates reinventing our preconceived notions about life, work, and retirement. His book is broken down into four sections: definition, elimination, automation, and liberation (DEAL). The first section is spent trying to convince you that you can change your way of thinking. The rest of the book is where the meat of the matter is. What tasks can you eliminate from you life to make it better and more productive? What tasks can you automate? What tasks can you outsource?
Here are a couple of Tim’s tips that I absolutely love and ones that everyone can add to their lives in some fashion or another…
- You should emphasize your strengths and don’t bother trying to fix your weaknesses. This is central theme in Seth Godin’s book “The Dip“ where he stresses quitting activities that you are not good at in order to focus on what you are awesome at doing. Like Ferriss says, it is more profitable and fun to focus on what you are good at and enjoy.
- Check your e-mail only once or twice a day at set times, not every time you turn around. Ferriss recommends turning off your Microsoft Outlook alerts and pop up messages. You can avoid getting interrupted by not checking your e-mail so often. People will learn your system and will not expect a reply right away. You will find that most emails are not urgent after all. If they were, then the sender would probably just call you anyway.
- He also suggests not checking your e-mail first thing in the morning when you get to the office. Do not check your e-mail until you finish your most important task of the day. We usually end up putting off the most important task we have on the day. But, what if you did it first thing when you arrived at the office? How productive would your day get then? What distracters throughout your day can be eliminated? Facebook? LinkedIn? What would you do if your health only let you work two hours a day? These are the types of things you need to think about in order to be more productive early in your work day.
- An interesting idea that most people do not consider is outsourcing your life. The nightly newscast likes to tell us how horrible outsourcing things to India or China has been for American and her workers. But, what if you could harness that trend for your job? Ferriss recommends outsourcing mundane tasks to virtual assistants to become more productive. You could outsource things like research, report writing, spreadsheet formulations, or phone calls.
- And, finally, one of my favorite tips from Ferriss and his book is a media fast. Ever since I read this book, I have stopped watching the news on television. I do not read newspapers or news websites either. And, my life has been calmer and less depressing ever since. And, it has also made me more productive at work too!
Another interesting part of the book is how Ferriss assigns homework at the end of the chapters as well. The assignments are meant to get you out of your comfort zone. The assignments range from experiments of looking people in the eye, lying on the floor in a busy space, repeatedly asking people out, and several others.
Who Should Read This Book? Everyone should read this book and could benefit from reading it. This is a career and productivity book. You should read this book if you want to get better at your job or if you want to leave your job. This book should be required reading for every budding entrepreneur.
Side Note. Tim Ferriss recently updated this book with one hundred new pages full of updated and expanded new content. The new expanded edition of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek included over fifty practical tips and case studies from readers who have doubled income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the book as a starting point. It also includes templates that you can copy for a wide range of tasks such as eliminating e-mail, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than $8 a meal.
The Piggy Bank Rating - This book is five piggy banks out of five. You should definitely read this book, earmark it, highlight it, and hold on to it. Don’t pass it on to a friend. Instead, buy them one. Do not let go of your copy. This book is that good! See the complete guide to the site’s piggy bank rating scale.
