Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

“The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss

The 4-Hour Workweek
Timothy Ferriss
ISBN-10: 0307353133
ISBN-13: 978-0307353139

The 4-Hour Workweek is a non-fiction self-help/business book by Timothy Ferriss. It is available for purchase from http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0307353133.

Tim's book is split into sections based on the acronym D.E.A.L.: Definition, Elimination, Automation, and Liberation. Definition is where people define their wants and needs. Elimination is where people eliminate the unnecessary or inefficient. Automation is where people create automatic sources of income or organization. Liberation is where people can accomplish all obligations and maintain their jobs while doing practically anything they choose.

Although a massive emphasis of the book was on entrepreneurship and other business-related activities, there were also sections on productivity and time management--the reasons that I explored this book. One main strategy is based around goal-setting; it is recommended that people maintain both daily to-do lists and weekly to-do lists and ensure that these minimum tasks on their to-do lists are accomplished on time. It also discusses several time sinks, such as e-mail. Ferriss recommends that people check their e-mail twice a day or less often. He also suggests that people avoid meetings at all costs, instead deferring them to short e-mails or, if necessary, phone calls. At the very least, it was stated that meetings should only be attended if they're short and if they have a clear agenda.

Another suggested way to increase productivity is to utilize the Pareto Principle. That is, it is suggested that one should take advantage of the idea that 20% of all causes will result in 80% of all effects. Thus, if you have to serve clients, serve best the 20% that contribute to 80% of your profits. The same idea can be applied to many other things. By using this principle, you can cut out 80% of things that use up your time but don't really contribute to your productivity. Interestingly, for many courses, 80% of our marks come from 20% of our work put into the courses...

Another interesting idea proposed by Ferriss is that of a virtual assistant. Although not an idea that I will be exploring anytime soon, the concept of having somebody else performing repetitive or time-consuming tasks for you is an interesting idea. More information on VAs can be found on Wikipedia, although they can basically be summed up as a personal assistant whom you stay in contact with and instruct over the internet (or phone).

And as a quick side note, Timothy Ferriss does have a blog if any of you are interested. He updates it with usually somewhat random postings, and occasionally things that complement the ideas of his book.

Overall, I liked the book and its proposed ideas to time management/effectiveness and the like. The business portions of the book were useless to me, although they'd probably be a lot more interesting to people interested in money. One annoying thing about the book is how cocky Ferriss seems to be about himself. I personally think his self-esteem could use some trimming, but I'm sort of biased on that subject. Nonetheless, I recommend this book to anybody interested in business or productivity tips.

Anybody interested in discussing this book, feel free to discuss it here: http://forums.deathofdestiny.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22.