Key Themes:
Business, Time Management, Productivity, Leverage, Laptop Lifestyle
Summary:
The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss is a revelation. In it, he embraces entrepreneurship and uses the book to share his savvy hacks for simplifying your life. He takes us through his tips for automating and leveraging your work, being more effective with your e-mail/communications, cutting down on interruptions, and using your time to actually achieve something meaningful. I challenge you to read this book and not change one thing that you do in your work life – which in itself is the greatest review.
Content Overview:
What do you do? Depending on when you ask Timothy Ferriss, he might answer: “I race motorcycles in Europe.” “I ski in the Andes.” “I dance tango in Buenos Aires.” He has spent years learning the secrets of the New Rich. This fast-growing subculture has turned their back on the “deferred-life plan” and instead harnessed the currencies of time and mobility to create luxury lifestyles for themselves – now. Whether you are a stressed out employee or an entrepreneur stuck in a business trap of your own making, this book will give you a new perspective and food for thought.
Ferriss outlines how you can create an infrastructure so you can work only 4-hours a week (a colourful metaphor) and use your time to serve you, instead of the other way around.
Read this book and Ferriss will teach you:
– How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for between $5-10 per hour and do whatever you want
– How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
– How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the Pareto principles of the 80/20 rule
– How to exchange a long-haul career for short periods of work and frequent “mini-retirements”
– What the fundamental difference is between absolute and relative income
– How to train your boss to value performance over presence
– What automated cash-flow “muses” are and how to create one in 2 to 4 weeks
– How to cultivate selective ignorance and create time-by changing your reading and viewing habits
– What the management secrets of Remote Control CEOs are
– How to live a champagne lifestyle on beer money
– How to fill the void and create a meaningful life after removing work and the office
Ferriss’s insights about email usage, outsourcing, and business are revolutionary. However, the main bonus of The 4-Hour Work Week is the ability to learn concrete things that you can apply to your life within a matter of hours.
Rating: 10/10
This book changed my life – I can’t rate it any higher than that. I may not yet be down to a 4-hour work week but I’ve definitely saved at least 2-hours working time a day through his applicable tips and tricks. I love the fact that he has created a life of passion and meaningful experiences without being chained to his desk.
Readability: 9.5/10
Ferriss has a great, laid-back style and I easily read this in a day. I enjoyed his experiences and use of simple language to explain his efficiency suggestions. I challenge anyone not to get something from this.
Does what it says on the tin: 8/10
Yes and no! Will you enjoy a 4-hour work week after reading this book – probably not, but will it change your life and give you applicable, easy to follow tips to change your working life for the better – definitely yes!
