The 4-Hour Workweek blew the top off the charts because everyone wanted to know how to get the most out of their day. In this book Timothy Ferriss explains how he went from hopping from unsatisfying job to unsatisfying job to unsatisfying business ownership then into his first mini-retirement. He then goes on to explain how you can outsource your life to live the life you have always dreamed of living.
If I would have started this book at chapter 1 I probably would have liked it. The problem is that through the introductory material you get to know the author and I didn’t like him very much. Actually that is probably not fair, I don’t agree with his outlook on life. I came to this book because I saw all the 4-Hour workweek email signatures on other business owner’s emails and thought they might be on to something in terms of increasing productivity. The author has a very selfish goal when it comes to his life, it is all about me, me, me (I will give him credit he does mention that you should help other people in one of the last chapters of the book, but the methods he uses to get to the point where you can help people kind of defeat the purpose in my mind.) Aside from our different outlooks on life he does give some good suggestions on how to manage your time more effectively and I have taken to heart some of them such as periodically asking myself throughout the day if I am being productive or just active. Asking myself that question 3 times a day has definitely helped increase productivity. My outlook is that if you propose a solution to a problem it should at least benefit as many people as it possibly can, but Timothy’s methods are not scalable, someone has to do the work and in my opinion the author’s viewpoint is to use as many people as possible to make your life easier. If everyone tried to use the methods in this book, no one would be able to use the methods in this book because someone has to do the work.
Grade: D (I did find some redeeming things to implement otherwise it would have gotten an F)
If I would have started this book at chapter 1 I probably would have liked it. The problem is that through the introductory material you get to know the author and I didn’t like him very much. Actually that is probably not fair, I don’t agree with his outlook on life. I came to this book because I saw all the 4-Hour workweek (p.93) email signatures on other business owner’s emails and thought they might be on to something in terms of increasing productivity. The author has a very selfish goal when it comes to his life, it is all about me, me, me (I will give him credit he does mention that you should help other people in one of the last chapters of the book, but the methods he uses to get to the point where you can help people kind of defeat the purpose in my mind.) Aside from our different outlooks on life he does give some good suggestions on how to manage your time more effectively and I have taken to heart some of them such as periodically asking myself throughout the day if I am being productive or just active. Asking myself that question 3 times a day has definitely helped increase productivity. My outlook is that if you propose a solution to a problem it should at least benefit as many people as it possibly can, but Timothy’s methods are not scalable, someone has to do the work and in my opinion the author’s viewpoint is to use as many people as possible to make your life easier. If everyone tried to use the methods in this book, no one would be able to use the methods in this book because someone has to do the work.
Grade: D (I did find some redeeming things to implement otherwise it would have gotten an F).
Related Reading:
What difference do it make? is a conversation that tells of the relationship between a well to do man with a rough family history and a homeless wise man and how a book has changed their life. It is a conversation about hope, restoration, and how one person’s decision can change the course of history. It tells of how two men from completely different walks of life can have their lives irrevocably intertwined for a cause definitely worth fighting for. Interspersed within the story of Ron and Denver are stories of hope about people who have been affected by the first book Same Kind of Different as Me.