The 4-Hour Workweek is one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. Tim Ferriss packs a lot of information into the book about how to free up vast quantities of time and live more of your life on your own terms. I’ll do my best to sum it up here and hit on a few of his best points.
Ferriss talks about how he started his own company while working a regular job and quickly built it up to the point that it was bringing in $70,000 each month. However, he was also spending the majority of his waking hours working, which eventually burnt him out and drove him to seek an escape. To accomplish this, he streamlined his business by eliminating the 20% of things that caused 80% of his problems and focusing on the 20% of customers that provided 80% of his profits, a process known as the Pareto principle. This dramatically reduced his workload and allowed him to take a vacation in another country. By using online virtual assistants to complete the majority of his remaining work and setting up a plan that required minimal involvement from him, he was able to greatly extend that vacation into what he calls a “mini-retirement”, which he tries to take as often as possible now that he’s perfected his system.
As you can see, Ferriss thinks quite differently than the entrepreneur who spends most of their time working and has almost no time for anything else; he essentially flips that idea on its head and encourages his readers to do the same. He spends most of the book providing suggestions for accomplishing more at work in a shorter span of time using the Pareto principle, arranging to work remotely rather than having to go into the office every day, starting a business that requires minimal involvement from you, and delegating tasks to virtual assistants whenever possible. Additionally, he offers ideas on how to spend your time once you’ve freed it up, including information about cheap places to live in other countries for anywhere from a few months to more than a year, exciting things to do when you get to your destination, getting plane tickets to just about anywhere without breaking the bank, and the comparative safety of a number of different countries so you minimize your risks while traveling.
I greatly enjoyed reading The 4-Hour Workweek. It felt to me like a crash course in a new way to live, so I’ll probably have to reread it several times to make the best use of it, as well as continue my research about business. However, it was wonderful to imagine myself in some of the possibilities Ferriss describes and his mindset fits quite well with my own. I’ve spent the last few years moving away from a materialist mindset into more of an “experience” mindset. I’d much rather save up my money and go on several nice trips a year than spend that money on cheap trinkets, cable TV, or something else that drains money from me while providing me with little to no enjoyment. Several of my goals in life will require a great deal of time freedom as well as financial freedom, and Ferriss offers insight on how to acquire both. Additionally, I don’t want to get stuck in a system that makes me miss out on my life because I’m always working and never have enough time to pursue my interests, passions, and life purpose. Reading The 4-Hour Workweek gave me hope for the future I’d like to have and a lot of great ideas on how to bring it to life. If any of this sounds interesting to you, then I recommend checking it out. It’s definitely a book worth reading.