Book Review: The 4 Hour Workweek

I just finished reading The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Richby Tim Ferriss.  The book was fun and easy to read.  Not only was it fun, it was a bit inspirational.  I know I am behind the curve in this book, which made waves when it came out in 2007, but its words are just as relevant as they were in 2007.

The book is written in a logical progression giving steps to eliminate needless work, make what you are doing as efficient as possible, start your own super efficient business, eliminate your need for going to work, and finally leaving the 9-5 world.  The ultimate goal presented by Tim is to have the freedom to travel or spend time with friends and family.

According to the book, there are a few tricks to making this whole system work.  Making your life more efficient and eliminating time wasters is possible by eliminating voice mail, focusing on e-mail, and letting people deal with small problems themselves.  Bring in an Indian virtual assistant and your life is on autopilot.  Before this book, I had never considered personal outsourcing.

From there, the book suggests finding a “muse” product that you can sell for a nice markup.  I have one in mind and have already had a couple of bids from Chinese companies.  From there, it is possible to setup automated sales, distribution, and customer service that will ultimately take only 4 hours a week to maintain.  The money just flows into your bank account.

What I Liked: I like the idea of the 4 hour workweek, but who wouldn’t?  It seems like a great life plan.  Eliminate the crap and focus on what is important.  Use the 80/20 rule, or The Pareto Principle, to ensure you are only focusing on what is important and yields results.  And, for what is left, hire an Indian for $8 an hour to deal with, freeing you to do whatever you want on a decent income.

What I Didn’t Like:  I had a bit of a feeling the entire way through that they guy is full of it.  How easy can it really be to start a company that requires almost no time and effort?  How well can someone in India really help me with my life that it is worth $5-$10 per hour for something that I can do myself?  It is possible to really do what the book says, but it is important to bring yourself down from the cloud the book puts you on.  Remember, if you follow the book, to make calculated decisions.  Don’t throw everything away on a whim.

Overall:I like the book.  I think it is a fun idea and I am giving it a go.  Make sure you keep up on the blog to read about my progress.  I recommend this book to anyone who wants to try a fun project to make a bit of extra cash.  If it goes well, who knows, you might get rich on the way to a 4 hour workweek.  That, according to the book, makes you part of the NR, the “new rich.”

If you decide to buy the book, please do so using my Amazon link to help support the costs of maintaining the site.  If you want to buy the updated version of the book, available in December, you can order the expanded version through this link: The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.