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| Author: Timothy Ferriss
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $13.57
You Save: $6.38 (32%)
Rating:  791 reviews
Sales Rank: 164
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 0307353133
Dewey Decimal Number: 650.1
EAN: 9780307353139
Publication Date: April 24, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 The author wants your money and that's it December 14, 2007
63 out of 68 found this review helpful
As one who is interested in the ideas of simplified living and of the "Take Back Your Time" movement (http://www.timeday.org/), I was intrigued by the idea of a shorter workweek and greater satisfaction in life. Seeing that this book had so many 5-star reviews, I decided to check it out. What I'm most thankful for: The fact that I checked it out from the library rather than buying it.
By page 16, I had lost respect for the author, when he quotes himself in a discussion with an employer: "I ask him in the most tactful way possible why we are doing it like retards." In the next paragraph we discover he's made his money by starting a dietary supplement company. A little later, when he is discussing how you can get your boss to agree to your working from home, he recommends minimizing your productivity on the days you're in the office, and maximizing them when you're at home. Other examples are cited in other reviews. Tim's suggestions strike me as basically unethical, and not the way I want to interact with the world. Unlike him, I don't see the rest of the people in the world as pawns in my game to do as little as possible. I don't think that stretching rules for my own needs makes me a better person. The reviewer who described this author as a snake-oil salesman is right - and if you buy this book, you'll do nothing to help yourself. The only thing you'll do is help fund Tim's further exploits.
I remain interested in the idea of leading a richer life, finding passion in my work, and working smarter, not longer and harder, but I plan to do so in a way that fits with my values and morals - and this book is not a part of that plan.
Apply the Pareto Principle to this book January 24, 2008
59 out of 65 found this review helpful
One of the main points to the 4-Hour Workweek is the application of the Pareto (or 80/20) principle to your life. Assuming that 20% of your work provides you with 80% of your productivity, Ferriss argues that you should do everything possible to eliminate the less productive 80% of your time and spend that time doing things you really want to do. Some of his tips include: outsourcing as much of your life as possible through virtual assistants, ignoring communication methods like email, television, newspapers, meetings, phone calls, etc., using back-office companies to automate all aspects of a company while marking up products by 10x in order to live the life you want.
Interestingly enough, the 80/20 principle also applies to this book. Twenty percent of the book contains 80% of the good ideas. The other 80% is basically tripe about the author hyping himself up and giving unethical advice on how to do business.
I suggest going to your local bookstore and flipping through the book to see if any of it can apply to you instead of buying it. If you're a single person with no real responsibilities, then much more of the book may be helpful.
My rating is based on the amount of comparative usefulness I derived from reading the book (20%).
 A great new perspective on business and life ... April 24, 2007
55 out of 68 found this review helpful
Tim Ferriss has traveled the world, started a successful business, appeared on national television shows, won elite fighting competitions, and set world records. All of this by the age of 30.
To add to these accomplishments, Tim Ferriss has now written a great new book on business and life. The title of the book is unfortunate. It is about much more than creating a 4-hour work week (although it delivers on that promise as well). I want to discuss briefly my favorite parts of the book: motivation and focus, business planning, and life planning.
Motivation and focus - Tim has a lot of great advice for getting motivated and focusing on important tasks. He makes use of the 80/20 principle and Parkinson's law. Both of these ideas have been written about before, but Tim takes them to the next level. He gives specific advice on how to get moving and get the most out of your time.
In this section, Tim also points out why big goals are often easier to reach than smaller ones. This was an "Aha!" moment for me. Tim says that smaller goals are often harder to reach because there are a lot of people competing for them (think middle management positions at most large companies). However, big goals often have less competition and are easier to motivate yourself towards achieving.
Business planning - Tim goes into detail on how to create a low-maintenance business. Tim takes you through the entire process - from idea creation, to testing, to order fulfillment. It is a process that has worked for him and several of his friends, and Tim gives real-life examples for each of the steps. Tim also includes contact information for companies and organizations that can help you every step of the way. In my opinion, the most important part of this section is the low-cost method of testing business ideas before making large investments of time or money.
I also really liked Tim's advice on automating a business. Tim has successfully used a network of associates and outsourcers to put his business on autopilot. With this support network, Tim only has to spend a few hours a week working in his business. He includes website and phone numbers of many of these organizations and also gives advice on how to deal with outsourcers. In this section of the book, Tim also includes a few pages written by some of his "Virtual Assistants" giving their perspective on outsourcing.
I am a bit more conservative than Tim. I would personally want to have a significant amount in savings or be generating income well in excess of my monthly expenses before relying solely on the business income to cover my expenses. However, Tim seems to have done well and profited nicely from his BrainQuicken supplement.
If you aren't interested in starting a business, Tim gives some great advice on how to get time away from the office (with pay). I have personally seen several of these techniques work, and I am glad Tim included this section for those who aren't entrepreneurially inclined.
Life planning - Once your income needs are met, now what? If you were able to successfully create a business following Tim's instructions, you probably have a lot of extra time on your hands. Tim talks a lot in this section about what to do with that extra time. Tim seems to prefer traveling, and he gives readers a good bit of advice on working and traveling abroad. His personal preference is to spend a month or so intensely working and then spend a couple of months traveling. Of course, you could just as easily use your time to grow other businesses or spend time at home with your family.
Working for yourself, you may become socially isolated or bored. Or, you may start to ask The Big Questions (like "What is the meaning of life?"). Tim gives some great advice for all of these situations.
I don't know Tim, nor do I have any financial connection to this book. I only found out about the book by reading a blog from someone who listened to Tim's talk at this year's South by Southwest festival in Austin. I have never written a review on Amazon before, but this book compelled me to write my first. I highly recommend you get it, and I guarantee it will get you thinking about making changes in your life.
Excellent life check up August 7, 2007
53 out of 63 found this review helpful
First off this book is not a get rich scheme, although I can see how that impression is easily given, it's a book about how to rearrange your life in such as way as to give more time and energy to what is important and less time to what isn't. The author goes into details about an internet business strategy that can lead to wealth, and while it's true any business can lead to wealth, an internet based business can be set up in such a way as to lead to more free time to pursue other things besides making money.
I don't think that the author intended to say that it's easy or guaranteed or that nobody fails, he just gives his advice on how to get it done in that chosen field. I've been to plenty of presentations of wealth generating schemes from product sales to insurance sales. I've read many books on business including those on direct marketing, real estate, stock trading, etc. Some are well intended; some are scams through and through. This book is no scam and it's not trying to sell any snake oil. Perhaps the author does downplay the time and risk and money it takes to start and run a successful internet based business, perhaps people just hear what they want to hear and it doesn't matter anyway.
I personally know someone that runs an internet based business, he has put plenty of time and money and energy into the business, and it's successful, at least I know he doesn't have a day job and he gets to travel and do things he likes to do when he wants to do them. The ideas that the author puts into this book show how to get into the business or improve one you have running, but this is only a part of the book.
Much of what I got out of the book was a reminder to myself about how important it is to spend time wisely. The 80/20 rule is gone over. Advice is given: quit watching so much television, ignore the nightly news, don't spend too much time reading fiction and keep non-fiction down to a list of good books and work them one at a time. Stay off the internet going to check email constantly or checking the news web sites. This all may seem like basic advice, but it's just part of the practical plan that the author goes over in adjusting your life to free up time.
As for the parts about outsourcing, it never ceases to amaze me that some people are so ignorant about economics that they would take the authors advice as being a means to exploit others. The more things that are outsourced to the third world, the more it grows economically and the more we prosper here at home. For those that think job loss is a bad thing, throw out your refrigerator so the ice man can have his job back. And if you really think people are being exploited when they take low paying jobs, next time you order a burger, tip the short order guy ten bucks.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book, it's not just about making money, it's not just about quitting your nine to five job, it's about making life more livable and more meaningful.
Exceptional Idea! Well presented and loaded with realistic strategies and tools to make it work April 27, 2007
46 out of 84 found this review helpful
Warning, this is not a book about time management.
I'm often skeptical of books with titles like this because what they promise is so far outside the likelihood of reality that they just feel like hype. Ferriss on the other hand has taken a concept that is hard for must of us to even consider and made it possible.
Now, it is unlikely that I'll live like the New Rich that he talks about in his book in terms of the hours that I'll spend in my business . . . but even as I write this I have to ask myself why not?
Tim's focus on getting your information under control is cutting edge and frightening. If the idea of only checking your email two times a day scares you, this book will terrify you.
My only criticism of the book is that it doesn't spend enough time helping people who probably forgot what it was that they'd like to do because they've spent so much time buried in their 60 - 80 hour work weeks, rediscover that passion and sense of exploration. Even though he says in the book that it isn't just for 20 somethings who want to live a vagabond lifestyle, there is definately a tad more information focused there. And, I don't find that too surprising, Tim is in that age group and he is speaking from his current experience. This is a very minor criticism though because there was so much easy to use and actionable information in the book. This is a well done guide you'll refer back to often.
I love this book and am buying a copy for everyone in my organization because I think that the ideals inside are the ideals that that make good entrepreneurial companies great.
Whether you think it is possible to work a 4 hour work week or not, get this book and you'll recover many of the hours you are spending away from the life you want now.
Dave Lakhani - Author of Power of An Hour: Business and Life Mastery in One Hour A Week
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