A couple months ago, before departing for a much needed vacation, I was browsing the shelves of a local bookstore with my then fiancee’ (now wife), looking for anything that looked interesting enough to read on the trip. Admittedly, I’m not much of a book reader, and even if I start it’s a 50/50 chance whether I’ll actually finish or not. I have to find just the right book, or it’s a waste of time. So, I’d just about resigned to reading my usual industry mags and newspapers on the plane when Monica handed me a book called “The 4-Hour Workweek.” Catchy title, huh? Too catchy – I was immediately convinced this was a hype filled self-help book, and that it was a guaranteed time waster. But after reading just the inside cover it seemed this guy (the author, Timothy Ferriss) – or at least his accomplishments – were interesting enough to rope me in. Turns out the book is a Wall Street Journal best seller, as well – add that to his list of accomplishments.
Tim Ferriss started a moderately successful company called Brain Quicken, which sells an herbal “performance supplement.” But what he writes about in the book is not about how to make ten million bucks, he writes about how to create revenue, and then automate that income so that you can enjoy more free time to pursue the things you really enjoy – or that you think you might enjoy, but haven’t had the chance to try yet.
I know quite a few workaholics who just don’t relate to this message. I mean cognitively they get it, but they’re conditioned to think that the more you work the more successful you are, so the idea of taking time to not work seems slacker-ish to them. Some, on the other hand, genuinely recognize the benefit of “work-life-balance,” and will probably find this book intriguing, if not helpful. Still others will find that parts of this book really speak to them. It’s my bet that people like myself – those “young entrepreneurs with a penchant for business on the web” – will be truly interested in the book’s concepts.I think I got about 2 chapters in before Monica stole the book and finished it herself. Monica’s in an industry where very few of the principals in the book are likely to apply. She’s a divorce lawyer – not at all interested in internet marketing or technology – but she still she found it interesting enough to talk to me about after she read it. She started mentioning some of the same ‘tips’ that I use on a daily basis with my own personal projects, and even for client work. To hear someone from an industry so different than my own talk about subjects that are essentially “secrets” of my trade surprised me.
I stole the book back and read on. It was great to read a book that is written with a little edginess and that questions traditional modes of business. It’s only 300 or so pages, so Mr. Ferriss did gloss over a few subjects, but overall he provides a wealth of information about how to streamline your business processes and outsourcing (i.e.: handing administrative tasks off to virtual assistants) and automating (i.e.: market testing with Google adWords) to the extent possible. If nothing else it’ll really get you thinking about how to maximize the efficiency of your day-to-day. But if you’re like me, it could really give you ideas about how to increase your productivity, income, and, if you so choose, even your free time. The latter is usually thought of as mutually exclusive from the second…but a key point of the book is that it doesn’t have to be. Beginning to end, a pretty entertaining – even useful – read.
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