Is this time management? A review of The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris

Review of The 4-Hour Workweek; Escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich. Thus Timothy Ferris titled his new book. And what a book…

There has been a lot of hype about this book. Some of it good, some of it bad. Take two conflicting and contrasting review comments on Amazon…

* 5-Star highly recommended, "A must read"

* 1-Star Shameless Self-promotion, "Please - please - don't waste your time with this book. Catchy title - but that's about it."

One thing is for sure, this book has generated a lot of chatter and a lot of reviews and they're pretty diverse. Some of it is vary negative saying that Timothy is exploiting people in the 3rd world, being underhand and devious, lacking integrity… and far more besides. It made me want to know what all of the noise is about. I could go on but if you want to read the rest go and read them yourself here.

In my opinion the reason for this avalanche of conflicting feedback is the whole concept behind the book. Think about it… To even consider a 4-hour working week or anything near it you are going to have to throw away many assumptions and practises that you currently have. You are going to have to break the mould and act radically differently to those around you. You are going to have to forge a different path. Let's tweak a well-known NLP tenet for our own purposes here…

If you do what everyone else is doing, you'll get what everyone else is getting.

99.99% of people do what everyone else is doing. They go to work for around about 9. They leave around about 5. They take lunch breaks. They work for someone else. They start work after school or university and then they retire as early as they can. Sometimes they get adventurous and take a gap year or a career break. Some even retrain and do something else…

Timothy proposes something else. Something radically different. And it is different. This, as Tim says himself in his opening chapters, is going to push a lot of people outside of their comfort zones. People don't like it when someone challenges their "comfy" existence. They lash out. Surely, their world must be real. So they go on the attack to prove and pretend that "their" world is the only possible reality.

A couple of the reviews even claim that Timothy's material is stolen from Jack Canfield, Michael Gerber and others but this is not true. For sure, many of his principles have been tried and tested elsewhere but Tim takes them on to another level, he puts a personal and more radical twist on them. Certainly Jack and Michael obviously did not think he had plagiarised their material when they said,

"It's about time this book was written. It is a long-overdue manifesto for the mobile lifestyle, and Tim Ferriss is the ideal ambassador. This will be huge."
Jack Canfield

"The 4-Hour Workweek is a new way of solving a very old problem: just how can we work to live and prevent our lives from being all about work?  A world of infinite options awaits those who would read this book and be inspired by it!"
Michael E. Gerber

The BFG's thoughts…

This is a good book and well worth the cover price. One reviewer said that it was "overpriced"… they must have approached it with the wrong head on.

This book does exactly what it sets out to do. It outlines a radically different and mind-stretchingly challenging approach to time management, work ethics, career and life. There are tactics and tips in here for everyone. I have worked incredibly long hours, been involved with SME set up businesses, played the corporate game, worked for myself and consulted with businesses from one man bands to major corporates. If you choose to look for it there is something in here for everyone. IF.

What's more, it is an enjoyable read. I read this book in one sitting without putting it down and I knew from the first few pages that this would be the case.

I do not want to work a 4-hour week. I do not want to spend huge amounts of time in Berlin, Thailand or Argentina. I do not want to do many of the things that Tim has done. But I can apply many of these things to get me more of what I want. The art and skill of personal development is in taking someone else's material and making it work for you. That is what you need to do with this book.

What will you get out of this book?

• An enjoyable read and an interesting story
• Your ideas and perceptions about what you "have to do" and how you "have to act" - seriously challenged
• Some sound concepts for you to adapt and play with particularly around time management and personal effectiveness
• Several resources to help you apply the techniques

My favourite concepts and ones I will be picking up, expanding upon, testing out and trying and discussing with you are on outsourcing, email and prioritising. So look out for those in the weeks and months to come.

I recommend that you read The 4-Hour Workweek. I think it is unlikely that you will follow all of the ideas inside of it nor do I think you should. Its unlikely you will choose to copy Timothy Ferriss' life but this is not the aim of this book. Read it. Challenge yourself. Find better ways to work and be more effective.

See look, it's 900am, I've finished this and I have not checked my email yet. That does feel better already!