The 4-Hour Work Week

I'm sure you know of Tim Ferriss. He's written the 4-Hour Work Week, the 4-Hour Body and most recently; the 4-Hour Chef.

I picked up the 4-Hour Body a while back, read it cover-to-cover and really dug it. I only practiced a minute amount of what he discussed, but that's neither here nor there. He does a lot of body experiments in that book and they're not things you can just do lightly. They require a lot of bullshit (read: supplements). But I gleaned some useful exercises and some insights on workout theory. It's a good reference book, especially if you plateau and want to try something different. It's just good to have around.

I liked his style of writing. Very informal, but informed. No pretense.

So, seeing as I'm always into reading about different work theories, management, etc, I knew I had to read his first book, the 4-Hour Work Week.

It wasn't quite what I expected. Although I honestly don't know what I expected.

The subtitle is pretty accurate, upon reflection. That's what it's about. There're definitely things you can try to do. Things to make you money. And things to free yourself from your cubicle. But I'd say this is heavily swayed toward the entrepreneur. Or people wanting to become entrepreneurs. It's less helpful for people who enjoy their office job or whose job simply wont allow them to work remotely. For instance if you're a teacher...you kind of need to be at work. (I know some classes are taught remotely but you're hardly gonna convince your principle that you can work the whole year...abroad.)

I have tried experimenting with some of the ideas, though. Most specifically I've contracted a Virtual Assistant at work. He lives in India and he will do my bidding so long as it doesn't require him to get off of his chair. I.E. he'll do whatever I ask as long as he doesn't have to go somewhere. It's all executed virtually. Via email, Skype, phonecall, smokesignals, whatever. So far it's been more of a success than I anticipated. I haven't found a ton of stuff for him to do yet, but what has been sent his way has been executed perfectly. I think it's something we're going to be able to scale. So even if I gain nothing else, the Virtual Assistant thing has been a cool experiment.

I bought the 4-Hour Chef for Marie for x-mas. She hasn't read it yet, but I read a couple chapters. Even though I don't cook (ever), it seemed like it may be the best book of the three. And I'm going to read it, too. It's just the theories and concepts he explains. The experiments. They're eye-opening and intriguing.

So, while I don't think Tim Ferriss's books will impact my life in a huge way, they're definitely fun to read. And that's why you pick up a book anyway.