The Four Hour Workweek - Tim Ferriss - Book Review

The Four Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich is a New York Times Bestselling book which entails how the author Timothy Ferriss escaped from his dreaded office job in which he was overworked and underpaid and how he transformed his entire lifestyle. He went from earning $40,000 a year to $40,000 a month and he shows you how you can take 'mini-retirements' and completely redesign your lifestyle, just like he does.

Tim Ferriss's book has been a major success with it being translated into 35 languages and has sold more than 1.3 million copies worldwide, which is an impressive feat for any author. Among being a best-selling author Ferriss also holds numerous amounts of records and is an angel investor in many online companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Shopify among many other companies.

The average person lives a life that he doesn't enjoy or actively want to do. They work in jobs that they don't want to do, yet have to do it as a necessity to earn money and survive. Some actually hate going to work and dread every second of work. Why is that? According to statistics we spend 1/3 of our lives working. One third of your life is a lot, right? So why spend so much time doing something you hate and at a place you don't want to be. Time is one of the most valuable things we possess and we cannot get time back, Tim Ferriss tells us how we can make more use of our time and spend more time on the things that we want to do.

Tim does discuss some unorthodox methods and this and some things in this book you will think 'What is the point of doing this?' However he has many good tips and tricks or 'life hacks' as he calls it.

He explains how he uses the 80/20 rule to become more productive and get more done and how you should also be using the 80/20 principle. The 80/20 principle is when you do 20% of something to get 80% of the results. For example; if you had your own business you should focus on the top 20% of your customers to generate 80% of your profit. The 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle was discovered by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Using the 80/20 rule helps you get 'sh*t' done.

The book is split into four different sections and each section Tim Ferriss explains each section in detail. He uses the acronym DEAL;

Definition - In this section Tim explains how to get over fear and insecurity's about work, how to see past other people and how to get to where you want. He explains how it is society has made it acceptable for us to be working at jobs we don't like and that we shouldn't do that.

Elimination - In this section he talks about eliminating all the things you waste your time over and improving your time management and efficiency in getting things done. He talks about applying the 80/20 Rule (explained above) and he tells us that we should focus on the tasks that would benefit you. He says that a person is not lazy for working less rather he is working smart and efficient while getting the same amount of things done.

Automation - Here he talks about creating a business and creating multiple sources of income. He includes many techniques and includes a lot of advice in this section. This section alone would be worth the price of the book in my opinion. He lists techniques such as; Google AdSense, Adwords, Amazon Affiliates, Dropping Shipping and Outsourcing among many many others. Outsourcing is emphasised a lot through out the book and as it makes you save a lot more time. Your business can run on autopilot without you having to do any of the work and you still reap the benefits and receive more money in your bank account. Think about it, paying someone in India or the Philippines for $3-$10 an hour to be your virtual assistant. A virtual assistant can almost do anything you want regarding your business. Some of the things a VA can do are making and creating a website, HTML Coding, SEO, Advertising, Article Writing, Website Management, etc.

Liberation - After you have freed up your time and don't have to work 9-5 anymore, Tim Ferriss shows you what you can do with your free time. He gives you a glimpse of his lifestyle and show you what is possible. He goes on holidays in Argentina, Brazil, London, Europe among many other cities, continents and countries. He shows you how you can learn many different skills such as learning different languages, martial arts, or learning any other skills. He tells you how you can live anywhere in the world and your job should not limit where you are able to live in the world.

Tim Ferriss's book is an interesting read and is fill of many helpful tips and tricks you can use to get out the office and create your own business and do what you love. Albeit some of the things he mentions in the book are unorthodox, it is still a helpful book and a MUST read!

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