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At last, I managed to read The 4-Hour Workweek. I continued dismissing it with a “Yeah, sure,” even though it had been out for six years. I finally set aside a Kindle library copy since my curiosity outweighed my misgivings. It was a long time coming. This book is still being read by many people.
I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it. The book provided guidance in three key areas: travel, business creation, and time management. My interest was piqued by the business creation stories and suggestions, but they didn’t appear as simple to replicate as Ferriss would have you believe. Despite my preference for staying at home, the travelogues were useful. For me, the time management guidance was the main source of action.
Good ideas abound in the book. These three large ones remained.
Rethink retirement
I have believed that retirement is overrated for a number of years. Since I enjoy what I do, I fail to see why I should work so hard right now in order to get out of it as quickly as possible and pursue whatever I want, even if I have no idea what that might be.
Yes, I am aware that cognitive and physical difficulties will eventually arise, but I see a number of people in their 70s and even 80s who appear to be quite capable. So why don’t I continue if I can and want to?
Ferriss advises cashing in part of those years early and estimating the average 20 years that most of us will spend retired. What about the five years that pass between the typical retirement age of 65 and the age of 70, which appears to be fully capable today? Could you picture distributing five years of “mini-retirements” among your thirties, forties, and fifties?
Reduce your 40–50 hour workweek to 25–30 hours if you are unsure of what you would do in a 30- to 60-day mini-retirement. Life could be much sweeter even if you earn a bit less and have to work a little more to pay for the days when you are unable to work.
Suppose you desired a workweek that was shorter. How would you accomplish it? This is when some of the time management techniques discussed in the book are useful. Applying the 80/20 rule is the first.
I’ve brought up this old favorite a lot in workshops on process improvement. I utilize it to assist folks in determining which few issues are causing the majority of their headaches. The fact that only a small percentage of our daily activities—both at work and at home—actually bring us closer to our objectives is something I hadn’t considered until recently. If 20% can produce negative results, it can also produce positive ones. Ferriss makes the case for focusing solely on the 20% and ignoring the rest. which makes me question what I ought to give up.
When talking about the notion, the 20% figure receives the most attention. I started thinking about the 80% after reading the book. The majority of us are taught to continuously improve and aim for greatness. And this seems like good advice in a couple important aspects of our lives. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to achieve excellence.
For example, golf. Gaining enough skill to enjoy the game with coworkers during the yearly executive team retreat doesn’t require a lot of time or focus. However, what if you wanted to be listed as the low scorer in your golf league every week in the newspaper? What if you believed you ought to join the professional circuit? In certain situations, you would have to put in considerably more work. Furthermore, the chances of you succeeding are not in your favor, regardless of how hard you worked.
Set 80% as your target when it’s sufficient. It will provide you plenty of time to engage in other hobbies.
It is not necessary for us to do it ourselves.
Another time-saving tip in the book is to cease doing activities that can be done by others, particularly when they are chores we don’t want to do and others can complete them more cheaply or more effectively than we can.
“No one can do it as well as I can” is a common criticism of this concept. I wouldn’t bet on that, but it might be true. Furthermore, why is perfection required (see the 80/20 discussion)? Applying this lesson is challenging for me as a proud member of Free Agent Nation. I’ve always thought I should do it if I have the time.
Perhaps that is changing. I recently took a tentative look at outsourcing. I’ve been using the same 20-inch push mower to mow my half-acre yard for 25 years. It takes a lot of effort on hot days. In the middle of summer, I saw a man mowing a neighbor’s lawn. He appeared content and to be performing well.
I made the decision to start a discussion. This is what I discovered. He was far less costly than I had anticipated. To keep the grass green during the dry months, he trims it taller. Because that’s what you’re supposed to do, he always slices it in a different direction. I was surprised since I assumed that all lawn care providers simply mowed the yard every week without giving a damn. At that moment, he asked whether I wanted him to cut it. Thank you; I did, indeed. The yard looks fantastic. I am quite happy.
Extra information
I’m leaving with a few more that I thought were useful in addition to the three major ones.
I shouldn’t incite discussion until I’m prepared to take action. This means I won’t check my email to see if there’s anything essential unless I’m prepared to handle what I find. By doing this, you divert your focus from living in the now and savoring it.
Get rid of certain things. Our lives include a great deal of excess. It is necessary to pay for, store, maintain, insure, and protect items. That costs us money and time. Don’t complicate things. You’ll rediscover your time if you simplify your life to the essentials.
The stock market is not under my control. Of course. Yes, I was aware of that. This question led to the realization. Why would I want to put my money into something over which I have no control? Ferriss is right. Maybe I should put money where I can make a difference.
Moving forward
Numerous other concepts in the book struck a chord with me. Putting one or two of them into practice is the tricky part. Have you read the book? What did you discover? What did you reject? Post your best advice in the space provided below. Together, we can gain knowledge.
