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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Mostly-bad advice given by a self-important author
There is good stuff in Timothy Ferriss's anti-job self-help book The 4-Hour Workweek. Unfortunately, it's drowned out by the piles of bad and useless advice that pervade much of the book. But let's start with the good. The first two sections of T4HWW make some very valid points. Ferriss argues that, for most, the ideal life is much cheaper than it might seem. He rails against the "deferred life plan"--working a decade (or three) doing something you don't like to save money for retirement, where you'll (supposedly) do what you've always wanted. Ferriss gives some good time-management advice as well. I liked his emphasis on thinking about what you are doing and dropping the things that aren't important. That may sound obvious, but many people confuse busyness with productivity. I liked Ferriss's "comfort challenges," which are designed to get readers accustomed to facing their fears. Ferriss gives some good advice on quitting a bad job, and he might inspire some to do just that.
Now for the bad. Unfortunately, there's a lot of bad. Ferriss projects an overconfidence and arrogance that is sometimes-patronizing and often-irritating (I don't need to be told that a chapter will "put [me] on the real breakfast of champions"). Many of his claims are far-fetched. For example, he confidently states that, by reading his chapter on time management, you will experience "an increase in personal productivity between 100 and 500%." Blech.
It's glaringly obvious that Ferriss is a style-over-substance kind of guy. He begins T4HWW with a litany of his accomplishments: he's been a "no-holds-barred cage fighter," a "Princeton University guest lecturer," a "Glycemic Index researcher," an "MTV break-dancer," a "political asylum activist," a "TV host in Thailand," and so on. The legitimacy of these credentials is unclear, and, perhaps tellingly, Ferriss later gives readers advice on how to embellish their own resumes. It's clear that looking good on paper is very important to Ferriss. Did he write this book to help readers, or merely to add another bullet point to his resume?
If Ferriss's advice were good, that question might not matter (much). But most of it isn't. The second part of T4HWW--the most-practical, most-specific part--is at its core a get-rich-quick scheme. Ferriss advises readers to design a product--whatever crap is likely to make money, it seems--and then to have third parties handle the manufacturing, order fulfillment, and customer service. The idea is to sit back, do (almost) nothing, and watch the checks come in.
Ferriss's cynicism is alarming. He doesn't seem to acknowledge the possibility of making money in a fun and meaningful way, and he certainly doesn't give advice in that vein. The guiding principle of T4HWW is to do what it takes to make as much money as possible with as little effort as possible. Ferriss's own business is a shining example of this philosophy: he sells a sports supplement ("the world's first neural accelerator"!) on a website replete with testimonials, "110% guarantees," and other infomercial-esque gimmicks. I'll let you decide how much value you think his business is adding.
So Ferriss is cynical, but does his approach work? I would guess that, for most people, the answer is no. Many of Ferriss's business ideas exploit easily-duplicable arbitrage opportunities. In chapter 9, Ferriss describes his friend Doug, who resells sound effects libraries on the internet. Well, "resells" is too strong a word: Doug merely forwards orders to the manufacturers, who then ship directly to his customers. In another example, Ferriss describes a man who ships shirts from France to the U.S., where he sells them at a (large) profit.
Is it possible to make a lot of money with such an approach? Yes. Is it likely? I doubt it. If you're as wily as Ferriss, you might find something that works--but, then again, you could probably also find success in a more-legitimate (and probably more-enjoyable) pursuit.
While I did like Ferriss's thoughts on handling a bad job, his advice on working remotely is not applicable to the many--if not most--who don't sit in front of a computer all day. And even if you're a computer jockey, I doubt his approach is all it's cracked up to be. In a hypothetical example, Ferriss describes a man who works remotely (on his computer) while in Munich during Oktoberfest. The thing is, Ferriss suggests being substantially more productive outside the office to show your boss that working remotely makes good business sense. Trying to be extra-productive during Oktoberfest is not my idea of a good time.
I could go on, but I won't. Though I did like parts of T4HWW, there's a lot to dislike about Ferriss's book. It would have been better without the 100-page get-rich-quick scheme. (And had Ferriss toned things down a bit, but let's not get greedy.) Nonetheless, there is good content, and the good parts might have a meaningful impact on the right reader. I don't recommend this book, but you could certainly do worse.
Rating:  - effective
Worthwhile read. He's figured out a great system for being really effective in small amounts of time. A lot of his tips for eliminating wastes of time have worked well for me.
On the flip side, the author is a little bit of an egoist a-hole with a value system where he thinks mostly of himself. He puts you on confidence-building exercises such as staring down people when you walk by them and going up to attractive women and getting their digits, just to see that you can. So lot of good tips to be learned from the book, but take the rest with a grain of salt.
Rating: - If Reading This Makes Me Uncomfortable, It's Probably Good Information to Consider
How's that for a title that grabs your attention? At times, the ideas championed in this book seemed terribly impractical and even ludicrous. At times, I found myself imagining a life of mini-retirements, vacationing in Europe, learning to play the Flamenco guitar, all while my $50 product is selling like hotcakes online. I'm just not sure how comfortable I am about hiring a personal assistant that lives in India and letting my employee make any decision that doesn't involve at least $500 without consulting me first. The book does have its share of valid points, if you're willing to "think outside the box", and I would agree that any automation of my current order processing would benefit me tremendously. It might take a few readings of this one before I am converted, but I have resolved to stop checking my email Inbox several hundred times a day. BTW, Ferris' life story/autobiography is worth reading on its own. Is he the guy who wrote the college application essay about making minute rice in fifteen seconds that got him into Princeton?
Kristian Strom
Rating: - Assume a large flow of income ...
Interesting tidbits on what to do with your spare time and on delegating work, especially to offshore virtual assistants. But the basic assumption is that you already have, or can quickly/easily establish, a large regular flow of money from an occupation/business that doesn't require much of your time to market it or do the work. The author has an online business selling nutritional supplements. He has outsourced and systematized nearly all of the daily operational chores, but face it: once the product and web page are established, this business shouldn't require much owner time. He struck it rich in an area where tens of thousands of folks are struggling to make a few hundred dollars a month. The interesting story is how he was able to succeed where so many fail, and this is slightly more than a footnote in the book. Having said that, the book did help me address what I would do with my free time if I were able to semi-retire.
Rating:  - Pop-philosophy meets pop-business
This piece of work belongs with the bulk of self-help literature: filed under self-indulgent, unrealistic, and/or generally non-applicable to the common Janes and Joes. It's easy once you succeed to be all puffed up and proud and think you can now backwards engineer a model for the masses, but rarely do such "modellers" take the time to then test that model to make sure it's functional and accurate. Most models end up unrealistic.
You're met with page upon page of cliched, pseudo-philosophic "live life to its fullest" pandering, which is supposed to be inspirational I'd suppose, but for me (being modestly intelligent) it just comes off like the spoutings of a self-styled guru. Another reviewer recommended reading Thoreau instead. I second that sentiment.
Then comes the meat, but you're hoping for ground beef and you get some kind of fancy duck liver french dish: what he offers is not easily picked up and duplicated. He seems to say "I did it and so can you," without taking into account differences in people's means, lifestyles, and outright dumb luck.
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