4 Lessons From the 4-Hour Workweek

This past week, I read “The 4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss.

The book intrigued me years ago, but I didn’t read it until this past week.

It’s easy to make jokes that the premise of this book highlights what the millennial generation is.

The book is all about cutting corners, taking the easy way out, and being lazy.

WRONG!

The 4 Hour Workweek isn’t a call to not work. It’s a call to re-evaluate every day activities that we perform without giving it a second thought.

One quote in the book struck a chord in me: “I saw a bank that said “24-hour banking”, but I don’t have that much time.” – Steven Wright, comedian.

We are all given 24 hours in a day, but most of us don’t know to manage time effectively.

I’m guilty of that, much like many others are.

For context, I’ve been struggling with time management over the past few months.

My results haven’t been what they should be.

However, that’s not because of lack of effort. I could count the amount of times over the past few weeks that it felt like I didn’t look up from my computer screen all day.

I remember the 15-minute lunch breaks, those that I would eat at my desk.

Take an incoming call, follow up with an email, Zoom meeting, cold calls, incoming call, email, rinse and repeat.

It’s like getting pulled in one hundred different directions, but staying in the same place.

It was no one else’s fault but my own. I didn’t have perspective on time management.

Time management was always one of those things that people talk about, but you just want to hear the end of it. Like brushing your teeth twice daily or eating your vegetables.

You know you want nice teeth and you know vegetables are good for you.

However, you don’t want to hear people going on and on about it.

1. Adopt selective ignorance

With everything going on in the world right now, it’s easy to let the noise get to you.

There’s so much news out there, it could get you dizzy just thinking about it.

Most of the information out there right now is negative and irrelevant to your big goals.

Endlessly scrolling social media, listening to unimportant podcasts, and scrolling through YouTube videos about making new treats for your dog probably won’t help you in the future.

The only one who stands to gain something from that is your dog that wants the new treat.

On my lunch breaks (even the ones for 15-minutes), I would watch history YouTube videos, old Mike Tyson fights, or bodyweight workouts.

While I enjoy learning about history, watching great fighters, and bodyweight training, none would help me focus on the tasks at hand. Be selective with the information that you take in. I tried that this week and found myself more focused and productive.

“E is for elimination. One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase, but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.” --- Bruce Lee

2. Use the time you do have

Tim suggests to adopt Parkinson’s Law, which suggests that work expands to the fill the time available for its completion. It’s imperative to set deadlines and stick to them.

If you give yourself two weeks for a task that would take two hours, you’ll likely approach the two week mark and be scrambling at the last minute.

Parkinson’s Law creates a sense of urgency, all while keeping you focused. It’s better to push on a seemingly unrealistic deadline, only for you to find out that you could get the job done with time to spare.

3. Focus on the 20 percent

The book strongly advocates for the Pareto Principle, or the “80/20 rule.”

This rule suggests that 80% of outcomes results from 20% of all causes.

In business, the idea is to identify what 20% of important action will lead to 80% of your results.

If you realize something is working well for you, why not double-down on it?

Fortunately, the Pareto Principle can be applied to many facets of life --- personal finances, wealth distribution, or spending habits.

It suggests that 80% of revenue comes from 20% of your clients. Tim recommends automating non-essential tasks and focusing on your biggest clients.

Dedicating yourself to that 20% core will help you regain time and increase your performance.

#4 Outsource

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” --- Bill Gates

The idea is to get the maximum output, for minimum input. Not in a lazy sense, but choosing what particular tasks will get you maximum results.

Virtual assistants and apps are the way to go.

This book shed light on the frustration of knowing that much of your time at work is spent on administrative tasks.

It’s part of getting work done. This book has been a big eye-opener and has given more perspective about the world and how we can succeed in it.