Lessons for Timothy Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek

Lessons for Timothy Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek

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Timothy Ferriss is one of the most notable authors and is regarded as one of the most innovative individuals in the business world. Ferriss is not only an author but as well as an advisor. In his best-selling book, “4-Hour Workweek,” he not only teaches and advises people how to run their lives more efficiently. In most cases, people do not know what to do when they are tasked with challenging opportunities. Management is one of the best practices that we need to adhere to in life since, in the business world, poor management may lead to the collapse of an organization. Deriving lessons from experienced people results in higher productivity and profits for the organization. Based on the “4-Hour Workweek” book, there are various lessons that can be deduced and to which can be greatly significant in turning the face of an organization.

One of the important lessons I learned from the book is to avoid information overload. Data from various sources can be easily accessed through improved technology sources such as the internet in the current world. The availability of this excess information may cause one to forget the important events surrounding them and instead focus on many irrelevant issues. However, the author, through the book, teaches the importance of cutting off the connection to the internet, televisions and e-mails. On the other hand, he encourages prioritizing our time for the most important things in our lives, such as family and friends. Also, I have learnt that it is important to give time to activities that help in relaxing our minds, such as engaging in favorite exercises.

More so, the book has taught me to find ways of making automatic income. The author greatly encourages the creation of private time to relax and free from normal activities throughout the book. Therefore, he advocates for a system of business management where the work can run with little involvement from the owner. The less involvement ensures that business flows as usual and generates revenue through means such as online marketing and selling of products. In such strategies, the owner will only need to set-up his products for sale through the internet rather than carry out personal selling. Similarly, delivery procedures can be planned and carried out automatically on an autopilot basis. Consequently, income can be generated automatically with less involvement in the physical work, which in turn ensures more time spent on relaxing activities.

I have also learnt to enjoy the current life that I can afford rather than saving up for the unknown future. According to the author, most people waste the bigger part of their active life busy working for some other people to earn a salary. Also, they save part of the salary to enjoy in the future when they retire from their jobs. However, most of them end up not fulfilling their dreams since anything may happen to hinder them from the anticipated future. Thus, the author suggests that people should make a habit of rewarding themselves with the little income they currently possess. Besides, one should take some time away to enjoy life when they have a chance to because growing old is inevitable, and anything may happen.

Timothy Ferriss advises people that they should focus on rewarding themselves with an experience of life that they want once in a while. Tim, for example, advises people to take a vacation to one of their dream destinations using their income from low maintenance business, which they have initiated. Moreover, an individual can make a decision to go and live abroad for some time while at the same time working on their regular job through the internet. By taking some time off and living an ideal life, it helps the individuals in increasing the quality of life, and this allows a person to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Furthermore, living an ideal life is more relaxing and also highly motivating.

Another significant lesson that I learned from the book is that individuals need to boost their effectiveness by outsourcing menial tasks in their schedule. One of the major goals of many professionals is to enhance their effectiveness in conducting their daily activities continually. According to Timothy, a professional can increase their effectiveness trough delegation of small responsibilities in their lives to other people, especially junior officers. Through delegation, an individual will have an opportunity to focus their energy on activities that are considered more important in an organization. Based on this, outsourcing most of these activities through delegation helps the individuals to strategically apply their focus on specific areas in which they are deemed to make maximum impact.

Modern technology has greatly aided in achieving outsourcing in some of the office activities to virtual assistance that is globally located. Through this kind of outsourcing, the professional may stand a better chance of having their jobs delegated to professionals in that particular field, and this increases the effectiveness in task delivery. Furthermore, the author indicates that individuals should get used to allowing small mistakes to occur, as this is for the greater good. For example, if an individual is asked to choose between making it to an investor’s presentation for their organization or returning a movie they had rented to avoid being penalized, it more likely that they would choose to go for the presentation and forego returning the movie. In this case, the person has to prioritize depending on the significance. Going for a company presentation means that the person has increased the chances for investments, and therefore the little fine incurred for failure to return the movie on time can be covered by the profits obtained from the investments. Therefore, foregoing returning the moving results to a greater good for the company. Prioritization based on significance is one of the lessons that the 4 Hour Workweek presents.

Another major lesson from the book is that a person should focus on living a proactive lifestyle rather than a reactive one. In the current society, many individuals normally sit at their desks all day long with their e-mail boxes open. When a new e-mail arrives, they sit up immediately and start preparing for a response. If the e-mail requires that some tasks be conducted, then most of the people will abandon what they were doing to start working on the new task. Through this, the correspondence coming through the e-mail can be said to be literally controlling the individuals’ actions on a daily basis. With the current technological advancement, there are numerous sources of information that can act as a distraction to what a person is doing, which include social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, which are slowly replacing the e-mail as new sources of information.

According to Timothy, most individuals feel guilty and stressed when they are unable to reply to such messages either on e-mail or on social media platforms. Not only do people feel guilty for lack of a response, but also the failure to do as the message states can result in guilt and stress. In this case, most individuals become reactive rather than purposing to act on what they desire. Timothy, in his book, “4 Hours Workweek,” encourages such individuals to take control of their activities by limiting their time on social media or any other source of distracting information such as the e-mail box. According to Timothy, after a successful response to all the important e-mails, it is important to sign out of the various sources of information and then continue with the daily routine. Completing tasks based on a daily routine helps in boosting the organization’s productivity and thus provides individuals with a sense of control over their lives.

Another major lesson that I learned from Timothy’s book is to focus on the 20 percent. Pareto’s 80/20 rule happens to be one of the biggest lessons in the book. Pareto’s rule tends to apply to everything in life. For example, 80 percent of the negativity that faces most organizations comes from 20 percent of the people. From another perspective, 80 percent of the organization’s revenues come from 20 percent of the company’s clients, and the cycle continues. According to the advice given by Timothy in his book, automating the non-essentials and focusing on the most profitable clients is one way of utilizing the 80/20 rule. If a person applies it to their company to the core 20 percent, they will regain time without perceiving a decrease in business performance.

In conclusion, Timothy Ferriss does great in trying to inspire people on how to go about their businesses. Most of the topics carry significant information that is worth investing in an organization. Since Timothy is a well-known business person and adviser, it would be unfortunate for a person not to follow his advice as they not only emphasize on managing organizations but also insists on personal well-being through enjoying personal space and life. It is important to take some time off away from the business to help an individual live an ideal life at present, and not focus on retirement plans.

References

Ferriss, T. (2009). 4-Hour Workweek: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content. Harmony.