Name: The 4-Hour Workweek
ISBN: 9781441737588

Timothy Ferriss

Ray Porter

Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

The 4-Hour Workweek

Piet Terheyden

Rae Chuck

Pechi

Offers techniques and strategies for increasing income while cutting work time in half, and includes advice for leading a more fulfilling life.

Dani

At first it seemed undelivering. When time passed I realized that, although it may look like magical and far fetched, the message stuck. And it is a message that everyone needs to internalize. Realizing that life is short and that the schema most of people follow (work, then money, then enjoy life) is horrible and should be substituted by "Enjoy life and find a way to make a living of it" is invaluable.

Timeo Williams

Outstanding book that every person that considers a non-traditional lifestyle should read.

Tim doesn't hold anything back as he gives you a full outlined process to go about the activities of the NR (New Rich) - where what is most important isn't so much the $$ in your bank account, but simply time and the resources to do whatever you want to do - whether that's surfing in Maui and skiing in the Alps while working remotely.

Esqueça o velho conceito de trabalho. Não espere chegar a aposentadoria para começar a aproveitar a vida. Se o seu sonho é escapar da rotina, experimentar grandes viagens pelo mundo, ter uma renda mensal de cinco dígitos ou apenas viver mais e trabalhar menos, Trabalhe 4 horas por semana é o livro de que você precisa. Este guia para um novo estilo de vida ensina: Como Timothy Ferriss passou de 40 mil dólares por ano e 80 horas de trabalho por semana para 40 mil dólares por mês e 4 horas por semana; Como treinar seu chefe para que ele valorize desempenho em vez de presença; Como trocar uma longa carreira por pequenos períodos de trabalho e mini aposentadorias frequentes; Mais de 50 dicas práticas e estudos de caso de leitores (inclusive família) que dobraram sua renda, superaram obstáculos em comum e reinventaram si mesmos usando as dicas do livro original como ponto de partida; Modelos do mundo real que você pode copiar para eliminar seus e-mails, negociar com chefes e clientes, ou conseguir um chef particular por menos de 8 dólares por refeição; Como alguns princípios do estilo de vida podem ser substituídos e adequados para imprevisíveis tempos de crise; Os mais novos truques e ferramentas, bem como atalhos de alta tecnologia, para viver com um diplomata ou milionário sem ser nenhum dos dois.

Trabalhe 4 horas por semana

Rafael Matsumoto

As principais ideias do livro são automatizar nossa fonte de renda e eliminar o trabalho improdutivo (Lei de Pareto). Como a maioria dos livros de empreendedorismo, a prática não é tão bonita quanto a teoria, mas a leitura continua sendo uma ótima reflexão para a vida.

Matthew Royal

Ferriss is a hustler aspiring toward being Tony Robbins, but that doesn't invalidate much of what he has to say. His thesis that enjoying life and retirement now rather than an indefinite someday by achieving remote work and mindfully approaching your work with an eye to automation holds true for any knowledge worker. Good reminder to me on the importance of maintaining personal goals and "dreamlines."

Mati Goldberg

Timothy Ferriss draws the model of the New Rich. These people understood that the right moment to live your dreams is here and now. You should leave your old job and establish your own business that can support your dream life. Live like a millionaire without actually be one.
His formula, DEAL, is made of four components:
Definition – according to the Pareto Principle, you should recognize 20% of the things you do that bring you to 80% of the desired outcomes. Be effective – not efficient, and focus on the few things that make significant progress;
Elimination – save time by “Data Detox” and removal of distractions;
Automation – create “autopilot” that assist you and manage tasks on behalf of you;
Liberation – learn how to release.

An edition expanded with more than 100 pages of new content offers a blueprint for a better life, whether one's dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management or just living more and working less.

The 4-hour Workweek

Collette

This book is great for those who are sick of being confined to their city walls and their work desk and for those looking to move from being self-employed and working 14 hr days to employer or task delegator who works when they want to.

As some who is the latter and has been the former I wish I had read this book then before I abruptly quit to pursue my passions and adopted a lifestyle of eating crackers and sleeping 4 hours a night. My job was easily something I could have done from home. Nevertheless I have been using the invaluable information I've learned and it's making my business so much more efficient.

A new, updated and expanded edition of this New York Times bestseller on how to reconstruct your life so it's not all about work Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan - there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint. This step-by step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches: * How Tim went from $40,000 dollars per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per MONTH and 4 hours per week * How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want * How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs * How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist * How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent 'mini-retirements'. This new updated and expanded edition includes: More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled their income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point * Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating email, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than £5 a meal * How lifestyle design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times * The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either.

Charlotte Dann

I don't think he put enough focus on actually enjoying or being engaged in the work you do do, but overall this is such an in-depth guide to living the Tim Ferriss life, so many neat tricks and new perspectives to streamline any business effort.

Obada Mu

"What is it costing you - financially, emotionally, and physically- to postpone action?"

Félix

First things said, the book didn't age well. Read in 2022, many of the hands-on advices from Timothy Ferriss seem banal, or even straight outdated. In contrast to ageless business-advice / self-help books, for example Think and Grow Rich, The 4-Hour Workweek is (too) concise in advice and illustrations. In 2007, it's obvious that many elements of the proposed “Lifestyle Design” were novel, even revolutionary. Outsource and delegate your efforts, enjoy the life meaningfully.

But within the past 15 years, corporate life adapted to the new, virtual environment and formalized remote work, business opportunities advocated by the author changed, technologies and applications the author recommends became obsolete. 

Despite the somehow antiquated context, it's still worth to read it in my opinion—maybe even an essential – for the lack of a better, more reasonable alternative. 

Why a more reasonable alternative? Because of Timothy Ferriss obnoxious douchebaggery, advocating to use any means, including deception; advising you to be straight ignorant by ceasing even to read books; stopping doing your research by yourself by asking assistants, friends, colleagues while refusing any kind of help in return. Etc. 

Some advices are even downright contradictory, like advising to put yourself under time pressure to, following Parkinson's Law, achieve faster and better results—then in another chapter, recommend not to over-prioritize tasks that aren't actually urgent… It makes the book feel like being a collection of well-intended, concise thoughts rather than a framework. Or probably the chapters were simply written by different virtual assistants.

Other advices are biased and ignorant (as you'd expect from someone who advices you not to read too much non-fiction). For example, the recommendation to invest your savings in businesses that you have involvement in it, instead of maxing out Roth IRA, other ETFs or index funds. Not everybody is or can be a venture capitalist…

Yet, in the big picture, most of the theses Ferriss presents are still valid today. But you will need to take the solutions he brings forward with a grain of salt. This is especially the case if you aren't identifying yourself as a pure cubicle BS-paperpusher and your ambitions are higher than to join the thousands of drop-shipping “entrepreneurs” to generate an independent stream of revenue.

Arturo Hernández

You don’t need to stick to the status-quo working schedule to be successful, in fact you need to challenge it if you want to become somebody. It has tips about how to give solid steps into your entrepreneurial life.

I love me some Tim Ferris but I don’t know if I would have labored through this book if it wasn’t his rise to fame. Some contentious advice that it would hurt not to pay heed to.

Kelly Kim

Alex Ker

I can see why this book is disliked--the self-masturbatory, self-congratulatory, condescending tone, the plastering of Ferriss' business partners and accessory products, and general poor style. If you can look past these annoyances, there are indeed learnings about protecting your time by outsourcing, prioritizing tasks and increasing productivity via 80/20 and Parkinson's Law, owning businesses rather than operating them, eliminating clutter, and planning cost-efficient trips to foreign countries. Somewhat outdated but I would still recommend a read for anyone considering a lifestyle-oriented venture and remote work. 3.5/5.

Wenny

Love him or hate him, there's no in-between. So why the two-stars? If you can stand to wade through the manic obsessive infomercials in written form, there are some things to learn from, if only to simplify your life, if you're an exec who needs it. But forget about decency - here, what matters is how you use other people well.

Best part - this will make you think that more things are possible than they appear.

Worst part - it's all about glitz and glam to appear as "the exec" and "the expert of everything". This encourages the behaviour of taking shortcuts - which will work for awhile, sure, but has no substance behind it. P.B. Kiernan's review captures it perfectly: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ahmed Salem

I find many tips about about how to run a business are irrelevant now (or already became standard and very well known for all people )

Yet those parts about how to handle the irruption through the usual work day and why we should care more about freeing our self from the typical misleading 9-5 life style, I find those parts a very priceless !!!

Danté

A refreshing take on having an outsourcing and automation (rather than administration) mindset for generating income and living life. Replete with useful tips and resources for setting up one's life in order to actualize one's wanderlust. 

I enjoyed the comparison of absolute wealth (quantity of dollars earned) versus relative wealth (freedom to use wealth to live the life you want). In the latter case a banker may be relatively poorer than a freelance writer.

Critique: the book does not promote the pursuit of Mastery and comes across as bluntly utilitarian, extractive even. Ferris proposes moving from one experience to the next to get the most enjoyment out of life. The last chapter encourages one to "dance slower" (essentially stopping to smell the roses) but the rest of the book is all about having the freedom to speed up the rate at which one has experiences.

Lee Herman

An interesting take on using a mix of simplifying life, disconnecting from work in the office and geographic ties and setting up an Internet-based business to take "mini-retirements" during your entire life instead of working and then retiring. 

It's an interesting measure of how the world has changed that even the revised 2009 edition seems a bit dated - the concept of telecommuting was still fairly new when the book was originally written - it's been routine for over a decade now.

For those with strong reasons to stay in one place, some of the approaches will work better than others. And while Ferriss advocates for fully following the approach, he acknowledges that it won't fit all readers' situations and recognizes that people will take away pieces from the book as well as jumping in. Regardless, there is lots of specific advice, presented with the expectation that the reader will take the advice as places to start making changes they want to their lives and work.

John Elbing

I gave four stars because I had fun reading Tim's book. It got me thinking, dreaming and gave me a few ideas. For me, it was about mental stimulation, not practical step-by-step how-to. I do not plan to follow his path or particularly envy his lifestyle. But sometimes, it is good to read an example of someone who breaks the rules. 
I actually found that I practice a number of his ideas, such as time over money.
"Live like you will never retire", "There is too much competition for normal ambitions, try extraordinary ones"...

The New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Body shows readers how to live more and work less, now with more than 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content. Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint. This step-by-step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches: • How Tim went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week • How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want • How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs • How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist • How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements” The new expanded edition of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek includes: • More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point • Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating e-mail, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than $8 a meal • How Lifestyle Design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times • The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either

Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.

Fady Heshmat

alali moe

Starting the first few chapters felt like my other self in a parallel universe did the writing. Halfway through I developed an obsession and felt it was long overdue, and I think by now I read it twice within a month period. Up to now my favorite and most influential book I read this year.

Sanat Gersappa

Ugis

I awaited a lot from this book and got something too. The book seems a bit dated especially with many internet-related things, but advice and ideas are still applicable. I've made a bunch of notes as well. The book feels to have a special context in this COVID lockdown and remote-working period. I've made many notes and will come back to them later. [reading time: 10h28m]

Bruno Casali

Demorei um tempo substancialmente longo para ler este livro e ainda não o "li" completamente, com toda certeza este é aqueles livros que você lê, re-lê 14 vezes e ainda é pouco, ah e também é aqueles que tu tem que rabiscar pra não perder os insights haha (mesmo sendo contra escrever em livros). 

E lá vai uns insights que extraí de lá:

> Se alguém não estiver fazendo com que você se torne mais forte, é porque está fazendo com que fique mais fraco.
> Você está inventando coisas para evitar o que é mais importante?
> Não sofra pelos tolos ou você se tornará um deles.
> 80% dos resultados são decorrentes de 20% das ações (Pareto's principle).
> Não trabalhe mais quando a solução é trabalhar melhor.
> Coisas divertidas acontecem quando você ganha em dólares, vive em pesos e remunera em rupias!
> Peça perdão ao invés de pedir permissão.
> O que tememos fazer é o que mais precisamos fazer. Defina o pior cenário possível, aceite-o e entre em ação.

Chris Raastad

"Warning: Do not read this book unless you want a new way of living".

The back cover makes it very clear, read this book if you want to change something. I rate this book 5 stars because I guarantee you will get something out of it and exactly what I needed to read right now. It was very challenging for me to write a review for this book because there is so much going on (after I finished my first draft, the Goodreads post button did not work and I lost my evening's work, thank you Javascript :facepalm:). There are lessons for employees, lessons for entrepreneurs, lessons for traveling, a mini-lesson on speed reading, challenges to build confidence, practical advice on finding and growing your muse (automatic money-making machine), and plenty of advice on automating yourself away so you can spend your late mornings finding a sandwich in Spain.

Tim Ferriss is unconventional in many ways. His most ridiculous claim: "don't ever read another non-fiction book again after reading this book." But in his unconventionally is effectiveness. If you're ready to throw away the status quo and tackle life in a completely different way to maximize time and enjoyment, pick this up right now.

This is the bible for breaking 9-5 and optimizing life to live your days away in a hammock all over the world. But if it were easy, everyone would do it. It's not easy, it's damn hard work. This is probably why people either love or hate this book. Some people have ethics, like to follow the rules, and can't think of going against the system. Some people would rather throw the system out the window and take a one-way ticket to warm southern country and figure it out later. You can guess what boat I'm in.

TLDR for what the 4HWW (The Four Hour Work Week) will help you accomplish if you so wish:
* Ponder what's the purpose of life? Consider trading a grandiose end-of-life retirement for alternating 1-2 month mini-retirements and 1-2 month 4HWW sprints.
* Identify work for work's sake, i.e. complete time-wasting activities, and eliminate them from your life.
* If you're an employee, how to become super productive and negotiate a permanent remote setup. You have to be remote to eliminate all the crap from work.
* How to identify, grow, and automate a money-making engine, aka a Muse.
* How to use virtual assistants and geo-arbitrage to automate away all time-consuming activities from your work and personal life.
* How to enjoy your life when work is no longer the centerpiece? How to travel light? How to travel with the most fulfillment.

Things I really liked:
* applying the 80/20 rule to personal and professional life
* goal-setting concept of Dreamlining
* identifying that selling products (physical or information) is the most profitable, automatable, and least time-consuming venture
* validation that my thinking was on the right track, 9-5 is a scam, we will fill all work time with work even if it's unnecessary, and that really I was doing 15-20 hours of real work a week.
* some tidbits on traveling light and seeking educational experiences on long travels

I recommend you read this book so you can love it or hate it. :)

James Bedford

I see this mentioned a lot as the book that changed peoples lives, and in that sense it was a little underwhelming.

I am not sure if it was more a book of its time, but the ideas within are all things I have picked up from elsewhere. 

Still a good read - I enjoyed the tasks & follow up questions at the end of each chapter. 

The 4-Hour Workweek Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Reviews

Highlights