The 4-Hour Workweek

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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich  
The 4-Hour Workweek (front cover).jpg
Cover
Author(s) Tim Ferriss
Cover artist Barbara Sturman
Country United States
Language English
Subject(s) Self-actualization, Self-employment, Self-improvement
Genre(s) Non-fiction,
Publisher Crown Publishing Group
Publication date April 2007
Pages 308 pp
ISBN 9780307353139
OCLC Number 76262350
Dewey Decimal 650.1 22
LC Classification HD6955 .F435 2007
Followed by The 4-Hour Body

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (2007) is a semi-autobiographical self-help book written by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur.[1]

In the book's dedication, Ferriss announced that he would be donating "10% of all author royalties" to educational charities such as Donorschoose.org.[2]

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

In the book Ferriss uses the acronym DEAL for the four main chapters.[3] It stands for: Definition, Elimination, Automation, and Liberation.

Definition means to figure out what a person wants, get over fears, see past society's "expectations," and figure out what it will really cost to get where a person wants to go.

Elimination is about time management, or rather about not managing time. This is achieved by applying the 'Pareto principle' or '80-20 Rule' (80% of your benefits come from 20% of your efforts) to focus only on those tasks that contribute the majority of benefit, and using Parkinson's Law (work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion) to limit the amount of actual time spent working. There's a difference, Ferriss says, between efficiency and effectiveness. The book's emphasis is on effectiveness.

Automation is about building a sustainable, automatic source of income. This includes techniques such as drop-shipping, automation, Google Adwords and Adsense, and outsourcing.

Liberation is dedicated to the successful automation of one's lifestyle and the liberation from a geographical location and job. Incidentally, Ferriss notes that if somebody has a regular job, the order of steps will be DELA, not DEAL.

The book asserts that technology such as email, instant messaging, and Internet-enabled PDAs complicate life rather than simplify it.[4] It advocates hiring virtual assistants from developing countries such as India and Philippines to free up personal time.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ferriss, Timothy (2007). The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307353139. 
  2. ^ Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007) pg 'dedication'
  3. ^ Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007) pg Index
  4. ^ Williams, Alex (November 11, 2007). "Meet the Press". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/fashion/11guru.html?ex=1352610000&en=c84216adfad48b9c&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg. Retrieved 2008-04-04.  "Most fundamentally, Mr. Ferriss turned ruthless against e-mail. "
  5. ^ Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' Crown (2007)

[edit] External links

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