Four hour work week - Tim feriss

This kind of work week is said to be for the new rich. Who are the new rich, you ask? The new rich are those whose currencies are time and mobility. They use these currencies to achieve a complete lifestyle design.

Why is lifestyle so important? Well, think about this: when people talk about having £1m, they usually mean that they want to have the lifestyle that this money can provide. Thus, the new rich focus on the lifestyle they want and leverage factors like currency differences to help them achieve this faster.

The book's goal is for you to obtain the lifestyle that the new rich have. The key to this lifestyle is to free your time and automate your income. This income must be location-independent, as once you free your time and location, your money is automatically worth 3-10 times as much. The point of this kind of freedom is to give you options, as this is what real power is in life: having the ability to choose.

Now, anyone can follow four steps to achieving this life.

These four steps can be summarised by the word DEAL, which stands for definition, elimination, automation, and liberation. I will follow this order in this video, but for those of you watching who are employees, you must follow it as DELA, focusing on liberation from your job before automation.

So, the first step is definition. We all have different goals and priorities; Tim recommends having defined dreams to chase with timelines and written-out steps. Most people will never know what they want; the first step is the most important. The book specifies that these goals are not for happiness; they are for excitement, which is a more practical synonym for happiness. So, to help you with the definition step, here are two things I want you to do:

Firstly, Ask yourself what would excite you.

Secondly, Use dreamlining to set goals. This is simply where you apply timelines to dreams. Tim splits his dreamlining into three parts, having, being, and doing, for six- and twelve-month timelines. After having goals for each category, you must calculate a number called your required target monthly income. You work it out, add the monthly cost of reaching these goals, and add 1.3 times your monthly expenses to them, represented by A+B+C+(1.3*monthly expenses).

Now, the second step is elimination. To eliminate inefficiencies in any task, following Parkinson's law and the 80/20 rule is vital. Parkinson’s law states that a task will swell in importance and complexity within the time allotted. For instance, the more time it takes to write an essay, the more critical and complicated the task may seem. The 80/20 rule, on the other hand, says that 80% of your outputs come from 20% of your inputs.

Now, looking at automation, you must learn how to outsource and be able to define clear rules and processes for assistants to follow before hiring them. Tim recommends identifying your top five time-consuming non-work tasks and five personal functions you could outsource for fun. The result of this should be that you have more free time whilst still creating large work outputs.

Outsourcing is essential, but having the correct type of business can increase your chances of success. The ideal business for those who want the 4-hour workweek lifestyle would be one where you sell information products that you can micro-test with advertisements. Before I move on, remember that the goal is not to automate everything; you first want to eliminate as many things as possible and thus only automate what is left, which should only be what is most important.

The final step to being part of the new rich is liberation. For employees, this means persuading your company to let them work remotely, which the book tells them how to achieve. Liberation means having a business or job that gives you cash flow and location independence while putting in fewer inputs and achieving higher outputs.

I’d like to mention that the dream lifestyle mentioned in this book is more doable than most people think. Why? Because traveling can be very cheap, and rather than trying to retire completely, why not just have mini-retirements? Why not work for 2 months, retire for one month, and then repeat?

Remember: true freedom is about having enough income and time to do what you want with your life.

If you liked this post, please help me make more by subscribing to my channel, Optimum Insight. Thank you.

My full notes:

My story and why you need this book:

Tango for 5 months, 6-hour practices vs. couples with an average of 15 years together, they won.

Epidemic: job descriptions = self-descriptions.

New Rich (NR) uses the currency of the NR: time and mobility = Lifestyle Design.

Leverage currency differences

People don’t want £1m; they want the lifestyle it can provide.

Test the most basic assumptions of the work-life equation:

How do your decisions change if retirement isn’t an option?

What if you could use a mini-retirement to sample your deferred-life plan reward before working 40 years for it?

Is it necessary to work like a slave to live like a millionaire?

Goal: free time and automate income

Be a dealmaker:

Manifesto: Reality is negotiable

Deal: definition, elimination, automation, liberation.

Employees must implement DELA.

Chronology of a Pathology:

‘Karoshi’ is a phenomenon where people work themselves to death.

Speed reading classes: found a market before designing the product = smarter.

Chp1: Step1: D is for Definition:

Different goals/priorities, e.g., not the boss, but to be the owner.

For example, you could make a ton of money, but with specific reasons and defined dreams to chase, timelines, and steps included. What are you working for?

Rather than a big payday, aim for cash flow first.

‘If you can free your time and location, your money is automatically worth 3-10 times as much.

Money is multiplied in practical value depending on the number of W’s you control: What you do when, where, and with whom you do it. This is called the freedom multiplier.’

Using this as a criterion, the 80-hour-per-week $500k-per-year investment banker is less potent than the employed NR who works ¼ hours for $40,000 but has complete freedom of when, where, and how to live.

Options - the ability to choose = is real power.

Options are limitless, but the first step is to replace assumptions

Chp 2: Rules that Change the Rules:

Won gold medal in the Chinese Kickboxing National Championships by exploiting opportunities in the rules.

Sports evolve when sacred cows are killed, and basic assumptions are tested. The same is true in life.

Different is only better when it is more effective or more fun

1.) Retirement = a hedge against becoming physically incapable of working and needing capital to survive. It shouldn’t be the goal because:

I believe you hate what you're doing.

Most people will never be able to retire + maintain a good standard of living.

You’ll get damn bored.

Thus, retirement shouldn’t be the goal, but yes, you should plan for the worst case.

2.) Interest and energy are cyclical

Alternating periods of activity and rest is essential; thus, do mini-retirements for higher productivity overall = having cake + eating it too.

Timothy does 1 month of overseas relocation or high-intensity learning for every 2 months of work projects.

3.) Less is NOT laziness

Our culture rewards personal sacrifice rather than personal productivity. Thus, they are not lazy enough to do less meaningless work and focus on things of greater personal importance.

You can focus on being productive instead of busy.

4.) The Timing is Never Right

Conditions are never perfect, but if it's important to you, just do it and correct course along the way.

5.) Ask for forgiveness, not permission

You can try it and then explain it, as long as it will not devastate those around you.

6.) Emphasise strengths, don’t fix weaknesses

7.) Things in excess become their opposite

The goal is not idle time but a more positive use of free time, doing what you want rather than what you must do.

8.) Money Alone is not the solution

By pretending money is the solution, you create a constant distraction, preventing you from seeing just how pointless it is.

The problem is more than money

9.) Relative income is more important than absolute income

Absolute income is measured via one variable: the dollar

Relative income uses two variables: the dollar and time, usually hours.

10.) Distress is dire; Eustress is good

New Rich (NR) doesn’t aim to eliminate all stress.

Distress: harmful stimuli that make you weaker and less confident.

Eustress: healthy. Role models push us to exceed our limits.

We need to avoid destructive criticism, not criticism in all forms.

Chp 3: Dodging bullets:

Conquering Fear = Defining Fear. Once defined, he looked at how he could deal with these scenarios.

Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough clever rationalization.

Define nightmare

What steps could you take to repair the damage?

What are the outcomes of more probable scenarios?

If you were fired today, how would you get things under financial control?

What are you putting off out of fear?

What is it costing you to postpone action?

Could you let me know what you're waiting for?

Chp 4: System reset:

Doing the unrealistic is more straightforward than doing the realistic.

As 95% of people are convinced they cannot achieve great things, they aim for mediocrity. The level of competition is highest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time—and energy-consuming.

Having a huge goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides endurance for any goal.

Most people will never know what they want.

Goals are not for happiness but excitement, a more practical synonym for happiness. For example, follow your passion (your excitement).

So, the honest question is not what you want or your goals, but what excites me?

Boredom is an enemy, not some abstract failure.

He uses ‘dreamlining’: applying timelines to dreams. Differs from goal-setting:

1.) The goals shift from ambiguous wants to defined steps

2.) Goals have to be unrealistic to be effective

3.) It focuses on activities that fill the vacuum created when work is removed. Living like a millionaire requires doing interesting things, not just owning enviable things.

I gave the students the task of reaching impossible people. Their goal was to have 3-4 email exchanges before asking for help from these influential people.

Dreamlining process:

1.) What would you do if there were no way you could fail? If you were 10 times smarter than the rest of the world?

2 timelines (6 months, 12 months) - list up to 5 things you dream of:

2.) Drawing a blank? 5 being questions

One place to visit

One thing to do before you die

One thing to do daily

One thing to do weekly

One thing you’ve always wanted to learn

3.) What does “being” entail doing

Convert each being into a doing to make it actionable.

4.) What are four dreams that would change it all?

5.) Determine the cost of these dreams and calculate your target monthly income (TMI) for both timelines. A+B+C+(1.3*monthly expenses)

6.) Determine three steps for each of the four dreams and take the first step now.

Step 11: E is for Elimination:

The aim is not to do more; the aim is to accomplish more by doing less via elimination

In the last chapter, you defined what you want to do with your time (definition); now, you have to free that time whilst maintaining or increasing your income.

Remember, it's a DEAL, but employees must do DELA. Entrepreneurs can automate and then liberate themselves.

Effectiveness: doing things gets you closer to your goals.

Efficiency: performing a given task in the most economical manner possible.

1.) Doing something unimportant well does not make it essential.

2.) Requiring a lot of time does not make a task meaningful.

What you do is infinitely more important than HOW you do it.

Apply efficiency to the right things using the Pareto rule: 80/20 principle

80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs.

Goal: find your inefficiencies to eliminate them and find your strengths to multiply them.

Tim didn’t realize that working every hour from 9 to 5 isn’t the goal; it’s simply the structure most people use, whether necessary or not.

The primary goal is to achieve maximum income from minimal effort.

Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness - lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.

Being selective is the path to productivity.

Employees should have a goal of negotiating a remote work arrangement

Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in importance and complexity within the time allotted for completion.

Solution: Use Parkison’s and 80/20 to identify the tasks that contribute the most to income and schedule them with very short and clear deadlines.

Poisonous people don’t deserve your time; to think otherwise = is masochistic.

Have a clear list of priorities made the day before.

Ask yourself, “If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?

No multitasking

Make shorter deadlines - use a countdown timer

Chp 6: The low-information diet:

Cultivate selective ignorance - learn to ignore all things that are irrelevant, unimportant, or unactionable.

Reading 200% faster in 10 minutes, no comprehension loss:

a.) Use a pen or finger under each line

b.) Focus on the third word, then move the third from the last word = peripheral vision.

c.) Try again with only two snapshots/fixations per line

d.) read too fast for comprehension but with good technique for five pages, then go back to reading typically.

1.)Go on an immediate one-week media fast.

Use LeechBlock to block sites for a specific time.

2.) Develop the habit of asking yourself, “Will I use this info for something immediate and important?”

3.) Practice the art of nonfinishing: starting something doesn’t automatically justify finishing it.

Comfort challenge: get phone numbers - 2 per day for 2 days.

Chp 7: Interrupting Interruption and the Art of Refusal:

Learn to be difficult when it counts, e.g., in school, having a reputation for being assertive will give you preferential treatment without begging every time. For example, asking 2-3 hours of questions when you don’t get an A.

Interruptions:

1.) Time wasters: e.g., unimportant email.

2.) Time consumers: tasks must be done but often interrupt high-level work, e.g., responding to emails or phone calls or personal errands.

3.) Empowerment failures are when someone needs approval to make something small happen, such as fixing customer problems.

First, limit email consumption and production; never do it first thing in the morning, and do the most important tasks first.

Have 2 times for checking emails, tell your colleagues. Or call if there is an emergency.

Have two phone numbers = 1 urgent and one non-urgent.

Don’t encourage people to chitchat; make them get to the point immediately.

Your job is to train those around you to be effective and efficient.

1.) Order preference/urgent nature of issues: email, phone, in-person meetings.

2.) Respond to voicemails via email. Use the ‘if...then’ structure to prevent follow-up questions.

3.) Make sure they define the purpose of the meeting. ‘What are the topics? Thanks in advance.’ Then, answer these questions/topics via email, so there is no need for a meeting.

4.) Define the end time if you cannot stop a call from happening.

5.) Again, pretend you're busy if someone comes to your cubicle, wear headphones/fake phone call. Could you ask the intruder to email you?

6.) Puppy dog close: This is used to help superiors develop the no-meeting habit. Say, “Let's just try it once,” it is a reversible trial.

Could you ensure you achieve more outside of meetings to convert to a permanent routine?

Time consumers:

Only produce in batch - utilizing economies of scale.

Applying batching to other things, such as bill payments, will save you time, which you can measure as cost savings by working out your hourly rate.

You can do this by removing three zeros and halving your annual salary to get an approximate hourly rate.

If problems from batching, E.g., losing sales, cost more than time savings, then scale back to a less-frequent batching, otherwise increase batching time gaps.

Empowerment failures: establish rules to give employees power, e.g., to fix problems themselves as long as the cost is under $100. Suggest a one-week trial for your boss.

Summary of this chapter:

Could you create systems to limit your availability via e-mail and phone and deflect inappropriate contact?

Batch activities to limit setup costs and provide more time for Dreamline milestones

Set or request autonomous rules and guidelines with occasional review of results.

Tools:

Evernote

GrandCentral

YouMail

Doodle

Timedriver

Xobni

Jott

Copytalk (dictate up 4 mins, get transcription in hrs)

Freedom

Comfort challenge: say no for the next 2 days to all that won’t get you fired.

Step 111: A is for Automation:

Chp 8: Outsourcing life:

1.) Get an assistant - even if you don’t need one. Learn to command, start with a test project

Use domestic help for language-intensive tasks and foreign assistants in the early stages.

Elance

Virtual assistant ($6.98)

Remember, your goal is free time to focus on bigger and better things.

Remember: eliminate before you delegate/automate - make sure it's essential.

Principle one: define rules and processes before adding people.

Hiring a team rather than a solo VA is safer, e.g., if gets ill.

Forbid VAs from subcontracting work to untested freelancers without your written permission. Brickwork is good.

Never use debit cards for online transactions or with remote assistants. Reversing unauthorized credit card charges is painless.

2.) Start small but think big

Look at what has been on my to-do list for the longest

When you change tasks or are interrupted, ask, “Could a VA do this?”

Examine pain points - what causes you the most frustration and boredom?

3.) Identify your top five time-consuming non-work tasks and five personal tasks you could assign for fun.

4.) Keep in sync: scheduling and calendars

BusySync

SpanningSync

WebEx Office

Chp 9: Income Autopilot 1:

This chip is for those who want not to run businesses but for those who want to own and spend no time on them.

Ideal model: a product that tests less than $500 and can lend itself to automation within four weeks, and when running, can’t require more than one day per week of management.

Cash flow and time: with these two currencies, all other things are possible.

1.) Pick an affordably reachable niche market

You can find your market and then develop a product for them.

Ask yourself:

What groups do you understand? What do you own, and what groups of people purchase the same? Find related magazines and find out the cost of advertising.

2.) Brainstorm (do not invest in) products

Create a premium image and charge more than the competition

So, can sell fewer units

Lower-maintenance customers

Higher profit margins = safer. 8-10x markup.

It should take no more than 3-4 weeks to manufacture.

Option 1: resell product

Option 2: License a product.

2 parties:

Option open to most people = Option 3: create a product

Make a prototype, then take it to a contract manufacturer or find a generic or stock product that can be repurposed for a specific market. Have then made, stick a custom label on it = “private labeling.”

INFORMATION products meet our criteria best

Chp 10: Income Autopilot 11:

You must micro-test your products using inexpensive advertisements

1.) Market selection

2.) Product brainstorm

3.) Micro-testing, e.g., auctioned products on eBay to test demand before purchasing inventory.

4.) Rollout and automation

Chp 11: Income Autopilot 111:

Once you have a selling product, you can design a self-correcting business architecture that will run itself.

Contract outsourcing companies allow them to communicate to solve problems and give them written permission to make the most inexpensive decisions without consulting you.

The more options offer to customers = the more indecision and so fewer orders.

The art of “undecision” minimizes the number of decisions your customers can or need to make.

Not all customers are equal: could you prevent problem customers from ordering in the first place? Those who spend the most complain the least.

Use a ‘lose-win’ guarantee, e.g., delivered in 30 minutes or less, or it is free.

Look Fortune 500

1.) Don’t be CEO or founder

2.) Put multiple e-mail and phone contacts on the website

3.) Set up an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) remote receptionist.

4.) Do not provide home addresses

Step IV: L is for Liberation:

Chp 12: Disappearing Act:

Steps for employees to work remotely:

1.) Increase investment: want the company to invest in you as much as possible, so there is a higher cost if you quit.

2.) Prove increased output offsite, e.g., by calling sick.

3.) Prepare the quantifiable business benefit

4.) Propose a revocable trial period

5.) Expand remote time

Sherwood ensures his days outside the office are his most productive.

Alternative: The hourglass approach is where you get a short remote agreement and then negotiate back up to full-time out of the office.

Practice the art of getting past “no” before proposing.

6.) Extend each successful trial period until you reach full-time or your desired level of mobility.

Don’t underestimate how much your company needs you. Perform well and ask for what you want. If you don’t get it over time, leave. It’s too big a world to spend most of your life in a cubicle.

Chp 13: Beyond Repair:

Most people aren’t lucky enough to get fired and die a slow spiritual death after tolerating mediocrity for 30-40 years.

The phobias keeping people on sinking ships:

1.) Quitting is permanent. No, it isn’t; I can continue my career later.

2.) I won’t be able to pay the bills

Well, you should have a new job or source of cash flow before quitting.

Also, it is not hard to eliminate most expenses temporarily and live on savings for a brief period.

3.) Health insurance and retirement accounts disappear if I quit

Untrue.

Can get medical and dental coverage for $300-500 per month

Transferring 401 (k) took less than 30 mins

4.) It will ruin my resume

Do something interesting and make them jealous.

Fine, as long as you don’t sit on your ass after quitting.

Chp 14: Mini-Retirement:

Most people dream of a pot of gold at the end of their career rainbow. But traveling can be done VERY cheaply.

Why not usually redistribute 20-30 yr retirement throughout life instead of all at the end?

Mini-retirements are recurring = lifestyle. For example, Tim does 3-4 per year.

True freedom is more than having enough income and time to do what you want.

You must also be free from the stresses of a speed- and size-obsessed culture, for which you must be free from materialistic addictions and a time-famine mindset.

Use credit card points for free travel, purchase tickets far in advance (3 months or more) or at the last minute, and aim for departure and return between Tuesday and Thursday.

You may realize that traveling the world and having the time in your life can save you serious money.

Clutter creates indecision and distractions, consuming attention.

Tim recommends taking only the absolute minimum with you when travelling and setting aside a “settling fund” to purchase necessary items.

Most lifestyles for the dollar: Argentina, Thailand, Berlin.

Minimalism: eliminate 80% of belongings. Keep 20% use 80% of the time.

Give a trusted member of your family and/or your accountant power of attorney.

Get all required and recommended immunizations and vaccinations for your target region.

Chp 15: Filling the Void:

I don’t want too much idle time; I want to live more.

Questions: If you can’t define or act on them, forget them. Be smart and put your effort where it can make the most significant difference for yourself and others.

Continual learning and service are key in life.

To live is to learn - go abroad and learn language + one kinesthetic skill, e.g., sport.

1.) Revisit ground zero: do nothing

2.) Make an anonymous donation to the service organization of your choice.

3.) Take a learning mini-retirement in combination with local volunteering.

4.) Revisit and reset dream lines

5.) Based on steps 1-4 outcomes, consider testing new part- or full-time vocations.

Chp 16: The Top 13 New Rich Mistakes:

Perform an 80/20 analysis every two to four weeks for your business and personal life

Surround yourself with smiling, positive people with nothing to do with work.