In talking to the guys at Project Ricochet last week, they suggested reading two books, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, which I had already read and mentioned in this blog, and The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. The latter I had seen around, but never paid much attention to it, because it has the look of a cheesy get-rich-quick scheme and like most sensible people, I don’t give much credence to that sort of thing. But since it was recommended, I read it.
I have to say it was interesting, very interesting. I don’t think I like Timothy Ferriss very much and that may color my review, but still this book has many ideas to ponder. His basic premise is that we often don’t work very efficiently, checking email constantly when it would be better to check it more rarely, going to unproductive meetings, doing work that would be better farmed out to underlings or outsourced to inexpensive offshore companies, and putting our attention towards things that just aren’t particularly important. By making ourselves more efficient, we can work fewer hours and enjoy our lives more by following our dreams.
More than just advocating his idea, he shows how it can be done, right down to the URLs you need to start your new virtual life. The book includes the information on how to hire a virtual assistant to run your affairs, how to convince your boss that you should work at home, and how to maintain the illusion that you are working every minute when you are in fact lounging on the deck in Buenos Aires. If your current job doesn’t allow for flexibility, well, you should find one that does, or better yet, quit your job entirely and start your own business. In that case, Ferriss describes how to start an internet business, complete with the calculations you need to figure out profitability.
If – and this is a big if – one could come up with the right sort of income generation, it would certainly be worthwhile to simplify and outsource much of your life. Avoiding interruptions to work probably does make you more efficient, and his ideas of working only a few hours a week jibes with my thoughts on how nobody should have to work very hard in the virtual world. Why spend all that time filling out forms and doing drudge work when it’s not necessary? Why not live the way you want? His dreams of driving a Lamborghini, being a kickboxing champion, learning tango in Argentina, and shooting all the guns he’s ever wanted are juvenile, but some of this means of getting there are worth considering.
However, that brings me to my problems with Ferriss. There’s much in this book that I don’t agree with, like his prescription to read as little as possible (efficiency, you know), and then to never read the news. That’s not efficiency, that’s plain irresponsible. You can’t know what is going on in the world without reading the news. (I’m referring to real news, not the most recent celebrity gossip). In addition, he seems to have a wanderlust that, like all other types of lust, is at best unseemly and at worst harmful. I’m all for traveling but he seems to advocate a rootless existence, moving from place to place, being a traveling nomad in the world. That may be fine for him, but many people like their homes and their familiar worlds, because it helps them to feel grounded. In fact, his prescriptions for not reading the news and traveling on a whim are related – they point towards a selfish noninvolvement with the world and avoidance of the messy business of living a responsible life.
In all, I’m willing to give his methods a chance, if not his lifestyle. I like the idea of being able to follow one’s dream and believe that it should be possible to do it. I just refuse to be irresponsible about it.
After generating a long list of 