Tim Ferriss - The 4-Hour Work Week

[Artinum]

I've hit critical mass recently with this book. I've seen it mentioned enough times that I've given in to the fuss and bought a copy. Time to find out what's going on.

 

I'm curious to find that Amazon has some amazingly spread reviews. Not all positive, not all negative, not polarised - it's pretty evenly spread. I don't know at this point what I'm going to make of it.

 

So I'm not just going to read it. I'm going to review it on my blog. This should be interesting!

[Terry V]

It has some good principles that you can find elsewhere but it puts them together well so I say it's worth it.  Part of it relies on you coming up with a self-supporting side business.  He makes it sound like it's an easy task when we all know (or at least should) that it's not that easy.  

 

I just finished reading it for a second time so that should tell you something though. 

[shutter21]

I think it's a pretty awesome read - definitely one of the reasons that pushed me to work on a small start-up. Mostly productivity principles during the first half of the book, after that he gets into the details of how he set-up his online business (and gives you leads too). Would love to discuss his work with you guys after you've read it.

 

I'm currently reading The 4-Hour Body (and will be moving on to Tim's 4-Hour Chef) afterwards. Really interesting stuff, I'd say.

[Vash.The.Stampede]

I have been told by a few to read it as well - however, I have also been told that some of his methods are outdated.

 

Ferris has a blog though, I read it from time to time.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I got it awhile ago in a deal with 4 Hour Body and it's still sitting on the shelf. I should probably get around to reading it at some point.

[Ancalagon The Black]

Its a personal brand. - the "The 4 hour X" actually. As with all such brands, it is aimed towards a certain demographic. Some principles are pretty cool and some, I cannot or would not or cannot afford or find absolutely ridiculous i.e. outsource email and scheduling to a e-concierge.

 

Frankly, I find better productivity tips on zen habits. But then, it might work for me and not for everyone else. 

[Artinum]

I have been told by a few to read it as well - however, I have also been told that some of his methods are outdated.

 

Ferris has a blog though, I read it from time to time.

 

This is an "expanded and updated" edition, with the "best of the blog" at the end.

 

So far I'm rather enjoying it. A lot of what I'm reading so far I've already been doing! The idea of not working to become rich but living a rich life is a good one. I don't even have any children to hand an inheritance onto, so dying rich would sort of defeat the point.

 

This is proving quite inspirational at the final hurdle of setting up my (updated) website, so I'm rather pleased.

[JasontheKiwi]

I've read it and enjoyed it, but not sure that I'd advocate for it being as good as everyone says. However I have a friend who is obsessed with it, really obsessed! He had read it six times (it's looking very worn) and puts a lot of the principles in to practice. He's a young businessman who also runs a restaurant; seems like a lot of the stuff is working for him, but really a lot of is is just common sense basics that get overlooked or over complicated when starting out in business. It's an easy and thought provoking book but putting it into practice is another thing.  

[Artinum]

I have only read it once. A reread is in order in due course. Overall opinion - it's good, but it isn't perfect. A lot of the more useful information (such as software/services to use) is horribly prone to becoming outdated. The general tone of the book is sometimes a bit gruff.

 

But there are some ideas in there that really do appeal. I love the idea of having a personal assistant (though I would probably limit mine to more business-oriented pursuits such as research!). Maybe one day.

 

It has inspired me to get started, however. I've been frozen on my own business ideas largely through not knowing how to get started - it's really not that complicated.

[Krisis]

I'm trying to get my husband to read it.  He's a computer programmer who I think could make some seriously cool stuff :-) 

 

I've read the Four Hour Body.  Some of it seems pretty out there to me but I'm working on his "Slow Carb" diet right now and it is going okay.