5 Time management tricks I learned from years of hating Tim Ferriss
I have hated Tim Ferriss for a long time. I have hated him since we both had editors at Crown Publishing who sat next to each other and I heard how difficult he is.
I didn’t blog about it because first of all, I’m sure the buzz about me is that I’m difficult, too. And also, his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, was a bestseller and mine wasn’t. So I figured people would say that I’m jealous. And really, what author is not jealous sometimes? I mean, every author wants to write a bestseller.
But at this point, two years later, my hatred goes way beyond jealousy. My hatred is more selfless than that. And while I do understand that Tim is great at accelerated learning, the time management tips I have learned from him stem from the energy I have spent hating him:
1.Don’t hang out with people who don’t respect your time
This all started at SXSW conference in 2007, right before Tim’s book came out, when he was promoting the hell out of it to bloggers. Of course, this was not a bad idea, and to be fair, Tim was brilliant to start this book marketing trend. But that is beside the point. He approached me after my panel and said, “Can I get you coffee? I’d love to talk with you.”
I said, “Uh. No. I have plans.”
And he asked who with.
I wasn’t really sure. I knew there were cool people to hang out with after my panel, though, and I knew he wasn’t one of them. I gave a vague answer.
He said he was also meeting three people, and he name-dropped them. I can’t remember who they were. But they were fun, interesting, and I wanted to have coffee with them. So I said okay.
Then Tim couldn’t find them and I had coffee with only Tim.
Then I realized this was his strategy all along.
I told myself not to be pissy. I told myself bait-and-switch is the oldest sales tool in the world, and it’s my fault for falling for it.
I even wrote a blog post that included his book.
2.Cut to the chase: Tell people who are full of sh*t that they’re full of sh*t
When his book came out, there were vacuous, annoying comments all over my blog directing people to his book. Like, “The topic of priorities is an interesting one. I like how Tim Ferris handles that in his new book,blah blah” and then there’s a link to the book.
At this point I knew Tim, sort of. And I called him on his phone and told him to tell his employees to stop spamming my blog.
First he implied it was his fan base and he had little control.
I said that I thought he was full of sh*t.
He said he’d make sure there were no more comments like that on my blog.
3.Self-centered people are more likely to waste your time
Really, when I found he was spamming my site, I didn’t call him first. First, I emailed him. And I got some sort of crazy response about how he is only checking email twice a day and then instructions on what to do.
I emailed him back to tell him that I do not want automatic emails from him every time I try to contact him.
Which generated another, identical response about how he doesn’t check mail.
So I called him to tell him that he is generating spam back to me to tell me about his email checking and I don’t care. If he wants to check twice a day, fine, but don’t clog my in box with emails about it.
He said he’d take me off his list.
I am STILL getting this sort of spam from him. But the scope has widened. For example, now, he has commented on my blog and he forgot to say that he doesn’t want to be alerted to new comments. So every time there’s a comment, he spams everyone in the comments string, telling them that he doesn’t answer his email.
It’s insane. I cannot believe how many automated announcements I receive saying that Tim does not have a Blackberry. (Yes, the email really says that.) What if we all sent automated emails like that? Email would be totally nonfunctional. What if Tim just shut up about his email and if he thinks its fine to answer twice a day, then he should do that? And not spam everyone about it.
4.Productivity is about meeting your goals, not getting out of doing work
The week that Tim actually works a four-hour work week will be a cold week in hell. Tim got to where he is by being an insanely hard worker. I don’t know anyone who worked harder at promoting a book than he did. But the thing is, he didn’t call it work. Somehow, sliming me into having coffee with him to talk about his book is not work.
Fine. But then his four-hour work week is merely semantic. Because everything Tim does he turns into what the rest of us would call work, and he calls it not-work. For example, tango. If you want to be world-record holder, it’s work. It’s your job to be special at dancing the tango. That’s your big goal that you’re working toward. How you earn money is probably just a day job. So most weeks Tim probably has a 100-hour workweek. It’s just that he’s doing things he likes, so he lies to you and says he only works four hours. He defines work only as doing what you don’t like.
It’s childish. It’s a childish, semantic game. And it reminds me of him winning the Chinese National Kickboxing Championships by leveraging a little-known rule that people are disqualified if they stop outside the box. So he pushed each of his opponents outside the box to win.
He is winning the I-work-less-than-you game with a similarly questionable method: semantics.
5.Time management is about making time to connect with people
The idea of time management only matters in relation to how important the stuff is that’s competing for your time. The stuff that makes time management the most difficult is relationships. Which Tim does not excel in.
Fine. Not everyone has to be good at making real connections.
But Tim runs around telling people who have lots of relationships competing for their time how to think about work/not work, forgetting that in the real world, where people are not assholes, time management is not an equation or a semantic game because relationships really matter. And figuring out how to judge time in terms of competing values is the hardest thing of all.
Tim is all about time management for achievement and winning. But there are not trophies or measurements for relationships. There is only that feeling that someone is kind. And good. And truly connected.
And Tim is not.
Incredible post that said many things I was thinking. I know this has been around a while, but just wanted to support your bold post which has a great message.
I’ve read Tim’s book, and many of the comments here. Very interesting to see such a polarizing influence regarding Tim – this is not uncommon with such a “larger-than-life” figure and when you really look at it, such a controversial image is a great marketing vehicle.
My opinion on Tim is somewhere in the middle. I feel that many of his principals are helpful and useful, but I don’t agree with some of the moral decisions outlined in the book. I believe it’s important (actually, imperative) to live a life of meaning beyond sitting in a cube shuffling papers, or serving coffee to other bleary-eyed customers/9-to-5-ers but your life can lack meaning just as easily traveling the world for years and sipping wine on a private island while not giving anything back. It’s all about balance.
I’d like to see a book like this with more of an emphasis on using your newfound freedom to give back to others, (volunteering, starting a new distribution company in a 3rd world country to help feed people, writing a novel, lecturing at a TED conference etc.) and attaining that freedom through more ethical means than outsourcing work to India and manipulating rules just to win and suit your needs.
I’m a freelance web developer, and I generally don’t like outsourcing my work to India from the states because it takes work away from people who were once like me and “dumbs down” my field from a financial perspective. Still, his outsourcing principals are good ones from a business perspective.
I don’t know Tim, so I cannot comment on his character other than what I have read in his book.
It is in some ways dishonest. This book has more appeal to the younger set that believe life is a non-stop party. It would be harder for a 35 something with 2 kids to just semi-retire and go to costa-rica for a eco trip. unfortunately this book plays in with alot of the diploma mills now. That kids think they go to college they should get the big job coming out of school. I see nothing wrong with living your dreams being who you wanna be. What gets me is he is running a big scam playing on peoples hopes. The biggest way to make money is to make a book on how to make money. The people that buy the book are basically funding his dreams of doing odd stuff. You know the best way to make money as a gambler is to sell a book on how to make money as a gambler. Wait this just gave me an idea for a book :P
have u read the book?
None of your points surprises me in the least Penelope. The individual in question could, most likely be described as “eccentric”. Without money, he’d simply be weird. He has some good points and some excellent methods, but yes, the mention of “4 hours” is a bit uh optimistic, shall we say? That said, its motivated me to work harder at getting out of the rat race and into doing other things. And for that, I’ll long be grateful of him and without him, I wouldn’t have found your blog.
I think it’s just a question of having different approaches to work/life – and that there is room for both.
A lot of people hate working for others and want to do their own thing. 4HWW.
A lot of people love their jobs and being involved with the group. This blog.
Penelope I’d be interested where you put fun into the equation and whether you think you have more than Tim. Or is it just different kinds of fun?
wow, I’ve already seen Tim Ferriss bashing threads, but never a bitterer one than this…
the amount of hate here just validates Tim
there’s an old saying: there’s a very thin and blurry line between love and hate
it is simpler to justify your lame and boring life by joining the chorus of bashers, ain’t it…
1. Don't hang out with people who don't respect your time
Thats the reason why I work now for myself and not for other companies.
Ferriss’ book is a must read. His updated version has contributions by people who have applied his principles and succeeded in improving their lives, reaching their dreams etc. Everyone’s career doesn’t allow them to whittle down their work week to four hours but am guessing that 4 hours is just a title, call me crazy. The least you can do is read a book that everyone is talking about, decide for yourself.
I think that he would actually learned something about timemanagement is that you IGNORE people like Tim. The time thinking about him, his book and writing this blog you could have done something else. I guess if you are a blogger writing this book IS actually being productive. Hmm. Ok I take that back – you were working the whole time. But it didn’t sound like it was any fun. Try to obsess on people that bring you pleasure. :)
BTW I hate this Tim guy too now, please flick one of his ears from me next time you see him.
“you just picked up another reader”
And another one. :-) great job debunking smug
Hi Penelope.
I read the four hour workweek, and Tim’s blog, and I agree with what you said. Thank you for writing such a fascinating critique of his modus operandi.
I’ve read most of the comments here, and what *really* stands out is the staggering amount of misogynist hate-speech directed towards you.
For example:
“bitter”
“shrill”
and
“woman scorned” and assumptions about your sexual life.
Vocabulary is what we have to pay attention to. These words are now a warning to me about what to listen for when people are being assholes. It’s like the 18th century all over again. Frigid or whore, those are our choices. If you’ve ever read “Sexism in America” I think you’d see how the feminist backlash has a pattern again and again in our society when we have economic downturns. People start to turn on each other, men against women, women against women, to try to reinforce societal norms when the male status quo is threatened. For example, check out the fashion trends, it cycles through these as well. Hyper-femininity, hyper-masculinity instead of androgynous fashions that were popular when the economy was doing well.
Anyway, keep fighting the good fight. I believe in what you’re doing.
Mazarine
I’ve read Tim’s book and have been a subscriber to his blog for a while now. I just stumbled onto this post, which I find really interesting. I have to admit that Tim’s book did hit on a couple of points for me that helped me realize the amount of “unnecessary” work that I was doing. Or, work for work’s sake. That being said, I never fell victim to the idea that he’s ever worked a 4-hour week since he started his career.
Similarly, I’ve also read all of the Rich Dad books where Robert Kiyosaki pitches business principles that if he himself used could never achieve the success that he has received.
There are lessons to be learned from any book or author. Take the lessons that hit you hardest and work them into your own vision for success. Consider what’s real and what’s propaganda.
Great post! I enjoyed reading someone else saying that were in my mind.
“Cut to the chase: Tell people who are full of sh*t that they’re full of sh*t” LOL. I definitely agree with this one. It’s shocking the kind of stunts people pull through these days to try to get ahead. Many a times at the cost of others.
While I will not comment on liking or disliking Tim, mostly because I do not actually know him, I must admit he has been a master at garnering attention and I applaud some of his tactics/techniques. I avoided reading the book for a long time because well, I don’t actually want to work a 4 hour work week. I truly enjoy what I do and would do it all waking hours of the day if I did not also have strong passions for other activities like relationships, skiing, sports, the gym, etc…
Recently someone gave me the book, I’ve read through the first 150 pages or so and while I do not personally like short-sighted practices like the kickboxing stunt, there are things I have learned from reading this book. There are instances where I do believe some short-cut tactics can still be beneficial in the long-term. I’m a firm believer that everything I do now should have a quick long-term thinking plan associated with it, ‘would it be something that I’ll still be proud of, 5 years from now?’ It has been worth a read, and I will finish the book. Then I will take what I can from the concepts and move onto the next book or author.
I had a conversation with a Professor at SFU recently who told me that the critical thinking capabilities of his students has been down substantially over the last 15 years. He strongly believes that university should be about teaching people how to thinking critically and not regurgitation. I couldn’t agree more with this statement, so I’ve been on a bit of a quest to find more and more people who are exceptional at critical thought. I think I’ve found one more in this blog!
I have a serious distaste for people who regurgitate information word for word from books like the ‘4 Hour Work Week’ but if you told me that you related his concepts (like you have in this article, which is supremely impressive) into 5 different ideas of your own. It doesn’t matter how you came to the conclusions that you did, but at least you utilized some critical thinking skills and shared it with others for discussion. I commend you!
Well, that was very nice of you, Darren, to avoid mentioning Penelope Trunk lied to Tim Ferriss about having plans, then hypocritically getting mad at him for (probably) lying to her about who he was hanging out with later. Which is, by her own admission, the only reason Penelope agreed to have coffee with Tim — to use him to meet these other people.
With commitment to relationships and integrity like that, we could all use a lot more harping on the topic from Penelope Trunk. Because, you know, there’s nothing that builds human connections better than lying to someone, then trying to use them to meet their friends, then complaining publicly when you got played (and failed in your effort to play them).
However, you were a perfect gentleman and didn’t mention any of that. Instead you focussed on her positives.
That was very charitable and nice of you.
This is THE BEST blog post I have read in a long, long, LONG time. Thank you! Dugg, Tweeted, et al :D He won the kickboxing championship by pushing each of his opponents outside the box!!?? LOL what a twat hahaaa. Something he keeps forgetting to mention to his following of wannabe gurus: he was BORN INTO wealth.
I’ve been following Tim for a while now and this article/blog does seem to make sense. No doubt Tim’s a smart dude. He just gets things quick. But there’s always been something off putting about him. He’s a little bit of a bullshitter and comes off sometimes as not genuine. Kevin rose on the other hand is the man. Respect!
sooo… he hired people to run around blogs mentioning his book ?
WHAT A GENIUS :)
What I do find funny though, though I love the book, is that he advises reducing time wasting activities…then he has a blog for you to read, a forum, and posts updates on facebook / twitter for you to see.
er, I mean, like, has he nothing better to do ?
Still, I admire him hugely, ‘hire people to comment on blogs about your book’.
You should do that :)
Perhaps you can outsource it :)
I actually loved the 4 Hour Work Week, and I love this post just as much.
There is a lot of good stuff that can be mined from the book, but this post tempers it with a solid dose of reality.
Not an either/or but like 75% of both.
Incidentally, this douche is now releasing a book about how to build a body in 4 hours. This New Years I recall him setting a goal of being able to deadlift 500lbs in 2010. He was close enough at the time that it should have taken him no more than 4 months. Not surprisingly, he has been conspicuously quiet about this goal.
He’s a fraud, a charlatan and a douche bag.
“The week that Tim actually works a four-hour work week will be a cold week in hell.” Very true on that! Probably what most would consider a workaholic! It’s all a matter of what you consider work right?
Peronally the thought of a 4 hour work week scares me. I would rather do 80 hours doing something I am deeply passionate about than 4 hours that I dread.
Great post by the way. I admire a person who can use their emotions to fuel their drive to take action towards a postive result. Thumbs up from me.
:)
i am very pleased with the proportion of the 4HWW bashers here; in fact, without them there would be no 4HWW :))
most of the bashers here (including the article author) got the 4HWW ideas completely wrong; most of them did not even read the book but that is another story
Tim Ferriss does not preach idleness; he urges us to lead a life that is meaningful; and stop deluding ourself about work that we are “passionate” about;
there is a simple test: if you would do the same work without any kind of pay then it is a hobby/passion, otherwise it is just plain work regardless the “passion” you put in it, case closed
The four hour work week book helped me become a millionaire in 3 weeks flat, but not everyone wants that, so is fine.
It is disappointing to see how this post has had such a grand effect when it is so clearly based on bias that it obliterates all worth. Any person can clearly see that she wrote about her HATRED and JEALOUSY which should be a red flag to educated readers that her point of view is swayed to the point that you ought to be weary when reading her work. It is a fault in her argument to say that because he looks, acts, and/or IS an immoral person, his point of views are wrong (he could be a conniving bastard or a saint, we don’t know because I sincerely doubt any of you have met him). Folks may find this post empowering, but it is simply open “flaming.” Your website showcases your works, Penelope, and it is impressive, but is Tim’s book in reality a terrible thing if it has clearly shown to help people and how many people have YOU truly and directly helped?
As another poster, I’m sure, has clarified, the “work” you portray him doing, such as tangoing and training, is what he wants to do with free time, as opposed to the millions of people who are bound to their work and do not have the free time to experiment and achieve your dreams.
I believe you should have a long reevaluation of Tim Ferris, not solely on his personality or even his book, but the points he tries to get across. You may have had a bad experience with him, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible for you to follow in his formula to have a low maintenance cashflow while you pursue your dreams (that you may have put off until retirement, which seems farther and farther away). His formula has helped people. Don’t hate, it isn’t impossible to maintain a small business four hours a week when you outsource it and rely on the highest paying customers and if you truly want to get to your dreams, it’s not impossible to get there NOW. And if Tim makes money off of helping people to achieve their dreams, then dang right he should.
Tim’s book encouraged me to outsource work to India instead of to America, and for that, I am very happy, Indians work harder and are cheaper than Americans.
Hurrahhhh for the 4 hour work week
White people: lmfao
Hi,
I know it’s a wicked old post, but I just wanted to say that his “Brazilian Bikini Photographer” article was the last straw, and now I’m an unabashed TF hater. Thank you so much for making me feel less insane about my decision. Anyone who belittles his detractors and ignores critics so profoundly and pompously is no one I want advice from. His book may have had some good ideas, but it’s totally inundated in narcissistic tendencies that are not good for my own mental and emotional wellbeing.
So, yeah, thanks. :-)
Thanks for telling me about that one. I must have missed it. What a great concept!
I’ll have to actualize that one.
:)
Brazilian ladies are … well, they’re a lot.
I love your comment. You read a post by someone saying how much she hates a man, has hated him ever since her editors (not her) sat near each other and talked about how he’s like to work with … and then she tells a story about, among other things, how she agreed to have coffee with him after lying to him only in order to meet his contacts, who she thought were cool.
Oh, I just realized something. Penelope is a woman. It isn’t belittling when a woman says she hates a man. It only counts if a man uses much milder language.
It isn’t what is actually said that matters: It’s whether a man says it. If so, it’s bad. And if a woman says something way over the top and vicious, it is no big deal.
I get it now. Thanks for illustrating it so beautifully, Izzen.
interested in finding a good wingman to pick up girls with, check out this site http://www.pickupwingman.com/
I liked the bikini babes post, as it says in his book, you can not make everyone happy, nor should you try.
Your post was hilarious, although personally, I think the hook is great.
The cool thing about the title is that it was generated using the techniques found in the book, ie: using google adwords to figure out what titles sold the best. So although the title may or may not be entirely accurate to the content, it has a very direct and honest relationship to the contents of the book in an unexpected way.
This was an unfortunate waste of my time to read. I don’t think the point of his book was you only have to work 4 hours. No where does it say, do this, and work 4 hours. What it does say is a clear description on how to manage certain time wasting scenarios and help the average person eliminate what is not unimportant to gain what is truly valuable in life.. personal time to do what you love.
It’s amusing that just by misleading you slightly to talk with you more made you this upset. Making connections usually wins for most people, but obviously not for you. Cry the world a river for him being so terrible that it inspired you to write this and simply have the 1,000,000 to 1 followers that Tim has to you notice how much you suck.
Why waste your time hating people. You may surprise yourself what you can achieve if you put your energy into something useful. In Australia we call this “tall poppy syndrome”.
Great post. It is very well written. I’ve read through 4HWW twice, and I use many of his tricks to help make my life easier. I certainly haven’t taken it to his extreme and left my job to start my own company that makes me a ton of money with very little time investment, but they’ve still been helpful.
I just wanted to point out that only two of your lessons are actual critiques on the book; the other three you learned from Ferriss’ behavior. I agree with you on the relationship lesson. Ferriss manages to avoid people altogether. I only check email once a day (usually), a lesson I learned from him. However, I can’t stretch it out any longer, and I have to deal with people – over the phone, and face to face. I’ve needed to take my time management paradigm to a greater level, including some of his techniques but not limited to them.
I disagree with you on the semantics issue. He is defining “work” as “employment”, using the concept of a “work-week” as context. Someone may call it “work” to spend 10 hours a day learning to tango (or whatever his time commitment was), but he was clearing doing it recreationally, for his own enjoyment. So while he may have been a busy bee, being active for 18 hours a day, it doesn’t count as “work” in his context unless you’re being paid to do it.
I know who Tim is… Who are you?
all books are full of sh**
I stumbled upon your website and this article. It is good to see another view of Tim Ferris and his famous book. I bought his book after hearing about it on a few different sites. I found the book interesting, but somewhat unrealistic. There are some interesting ideas and points of view for time management, but it won’t work for everyone. It is a shame that someone can fool so many people who want to better their lives, by giving false hopes.
Tims book was interesting on many levels. It has opened my eyes to outsourcing stuff I hate to do or takes a ton of my time, data entry for the business, mundane web programming tasks, etc.
No one has all the answers. anyone who is smart and reads tims book will see that esp whats bs. He does have some great info that i will be applying.
The kickboxing thing was almost funny to me. Yes he “cheated” but its like saying the rich guy who understands and has the money to make the tax code loopholes work for them. Dont get mad, learn, adapt and get better yourself.
He won since he could cut so much weight and could wrestle. and understood the rules as they are.
The internet has given us many great things. Bloggers are not one of them. Being a writer used to have meaning. Thanks to bIogs like this writing as a profession is a joke. It sounds like you are really jealous of Ferris. It is quite pathetic. Maybe you need a taste of your own awful medicine:
http://www.mscareergirl.com/2010/05/05/is-penelope-trunk-feeding-gen-y-career-crack/
yeah, well here’s what I have to say about Tim Ferriss:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewl10/tim-ferriss-is-really-1eju
Excellent and unique time management tips. I love number 1. The biggest time management buster is people who do not respect your time
It’s funny that I came across this post after I started reading Tim’s latest book, The 4 Hour Body. I had read this post in the past, but I didn’t even know who Tim was at that time, so a lot of the points were difficult to relate to. After reading his first book, his blog, and now his second, these points seem spot on. It’s a side of him that we don’t get to see as a reader from his interviews or through his books.
I can only imagine how upset Penelope is with his new book reaching a #4 status on Amazon in a few days.
This blog came up when I Googled the terms “Tim Ferris” and “self-absorbed.” I just finished reading some of (and flipping through the rest of) his new book THE 4-HOUR BODY, and thought, “Dude is self-absorbed; I wonder if anyone agrees.” I find here I’m not alone. While I like Winston Churchill, a quip Clement Atlee made about Churchill’s book THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES reminded me of Tim’s new book. Attlee said of Churchill’s book that it could have been titled THINGS IN HISTORY THAT INTEREST ME. (Of course, Churchill said about Atlee, “He’s a modest man with much to be modest about.”) Tim’s new book is a grab bag of stuff that interests him. And, incidentally, a lot of the stuff Tim includes in his sex chapter as amazing new sex secrets is the same stuff I read in my human sexuality textbook for a gut course as an 18-year-old college freshman. I’m glad I checked Tim’s new book out of the library and didn’t buy it.
Wow, Penelope seems pretty bitter to bring up “Symantics”.
What does it matter if you call it work or not? The simple truth is most people dread their work, and dream of things they never go after. Tim gets his “money making” done in 4hrs (or whatever time allocation that surely is less then 40+ hours other people spend chasing money) – and spends the rest of his time pursuing his dreams.
Will you next say that scuba diving, traveling etc etc. are all really really “hard work” and he is just using semantics to weasel out of calling it work? He obviously loved living in South America, and dancing every day – what were you doing during that time?:)
And on self promotion, your post seems also pretty shallow and just focused on hitching a ride on the popularity of TF. All the time “hating” TF you could have spent instead going after some dreams worth going after.
Aside from that all the best of luck to you.
This is my first time discovering your blog. Funny, I’ve known about Tim for years. It must be all that self-promotion he does (good thing–because now I’m self employed and make more money than I did in the corporate world and have a much better lifestyle–all inspired from his 4HWW). You sound like a really bitter person. Maybe you should stop slamming other peoples’ successes and figure out a way to actually help people.
Thumbs up Sarah! Congrats on being self-employed:)
Thank you for the management tricks – I find them very intuitive, and as such really natural to apply.
It's good to vent out when one is having these kinds of jealous feelings about someone's accomplishments, but, as I usually recognize when I’m not right about doing something, I’d do it privately instead of publicly, in case I'd be in your situation. I would have liked your article much more had it been on a positive note.
People have to focus their energy on *what's good about themselves* instead of what's to hate on someone else. No doubt you know that already – who doesn't, right?
Tim Ferris, now, he's *useful*. He's the opposite from that person one gets to know because she tried to get some fame dissing someone else's accomplishments. Not very happily, he's the target of some of that people when they're having bitter "how I'd have liked to be in his place" moments.
Still, you're being sincere, saying what's really on your mind. Props to that.
I have not yet read Tim’s book, but after reading this post all I want to do is just that. Looks like he somehow got you to market his book too.
Ferris’ tactic of getting out of doing work is precisely the thing that appeals so strongly to so many Gen Y slackers. The air of entitlement around those folks is palpable. Older people know damn well that you can’t work 4 hours per week and get paid for 40 if you have any intention of holding a job, much less building a career.
Gen X folks know that you’re likely to get paid for 40 yet work 50-60 hours per week if you’re committed to building a career or creating a reputable that will further you professionally.
@ Rob O.
Neurologically it has already been proven that “He who thinks he can, and he who thinks he cannot” are both absolutely correct.
There is nothing wrong with working a job you do not like for 45 years @ 50hrs a week, and then retiring at 70 with barely any strength left to enjoy life, grand kids etc. on some very low if at all existent pension + SSI. Its just a very different path from taking responsibility for your life and building something yourself and taking care of yourself instead of relying on your boss to do so.
I think you missed the whole point of the book – or you just did not read it at all and judged it by its title (it would be a pretty grave mistake to assume that Timothy Ferris speaks of only being ACTIVE 4 hours per week).
All the best in whatever career path you choose.
@ Rob.
In addition to above, calling people that work smarter not harder – slackers – is pretty foolish as well. Before you know it they will be your employer and may remember how you treated them before they built the next Google that hired your mature self:)
Well put. While your post does very little to defend any actionable time management skills, it /is/ a great slam on Tim Ferriss. When I finished reading his book I felt cheated and dirty. Cheated because his entire methodology required the exploitation of people and morally questionable techniques to achieve his ends. Dirty because, in buying the book, I became complicit in his scheme.
That said, I think you were probably right to avoid writing this post all those times. I think by addressing him, you have somehow thrown yourself into his orbit. Oh well, I bet it felt awesome to hit the Publish button :)
Tim wouldn’t waste so much time whinging….