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.
I wish I had a four hour week… and I could call the rest of the time i spend “not work”
I don’t know… your “hatred” is kind of sad. I feel like most people focused on what is important would consider all the energy you’ve spent on your feelings about Tim to be kind of a distraction from just that. But you were honest about your jealousy of his success. And Tim’s kind of a good looking guy, so there could be a little bottled up sexual tension there as well… who knows?
I don’t know Tim or read his blog. However I am looking forward to seeing a comment from him on this post – if he decides to do so. Qualities that you possess Penelope that I love and shine through in your writing are transparency and the ability to be genuine and honest with your feelings. Evidently Tim does not possess those qualities. I have a feeling this post may easily exceed 150 comments.
Lol, i laughed out loud when reading point 2.
Self centered people are awful, they just don’t stop talking about how good they make this and how brillant they make that. Waste of time.
I just happened to stumble upon this site and I’m not quite sure how to feel. I have read 4HWW and while I’m not going to worship the man, I enjoyed it for the most part. His website especially, has given me a lot of great tips (for free) that I’ve implemented in my life.
I respect his methodical data logging and how he uses that to base his judgments (I pretty much do the same thing).
Some of your points for hating him (at least the ones on this post) seem kind of shallow. The first point you make seems like you were pissed he outsmarted you for a coffee date. If I wrote a blog post about every person who has ever deceived me in some small way (that is assuming that was his intention), I’d have a LOT of people on my list.
Your 3rd point about his automatic emails, I wonder why they bother you so much. (You personally, I can understand why they would bother everyone who gets spammed by them.) It’s his way of letting people know they shouldn’t expect an immediate response. I completely agree that when I stopped checking my email 10 billion times a day I got 100x more productive. And I’ve read that tip on a lot of productivity sites. If his auto response bothers you, just delete it. Is it that big of a deal?
“Productivity is about meeting your goals, not getting out of doing work” I would disagree and say productivity is about meeting your goals efficiently. If it takes you 3 hours to do a task that you could pay someone 15 dollars to do, assuming you make more than $5/hr, you are getting the job done while freeing up your time to do something else. A lot of his points are ways to maximize efficiency.
I respect your opinion on Tim Ferriss. I felt the need to defend him because I have benefited from a lot of his free content.
People with radical ideas will always atract haters…
Its so easy to criticize the work of others.
Its funny how “most” people prefer to stay comfortable and call him a cheater or whatever. Also “most” people in the cubicle world hate their work/live and only dream about pursuing a passion but will never have the courage to do so.
Tim Ferris is an achiever, he does not write long blog posts about how unfair the world is, and why being passive about your life is the way to go.
For readers of this thread, i recommend you to compare both authors (Tim and penelope), their attitude and decide who you want to mentor you… i for sure prefer Tim
Hugo hah the haters.
Some of us don’t have to jump up and down saying look what I did. Nor look for loopholes. the more I read Ferris the more I see he’s methods are not long term. Like reducing in office productivity to make telecomute productivity look more appetizing to boss/manager. That’s called deceit.
Since I’m a hater and cubical whiner here are my achievements
Age 15 discovered beer
age 19 attended Hofstra Unversity didn’t know what I wanted to do so i quit
Age 22 Married BS ed my way into a sales position in manufacturing
age 23 Popping fiorinal for my mygraines baby on the way I punched out of the sector
age 24-41 business owner
Happy making the money that I deserve oh and loving what I do.
Well i dont think you are a hater, i was talking about the blog post with all its “i hate tim” thing…
Her reasons
1) Tim approached and invited a coffe: Wow how evil!!…So every time an entrepreneur tries to get the attention of a venture capitalists or someone that can benefit him he is not respecting the other person’s time…Sorry but i just feel that she over reacted to that one.
2) The automatic mail response: Again, for me this is just a excuse for her to show hate. I can’t imagine how an automated response is valid reason to hate someone..
He is not shy about himself and his achievements, so what? its marketing… Even the author of this blog is so self centered with all the “i’m a b*** and i like that” attitude
Learning efficient time management is definitely the next thing I will start learning and implementing in my life. Every day I wish the day was not 24 but 48 h. So much to do, but so little time, one of my friends have talked about it, but I didnt take time management seriously before, but will now, thanks for the 5 first tips for me!
time management is important but everything works out in the end
Wow. Nice Info! Thx a lot!!
Awsome article, I love to read your blog, bookmarked…
I just found the whole reason for this post:
Envy – Some of these people love to be the center of attention. And they view other people's success as an attack on their own self-esteem. When they see someone outshining them (who they don't approve of) they'll find any way possible to disparage that person. But if they're not careful, that envy could grow into hate, and that hate could grow into insanity.
well outsource is a way to leveraging, but with time management you can get it done all by yourself but dont hate:)
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Number 2 is bar the best tip. Just cut to the point no fluff!
Time management is a self didact action. No book or guide is going to show you that, you need to find out on your own
I agree your first rule – don’t hang out with people who don’t respect your time. I used to have a client of mine, who although she was a very big client, she was constantly late for every single meeting or appointment we had. Sometimes I’d be stuck spending an hour or two just waiting for her to show up. That amount of time spent away from my already busy day always seemed to put me further and further behind. Eventually I learned this rule for myself and suddenly found myself quite busy whenever she called and needed something. Although she was a great client, my time was much too valuable to waste it on someone who didn’t respect it.
u r bitter
don’t deny it, u read his book daily. why else would you talk about him…? because ur bitter.
yeah, fully agree. Why is it that all Tim’s are annoying?!
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Hate is a bull shit word why would you hate someone? just becuase of the pussy tales that you have written?
Totally agree … I am surprised that people are still telling her positive things after her use of the word hate …. what inspiration is to be found in writing premised around that word ….
Glad to hear I’m not the only one that takes him with a grain of salt. I read the book, like some of what he’s said, but in the end I was left thinking “you know, he’s really just a modern day snake oil salesman.” Literally. He made it big selling “nutritional supplements” online. If I didn’t have a conscience, I could do that too.
Surely writing a blog post like this just amplifies the situation, or does it make you feel better by “getting off your chest”? I must admit though, purely by coincidence of course, everyone I’ve met called Tim has been an annoying ****!
I havent read any of Tim’s books, so I can’t validate your arguments. All I know is this is the first view I’ve had of this website, and the overall negativity just made me unproductive. Instead of a logical, persuasive argument, all I saw was a childish rant. I’m only 23, but I believe that might be contributing to your lack of best-sellers. I think I’m going to buy Tim’s book to see if there is something inspiring to get get my productivity back.
Setting boundaries is definitely the way to go. However, many people will still feel pressure from those things that are left unattended. One way to overcome this is to use a personal assistant service. I just started a company called Delegate Source based in Denver. While there are quite a few concierge services out there, there are very few who approach lifestyle and household management broadly. It really is simple math. If a professional’s hourly cost is more than the cost of outsourcing personal services, why not achieve a better work/life balance by delegating errands and tasks?
So now Tim has to teach you how to have a relationship? Here’s a tip, stop with all the hating. From the sound of this, you’re the one that’s full of shit, which I wouldn’t ordinarily say, but you’re such a proponent of it.
I think his book has some interesting tips on how to change your thinking about working your way through life. Living it is up to you, so go figure it out yourself.
Wonderful tips Penelope. Although, personally, I don’t mind Tim Ferriss. But, I take everything he says with a grain of pepper – like all opinions…..
You’re sad.
Writing an article based on hate was a poor choice. Your negative energy does not inspire me in any way – I think you should be dissappointed in yourself – that said, have a nice day.
Tim Ferriss’s book is just like all the other get-rich-quick books out there. The catchy title. Everyone dreams of not having to work and being able to do what ever you want to do, where ever you want to do it, when ever you want to do it! Seems that he has been able to do this by writing his book(s), manipulating the rules, and finding people willing to pay for this illusion.
Being able to do what you want to do requires preparation, discipline and time. You must know what you want to do, make the necessary preparations (do your homework), and have the discipline to follow thru on your dream. Then you can prioritize your life to accomplish it.
Ms. Penelope,
From a purely economic and strategic standpoint, you are playing the game of being a writer. Us, the public–consumers of writers’ work–are the refs to this game. You think your opponent is Tim Ferriss, and in some ways he is. But this piece reads like a writer’s version of a retaliatory shove or punch in a basketball game. And guess what, for everyone who reads this post, Tim Ferriss is going to get two free shots at winning their interest.
This post accomplishes the opposite of its “supposedly” intended face value purpose. I seriously can’t believe I just read that much about how you hate Tim Ferriss. Outward gestures of criticism, hatred, or even revenge can only remove YOUR cred as a writer–even if Tim Ferriss is an ass, his work–or lack thereof–should not be the issue of YOUR blog. Think about your customer… Why would they read someone’s blog to to learn about how much another blogger ticks them off? Readers don’t care about what you think about other’s bad blogs, though we might be interested in what qualities you think create a good blog.
The only thing this piece serves is your ego. It doesn’t serve us, the readers. It doesn’t serve fellow bloggers. It serves your desire to vent your feelings of distaste or “hatred”. Jealousy/hatred/dislike (bad feelings toward another) is like letting someone live in your heart/mind/spirit rent free, and constantly nagging and impacting your every decision. Either drop the hate, or learn to manage it privately (go see a shrink). Wow.
Hate is quite a strong word that has been bantered around a lot here. The guy is making money, which we all want to do, and is successful. Take the plus points and forget the rest…
Every year I say I’m going to get into Pilates but I keep delying it, I’m hoping visiting sites like this is going to change my resolve.
I haven’t read Tim’s book. After I got on his blog and saw where he had someone blogging for him – but he hadn’t revealed it – I figured he wasn’t worth my time.
As well, right now with unemployment as it is, I wonder how “the four hour workweek” is flying. Having a job is the new black, you know. Though maybe some of the 10% unemployed (nearly 18% if you count those who gave up looking or who only have part-time jobs) would be glad to do some of that work for $5 an hour…. called deflation, it drove the Great Depression, and it ain’t pretty when it hits.
Finally, I don’t like his concept of outsourcing. If the job isn’t worth your time, give it up to someone who is willing to work it and move on. (And I dunno if he’s figured out yet that if what you’re doing can be outsourced….. so can you.) Sure, he can go on how he’s doing the bit that really, really can’t be outsourced…. but your employer (or client) may figure that if they’re paying you all that money for only four hours a week of your time, and quite a lot of someone else’s, then perhaps they should just get the someone else at $5 an hour and see if they can do the rest. I’m not a Detroit autoworker, I’m a med student, but I’d like people in this country to have some jobs, y’know.
You’re assumption is that time=productivity. And even in your exact example, there are plenty of examples where that is not the case. Try explaining a problem to someone in India with communication issues vs. explaining the same problem to someone in the US.
There is a reason why all computer related work hasn’t been completely outsourced to foreign countries.
Though you bring up some valid points (the kickboxing thing struck a nerve with me, too, when reading his book, the 4HWW), I don’t see some of your POV. So if I understand you correctly, you’d rather be doing less, in time units, of what you somewhat enjoy (I say somewhat because if you truly enjoyed it like Tim did, then there would be no point of distinction between your and his lifestyle except quantity) rather than a lot more of what you do enjoy… all in order to make a living? But why?
One personal result I got out of Tim’s book is in the area of outsourcing your life. I used to waste a lot of time carrying out minute jobs that I could have easily outsourced for a minimal amount through labour arbitrage. Once I figured out how to effectively outsource, my productivity increased astronomically.
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The world is a much richer place when filled with diverse people and diverse opinions! I love your post and would pay good money to get the two of you together with a video camera and a few beers ;-)
Yes – great comment!
I was surprised at the amount of anger. I don’t know the guy but he seems nice enough. You don’t have to be his best friend but the rules of 1st grade still apply – be nice.
Some lady said something about being fat above – I think Tim hits it home here in that we often assume life and work are more complicated than they are. Most of us waste way too much time doing things we shouldn’t. Peter Drucker said this first – not Tim and nobody can hate Peter.
For example, there is nothing complicated about getting skinny, we wish there were but there isn’t. Boring, sure. Complicated, nope. Work out, eat right. 5 days a week. Done – move on. You can stop talking and posting about being fat but alas what will you do next?
I agree that outsourcing your minute jobs is one of the most important aspect of personal productivity. I once had so many tasks on my plat, that I became so over whelemed that I didn’t get ANYTHING done. Organization is key and when you start projects that take a lot of time and effort, it’s better just to simplify things by outsourcing those “easy jobs” for pennies on the dollar. Uggs For Kids
@John, absolutely right. But for outsourcing you must have some money in your pocket ;-)
For me, the relationships that I build in my lifetime are a measure of success. Often times it’s people that can get you further ahead then you could do yourself, or at least more quickly.
Learning to leverage those relationships can save you a lot of time and trouble, and can potentially be your biggest asset.
I read the book and overall it is not worth the effort. There are some good pointers about how to promote your business. The stuff about tricking your boss into paying for your vacation, and the like, is just childish. It’s part of the shtick, of course. The useful bits, taken together, would make a nice article in Fast Company. If you are a true believer, you should hire someone (in India) to read the book for you and write a synopsis.
wow…nice article. very helpful, i totally agree with everything being mentioned. Time is precious.
I agree with some of what you say but also disagree. I mean sure Tim Ferris works incredibly hard but at the same time he does everything that he describes in his book. He schedules holidays and learns exciting new languages etc etc. I think he has a fantastic attitude and his book was well worth it.
Wow finally someone speaks the truth. Tim Ferris is full of it. The only thing he accomplished was managing to full everyone in buying into his book and his ideas. He works really hard and like you said correctly, his morals are not exactly where they should be. I much prefer reading your works Penelope instead of some day dreamer who thinks he is gods gift to the world.
Haha – love him or hate him, he is a genius marketer. Him rubbing you the wrong way has generated hundreds of comments, and at least 20-30 book sales just to see what it’s all about. Even if he is only clearing around $5 per title, that’s still $100 that he made by FAILING to convince you to like him.
This is a classic example of the timeless adage, “There’s no such thing as bad PR”. Until I came across this site, I had never heard of you. Will I be interested in learning more about you because of this post? No! You haven’t given me any reason to. Negativity breeds negativity for he (or she) that attempts to use it to their advantage. Next time, try letting your readers know why your book is better than his- even that simple ploy would have held some inherent benefit for you.
Great article, these are useful tricks and so true! Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely true, from my own experiences!
Youuuu probably won’t read this but…
I’ve been mildly interested in Tim’s approach for a couple years, never really intending to make use of it. I saw a lot of flaws, one of them being the total disconnectedness from… well… humanity. I like people. I’m sure you’ve been forced to admit more than once, the man is smart and hardworking. He gets things done at very little expense to himself, and according to his book, everyone gets paid, at least a little. Admirable for a reclusive capitalist.
The question I’m posing is, and you’ll have to forgive that I know nothing about you (I found your blog googling, “Tim Ferriss scam”), simply, do you think it’s feasible to design a life style in which you minimize undesirable obligations (some would call this work =P) while still holding real relationships with people? I think TF’s model is a viable one, but we seem to have similar criticisms of it. I have a lot of ideas for a functioning network (also known as “community” if you live in actual space…) of artisans and professors in which there is minimal need for currency and the emphasis is on doing work that you like to do blah blah blah but I’m curious as to what you actually criticizing here.
So you hate Tim. I get it. I’m sure if I met him, I would to. His stark resemblance to Christian Bale in American Psycho would probably freak me out. But he set goals, realized them, and continues to move forward, albeit with an apparent, profound aversion to real social interaction. He also offers advice on how regular, less serial killer-esque people can do this. Not a saint, but is he not sharing the love in a way that benefits himself and others?
And let go of the coffee date bait-and-switch. You presented some value to him, and doesn’t see himself equally valuable to you, so he lied. Or maybe he just thought you were pretty. Either way, nice work. There’s a lot more I could say, but I’m already fairly sure you aren’t going to read this.
I totally had a big problem with time management when I first started my software development company. It all came down to prioritzing and figuring out what needed the most attention first.