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.
Tim recently released a new version of his book, and apparently had some troubles with err, sales…
Now let me first say that I was Tim Ferriss fanboy #1 for a while, not so much right now.
To boost sales, he tried to “entice” his fanbase to buy scores of copies of the book for various prizes.
Prize #1, was a full day with Tim Ferriss, 24 hours – the price – purchase ONE THOUSAND BOOKS (books not bucks, so…12-20k).
Grand Prize #2 – Party with Tim Ferriss and his friends! Only ONE HUNDRED BOOKS ($2000?).
I like Tim’s book and a lot of what he says but…
This is complete and utter DOUCHEBAGGERY.
Fail.
Yeah.
Tim Ferris is an ass. I’ve never liked him and I never will to be totally honest. His marketing strategies are nothing new and hes just rehashing everything everyone before him has said.
Although he seems to be generating a huge stir with all his nonsense, which is definitely his goal — but he’s still a prick.
increase your vertical
jump higher
Wow. So much anger; just so much of it.
Penelope,
I’m surprised you would expose yourself in a light where your audience and fans get to see you react to a trivial situation like an upset infant. Very Professional! Unless it is impeding on someone’s personal freedoms (not personal feelings),if you see something you don’t like, STFU and move on. That is part of being a mature adult. Good luck with your insights on career choice! I’d recommend you!
Sincerely,
Not An Emotional Train-wreck
Sounds like he was being nosy and personal rather asking you – who with? Time Management is key, Good read!
This post initially went over my head. But now that I’ve read his book, I cannot agree with Penelope more.
Tim “works” more than four hours. Even if he enjoys it, it’s still “work”. “The 4-Hour Work Week” is a headline. “Lifestyle Design” is a category he invented for self-interest. He is a marketer and he works hard at it.
So are the two of you still friends?
I've read the book "4-hour work week" and must say I'm surprised that someone of your intelligence would be so vehemently against his ideas and success. Just because you say you're not jealous, doesn't mean you're not. I know diffusing techniques when I see them.
I'm sure Tim would make one of the most difficult employees to work with, but brilliant bosses should have adapted to allow him room to grow. They would have made more money learning/adapting rather than abolishing his ideas as you are doing.
Try this: Read his book (again, if you never really have). This time try to look at it from a blank perspective. Act as though it could be true. It's changed my life. Do I work 4-hours/week – no, but that's not his point. My days are much more efficient now so I don't run around trying to be busy. I get the grind done, outsource what make sense, automate the trivial, and focus on the important tasks at hand. That would have been a crappy title though, so that's why they named it what they did.
I agree that so many of his ideas are regurgitations of age-old ideas, but they are re-worded, re-named, and re-organized to appeal to those who are willing to accept them.
Stop being petty, admit he's better than you and learn from him – sheesh. Maybe if you do this, you'll someday be better than him at what you choose to focus on.
A few things:
1-It’s obvious Tim is methodical, analytical, and efficient. To others that = smug, disingenuous, and shallow.
2-Love this article and 4 Hour Work Week.
4-I don’t care if Tim is an a**-hole. He helps me understand how to efficiently achieve my goals, and I relate so strongly to his concept of “lifestyle design vs. the deferred life”. 5-For relationship advice, I seek the guidance of those who excel in that area.
5-I’m introspective & personal development-oriented. Tim Ferriss is detached & achievement-oriented. His style and methods present a great balance for me. While I’m easily connected with my inner self (self-awareness), Tim Ferriss helps me connect with my outer self (goal achievement).
Thanks for the haters!
I could care less about judging Tim Ferris in his marketing approach, but his focus on minimum effective load; 80/20 principle; and Parkinson’s Law had me going from squatting 135lbs to 400lbs in 12 weeks time. Cutting my work day down to 2 hrs per day and producing far more than any of my associates. It’s not the finger, but where it is pointed.
When crippled in an accident (Bed-Ridden now)I was able to give evidence to keep my position active from maintaining such effectiveness on the team.
Yes, he attacks weaknesses in systems, but that is the Sun Tzu way.
As another example Ramit Sehti “I Will Teach You to Be Rich”, is also arrogant and so not PC, but save me thousands.
Thanks for the haters! Made me realize how much I really learned.
I agree with Brandi. I have read Tim’s book and sat in on his Ustream cast a couple of weeks ago. He offers some beneficial advice on how to make money, and his personality is totally differnt than mine.
Do we really need to agree with everything someone says to benefit from their knowledge in some area? If you want perfection follow JESUS (seriously).
Is it possible you see in Tim what you hate in yourself? Probably not. Is it possible you wanted to use
Tim’s “success” to drive traffic to your blog? no brainer
Stop hating, Love is the Killer App.
wow. thanks for this.
Penelope. Thank you so much. You have a new fan.
Wow, this reeks of resentment. Tim’s book rocks. You really are just jealous.
I guess this proves that there is no such thing as bad “PR” and Tim is probably stoked about it.
People are just jealous with him. i think He is nice and perfectly alright.
Also, “hate” is a very strong word that attracts negative energy. Mom always used to say “Be careful with your words; you just might have to eat them.”
Lady is angry… Will wait for another less simmering post on Time Management…
I have finally been relieved from trying to master time management because I love cultivating relationships with people. Thanks!
The problem is: sometimes we have cash on hand to hire some people, but we don’t know who can do this!
There are many people hunting for work, and we are hunting for workers!
Thank you for this useful management tricks. Mikey @ Father of the bride speeches
What I love best about this post is the “pot calling the kettle black”-ness of it all. One bullshit artist ripping another bullshit artist, so amusing. One thing that gives Ferris a leg up, however, is that I can’t imagine him writing some overwrought emotional rant about you. Plus, you gave him more free publicity. One of you is definitely smarter than the other.
I got here through Googling “How does Tim Ferris manage to be so many people in just four hours a week?”
In fairness, I was quite happy.
You seem like a douchebag man… This post just made me want to read 4 Hour Workweek. Timothy Ferris won that competition by just pushing those Chinese dudes out of bounds? That is baller! Don’t hate on someone just because he is clearly more successful than you.
I really don’t like your post… I started to read the book but you know what? Like everything, you have to let go some of the things… you don’t have to apply everything to your own situation.. .I’M really sorry but the way you’re writing this post… you look like a very jealous person! And I trully thing that doing something you really love (like promoting a book for exemple) is not really work. Trust me, I’m an accountant and I can tell you what work is! ;)
These tips are the real deal – no screwing around, this is the way people really save time. The best thing about these is that you actually enjoy employing them. Much appreciated.
Jared
Hey Penelope,
This will probably end up in the white of this post, but I’ve been a fan of Tim’s work for a while at this point. Then again, I like Bill Phillips, Tony Robbins and most other self-help people with an interest. After I read his book a couple times (and I’ll probably read it again), I have to say I respect the guy. He found something that worked extraordinarily well and was able to market it in a very appealing way.
Then again, the same can be said about you. You have an Alexa ranking of 31,879 at the time of this post. And you wrote a book. And making money as a blogger. Most bloggers can’t do that and somehow you have. Who cares what he did? You’re successful, too.
Brian
Negative attention and publicity is still attention. Tim F. wins again.
OK it is great for some jobs (basically homeworking) but it is obviously not relevant for many.”the rat race”, “mid-life crisis”, and “same shit, different day” are common for a reason. The reason is that lots and lots and lots and LOTS of people are unhappy with their life, their job, their commute.
after reading this i cannot help feel Penelope is not connected to what she is really here to create. It is not jealousy; you just are not aligned.
:) all the best
I read Tim’s book back in late 2008 and once I started listening I knew there was going to be some fluff and semantics thrown in to expand the book, but I learned from Tony Robbins if I could just get one quality item of information then maybe it would be worth it.
I have to agree with this article though. The book promotes the “4-hour work week” like a fad diet that promises you will lose weight while gorging on unhealthy food. People want the easy way out but you need to work hard and smart. Almost every successful business was built on countless man/woman hours and dedication. Not skiing the French Alps while you automate your email responses.
Take what the book says and see what you can implement into your business. But, don’t think for a moment that you’re going to accomplish big things without the effort.
I like the 4HWW a lot. That being said Tim Ferris is the last person I would ever want as a friend for all the reasons listed here. Thank you for summing it up for me.
Your point about relationships is right on in my opinion. The thing is though, I think, some people like Tim cannot understand the pure value of supporting a relationship with so much time and energy – they are about having others outside acknowledge their successes and being financially compensated for their work. Quite a few people experience relationships in the periphery of their lives since they are unable to see the inherent value of mutual support amongst people. It’s too abstract for them.
I do think the majority of people do feel though that success isn’t real success unless you have people in your life to share it with.
However, people like Tim, truly cannot understand why others place so much emphasis on them (and in their minds “waste” their efforts).
Very well said and amusing to read your article and all these comments. Great stuff, and interesting perspectives on TF and his book.
Hi Penelope,
Firstly, how can a book not be about semantics? Tim has said himself in interviews ‘who would pick up a book called “The Four-Hour Menial Task Week”?’ The title of his book was purely the product of a tested marketing strategy. He aims to polarize people to be effective (same as you intended to do by saying you ‘hate’ him)
Would I have bothered to comment if this post was called ‘I don’t quite agree with Tim Ferriss’. Probably not.
‘Work’ in his book is basically stuff you want less of. A concept that’s easy to get hold of.
Secondly, you state that “Work is about learning and friends and growing and teamwork. All stuff that is intrinsically good.” For Tim, learning & creating friends isn’t work. This is stuff that he wants to do with his time.
His book is aimed at people who desperately need work-life balance. People who passionately want to spend more time on genuine relationships and less on the things that make them dread the day. Surely the word ‘work’ should disappear if you’re involved in tasks you enjoy & choose to do. The title of his book made it reach his intended audience.
He doesn’t advocate sitting on your ass or not bothering with relationships. He suggests working smarter.
In fact I’ve never seen anyone try so hard to create relationships with readers. He has answered questions I’ve asked & responded to comments on his blog quicker than an Argentine Tango spin. Unbelievably helpful to those who require his time for genuine reasons.
If we take a look at the reasons why you don’t like him: – So he asked you for coffee to talk about his book and didn’t take your first refusal. He played hard-ball with his publisher because he wanted his book to do well. He commented on your blog. He uses an auto-responder.
Surely if there were spam comments – simply don’t approve them. Same with filtering auto responses. Hardly grounds for hatred.
In respect to cheating, he doesn’t suggest you ‘push people out of the ring’ in life. Just that it would be wise to read the rules. What you do within those ‘rules’ is then up-to you.
Both GTD and 4-Hour are about priorities. Both have helped me to cut my day down from 14 work hours to 4 work hours a day (of necessary tasks) I’m happier, more productive and have more time for the things and people I love.
I think that Tim would be an excellent friend as he clearly prioritizes genuine friendships, cutting out fake friends who would just like to take his time up.
It sounds like when you told yourself not to be pissy over his coffee strategy; you just stored it up and turned it into a post instead.
Love this article and 4 Hour Work Week.But I ultimately decided it’s not a strategy I’d like to employ for myself.
I just read the 4 hour work week myself – great read that gave me lots of inspiration.
I just googled “Tim Ferriss douchebag” and this came up. I’m satisfied, thanks Penelope.
I have to agree wholeheartedly with this post. I can’t stand Tim Feriss and could never understand why people weren’t able to see through him from the start!!
Aha, Can’t believe the stuff Tim Feriss was able to do. I have to say, he was pretty slick in his own way.
Great post!
WOW, I would have read the whole thing but your child like bitching got to much for me. Penelope I would suggest that you find something creative to do instead of being bitter about your hum drum middle class life and then bitching about people who dont mind putting themselves out there and have made a success of themselves by doing it.
Warm regards,
Mr Cantstandbitchingmiddleclasslittlewhiners
You make me laugh.
You lied to Tim about having plans when you didn’t, he called you on it, then he (may or may not have, but probably did) lied to you about who he was going to be hanging with, and you then took him up on it, selfishly, in order to hang with these other people.
Which is fine.
But you lambaste him for “bait-and-switch”, thou liar?
Hilarious.
Awesome. Tim Ferriss is a worthless prick. Im glad someone else is picking up on this and speaking out.
It’s difficulty to develop good relationship with other people. But it is even more difficult to avoid self-centered people.
Time management is how to spend more time with good people and stop wasting time in selfish people.
No offense, but if I hated someone as much as you profess, then I would not want to have any contact with them and would basically ignore them. They spam your blog, they make a spam button for that. You don’t like his automated emails, don’t email him. You mad that he enjoys what he does and not call it work, do what YOU enjoy.
And no, I am not on this guy’s payroll just because I disagree with you.
You are missing the whole point about the 4 hour work week and his label of work vs non-work. His audience is a group of cube dwellers (or other suck all your time up jobs) that don’t like their current situation and would rather be spending their yournger years with thier families and or interests, not giving the best years of their lives to other people that are making the big bucks off their backs. Whether or not you think he is a jerk, he is giving cube dwellers hope that there could be another way out. Stop bursting the hope bubble. And you ARE jealous!
Extremely useful tips…i must say…You really sometime get a hard time when you are unable to manage your time smartly and efficiently.So, Thanks for the time…to write about the time… :)
Wow, good to hear someone tell it like it is. This post was hilarious– I agree- it was great that someone took the time, to write about how to manage your time. Kudos.
-Sylvia
Tim Ferriss is a self-centered fraud who simply tapped into the minds of the masses who actually believe something like the 4HWW is possible. This guy is so persuasive (in a con artist sort of way) even he could probably sell a broken down car to a used car salesman.
Take vacations? Enjoy life? Wow thanks for the obvious advice!