photographs: getty images, istockphoto.com
career
ight now in
the moneyworshipping
Us, legions of
disaffected
wage slaves are
halfway to escaping the rat race,
while simultaneously increasing
their salary, thanks to a little book
entitled the 4-hour Workweek.
it’s a title so preposterous that
the yanks, of course, had
to know more.
and once we
heard it was full
of revolutionary
new advice on
how to spend
less time in
the office, we
had to know
more too.
indeed,
author timothy Ferriss has laid
out quite a convincing manifesto
for a hands-off, hyper-efficient
lifestyle that promises near-instant
success, more free time and more
money. the book isn’t slated for
Uk release until april 2008 so
we’ve pulled out the best bits to
give you a head start.
Ditch your
fear of failure
The book argues that
what prevents many of us
from following our dreams
and becoming successful
entrepreneurs is fear. Fear that
if it all goes pear-shaped, and
the business fails, we’ll lose our
homes, our belongings and
become utterly miserable. But
Ferriss sees things differently:
“I soon realised that it wouldn’t
be that hard to get back to where
I was, let alone survive. None of
these things would be fatal, not
even close.” If life does deal you
a bad card it’s unlikely to be
permanent and the positives of
taking a chance far outweigh
the perceived negatives.
1
take ‘mini
retirements’
humans need alternating
periods of activity and rest to
survive, let alone thrive. capacity,
interest and mental endurance
all wax and wane so work this into
2
R
your grand plan. strike out when
you feel effective but take ‘mini
retirements’ throughout life instead
of waiting for the fool’s gold of
retirement proper. as Ferriss puts
it: “By working only when you are
most efficient, life is more effective
and enjoyable. i now aim for one
month of overseas relocation for
every two of work projects.”
24 / www.ShortList.com
3
stick to your
strengths,
outsource
your weaknesses
“It’s far more lucrative and fun to
leverage your strengths instead
of attempting to fix all the chinks
in your armour,” explains Ferriss.
So if you’re opening a baker’s
shop, concentrate on baking
good bread rather than making
a bad job of painting the sign in
the front window. Outsource the
jobs you can’t do and you’ll earn
more from the ones you can.
4
Work less
and join the
‘New Rich’
A new business bible
is taking America
by storm. Will Rubin
believes it could make
a vastly wealthier
man of you
The new office
was acceptable
Be liberated from the modern world’s greatest
interuption by only checking emails twice a day
learn
‘Parkinson’s
law’
Ferriss is (perhaps rightly)
obsessed by what he calls
‘parkinson’s Law’. “it dictates that
a task will swell in [perceived]
importance and complexity in
relation to the time allotted for its
completion. it is the magic of the
imminent deadline.” in other words,
if someone gives you 24 hours to
complete a project, the pressure
will force you to focus on getting it
done. if they give you a week to
complete the same task, you’ll
more than likely put it off to the
last minute or get bogged down
in the details. the end
product of a short
deadline will
almost always
be of equal
or higher
quality due to
greater focus.
Counting the minutes to
world domination…
know when
to be Difficult
“In life, having a
reputation for being assertive
will help you receive preferential
treatment without having to beg
or fight for it later on,” he says.
Less than delighted by the
service offered by one of your
contractors? Tell them exactly
where they’re going wrong and
do it early. Your future self
will thank you for it when
screw-ups fail to materialise.
5
Do less
the holy-grail four-hour
working week is based
around ruthless prioritising. “if you
had a heart attack and had to work
two hours per day, what would you
do?” Ferriss asks. “What would
you eliminate to keep the
negative effect on income
to a minimum?” he believes
we’ve probably only got two
pressing priorities per day.
6
Do not
multitask
Following on from the
previous tip, if you prioritise
correctly, there is no need to
multitask. “it’s a symptom of
‘task creep’ – doing more to
feel productive while actually
accomplishing less,” he says.
“Divided attention will result in
more frequent interruptions,
lapses in concentration, poorer
net results and less gratification.”
7
8
ignore emails
Emails are the single
greatest interruption in
the modern world. To liberate
yourself from the tyranny of
Outlook, Ferriss advises turning
off the audible alert and the
automatic send/receive function.
Then only
check your
emails twice
a day – once
at 12 noon
and again
at 4pm, which
is statistically
when you’ll
have the most
responses
from your
It’s not popularity,
previously
it’s putting off work
sent emails.
“Never check them first thing
in the morning. This habit alone
can change your life.”
eliminate
meetings
“if someone proposes
that you meet with them or ‘sets a
time to talk on the phone’, ask that
person to send you an email with an
agenda to define the purpose first.
email forces people to define the
desired outcome of a meeting
or call. Nine times out of 10, a
meeting is unnecessary and you
can answer the questions, once
defined, via email.” only at 12pm
or 4pm, of course.
9
Delegate
everything
The self-help guru’s
coup de grâce is that you should
give your non-critical tasks to a
remote personal assistant so
that you can free your time to
focus on bigger and better
things. “If you spend your time,
which is worth, say, £12-£15
per hour, doing something
that someone else will do for
£5-£6 per hour, it’s simply
a poor use of resources.”
Yourmaninindia.com, for
example, offers a concierge
service that handles business
and personal tasks, working with
you in real time to complete work
while you sleep. This includes
everything from restaurant
bookings to researching market
initiatives for your company.
10
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