4HourWorkweek

I recently read The 4-hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss (2009).

The book was an interesting read, providing a whole litany of ideas that TF proposes (and, presumably, has tried), with this end in mind:  Make plenty of money, offloading as much of the work from yourself as possible.

Yep, a whole book of strategies around doing as little work as possible while making as much income as possible.

I was intrigued by several of the ideas, and not so attracted to others.

Here are some of my big takeaways from the book:

• We will be happier if we do less work that we don't find meaningful.
• We don't have to make an "A" on every assignment.
• Spend little time/effort with "customers" who will never be happy and who will never add value to you or your organization.
• Free yourself from the need to read/know/consume everything.
• Focus your effort and energy on the things that you really want to do or accomplish in life.
• The accumulation of stuff never makes us happy (for long); it's the experiences that make for long-lasting satisfaction.
• Delegate freely, set clear expectations, and put systems in place for effective (but not omniscient) monitoring.

My two favorite quotes: 

• "There is more to life than increasing its speed." —MOHANDAS GANDHI 
• "If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake." —FRANK WILCZEK, 2004 Nobel Prize winner in physics  

One fundamental element of the book that I'm not buying is the obsession with income generation and monetary wealth.  I don't find real meaning in that premise.

But, I'm glad I read the book.  Thanks for the recommendation, DS.