The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

There is a Warning on the back of this book that reads: "Do not read this book unless you want to quit your job."


How do you quit your 9-5 job, make $10,000+ every month, travel the world in style, and spend only four hours/week managing your business? Well, this book tells you how to do that. The author proposes that instead of working like crazy for 40 years and then retiring, we should find a way to take mini-retirements and do the things that we long to do in retirement (travel around Europe, become a master gardener, live in Thailand) NOW.

I read this book because I've seen it around a lot and wanted to know what it was all about...and doesn't the title sound enticing? I'm not really interested in running my own business or making tons of money. What I did learn was some tips for time efficiency. For example, the author suggests getting something checked off your To-Do list by 11am every morning and also only checking email twice a day at noon and 4pm. I tried those two things this past week and they have increased my efficiency and have made me question how I spend my time (do I really need to read so many blogs?...well, besides Sandra's and Ruth's? :D).

This book raises the question of What do I want to do with my life? And it proposes a way to make that happen. I think it can be taken at any level that is appropriate for each individual. It's just good stuff to think about. I mean, how many of us are stuck in jobs we hate waiting for someday to come? This book encourages the reader to do something and to get unstuck.

A quote: "Getting fired, despite sometimes coming as a surprise and leaving you scrambling to recover, is often a godsend: Someone else makes the decision for you, and its impossible to sit in the wrong job for the rest of your life. Most people aren't lucky enough to get fired and [they] die a slow spiritual death over 30-40 years of tolerating the mediocre." --Timothy Ferriss