Timothy Ferriss offers the possibly of a 4 hour work week. At first when I read the title, I thought this was ridiculous. How can anyone work only four hours? So I had to buy this book just to see what Mr. Ferriss proposed.

Well he is asking us to not just dream of getting a million but to live the lifestyle of a millionaire where we rise above boring tasks and learn to live a life that allows time for fun, leisure, travel and other pursuits instead of being chained to an office all day. So what is his principle?

Well it's based on the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule, which states that 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of the effort, so instead of working hard, you learn to work effectively. Steven Covey also delves into similar ideas in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Covey encourages us to spend more time sharpening the saw because with sharp saw you can achieve more than working with a dull saw that yields minimal results even with great effort.

Ferriss gives a clear way to analyze where we can maximize our efforts and where we just waste time with needless tasks. For example, checking emails frequently is a low-priority activity and instead you may only need to check it once or twice a day. You can free your time to spend with people in both your personal and professional life.

Once you gain awareness into how to prioritize your activities, you can then eliminate the time-wasters and focus on the most effective use of your time. He recommends that you hire an assistant, find software or even outsource the activity and this a the controversial part of the book, since it gets into a number of ethical issues. Still I can appreciate his line of thinking that we can delegate the work in some way though I believe we must do so within clear ethical guidelines and with fair business practices.

I love this book for providing some sound advice on effective time-management strategies. I've also been reading Nexus: A Neo Novel and I recommend it for offering a powerful spiritual message of compassion and personal transformation. In that book, Logan Andrews works hard to meet deadlines as a journalist but his emotional state leads to a breakdown. At a spiritual retreat, he is forced through many unusual experiences to re-evaluate his life. Both books are different and good in their own way.

As a current wage slave, this book offers folks like me a glimmer of hope that I won't be stuck in a cubicle until I'm 65 (or older). Upon receiving it, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of his claims. I was pleasantly surprised at how attainable these types of goals seem to be, given the right amount of hard work and good fortune.

Aside from making excellent points about the nature of wealth and attaining it, the book is extremely easy to read (I tore through it in a total of about 3 hours) - almost like having a conversation with an old friend. Tim's writing style is engaging without being overly simplistic.

Definitely worth buying!

First up: this is NOT the book you want to read if you're waiting to start a shift at Subway, figuring out how you're going to pay for rent, food, and a doctor to examine that rash. Tim Ferriss's audience is smart, motivated people who are looking for a new direction. Many parts of the book are useful for anyone, with tips that can help you focus on what you want, manage your time, and approach new situations without fear. However, this is not about "getting out of debt" or "getting ahead at work" or even some quasi-mythical secret of success -- it's about how to structure your life and work so that you don't postpone the good stuff in life until retirement.

I found parts of the book jarring -- for example, the idea to outsource most of your busy work to foreign contractors for $4 an hour. Then again, I don't worry about buying stuff at Target or Walmart, who profit from outsourced manufacturing jobs (at $4 a day), and I suppose the idea would be comfortable to folks who already pay immigrants to clean their houses and tend their lawns. Someone will take the work, and this lets you focus on those tasks with a maximum return.

How do you fund your world-traveling lifestyle? Either with an automated business -- one that doesn't require your presence -- or a job that allows frequent telecommuting and long vacations. You must provide either a product other people want, or skills in demand (sorry, sandwich artists). Info on entrepreneurship articles and books are provided both in the book and on the companion web site.

The BEST parts of the book?
- Realize that the world changing trip you've been dreaming about probably costs less than a weekend at a Holiday Inn in North Carolina
- Ways to test-market your business ideas through cost-per-click Internet advertising
- Restructure your life to take advantage of mini-retirements before you get too old to enjoy them

Even if you're the Ferriss's antithesis, a fat middle-aged guy with a red BMW, you'll probably enjoy the spirit of this book ... on your way to your PowerPoint presentation on this quarter's latest sales figures.

This is a brilliant and fun book that I highly recommend.

He advocates many of the same theories as Alexandria Brown and Dan Kennedy -- being an entrepreneur, not trading time for dollars, outsourcing, protecting your time/access, leverage -- but adds that with a new idea of true independence to location and mini-retirements. The premise is to set up your business to such that you can answer your email 1x week, never check your voicemail, outsource almost everything, and live abroad 6 months at a time. And, instead of working like a dog for 30 years so you can retire "someday" - take mini-retirements now.

I do have to disclose that Timothy is a bit of a 29-year old bachelor punk, but I find him very entertaining (similar to Dan Kennedy old crotchety man-ness). :)

Some of his more entertaining tips include forcing yourself to be okay with being uncomfortable by placing calls to celebrities, making eye contact with everyone you meet for 2 days, and laying down on the floor in the middle of Starbucks for 10 seconds.

Some great advice I have already put to use:

-Only check email 2x a day, at noon and 4 pm. Wow, how efficient I become when I keep my mail program closed. And, my business has not yet exploded.

-Stop work at 4 pm. I am spending 4-5 pm in an activity that I would do if I was financially independent. Not sure what those activities are yet -- so far I have spent the time shopping, at happy hour, and reading a book in the park.

-Act as if you could only work 2 hrs a day. Now I am spending the first 2 hours doing the most important work for the day, instead of spending it on email. As such, I am able to get my work for the day done by mid afternoon, if not earlier -- since I do the most important work first.

And re the outsourcing ... if you are a socialist, you may not like this book. If you think that outsourcing takes advantage of people, or if you think unions are great, you may not like this book. This book is for smart, independent, capitalist-minded people, especially those who want to change their life and outsource their business to people who want to work for them (whether they are located in the U.S or overseas).

As Tim Ferriss says, he is inspired by Pareto's Principle, the 80/20 rule.

The bottom line is he creates the free time by ignoring the 80% that produces the 20% of results. His advice is practical too, he mentions he bought a PDA without web/email abilities so he wouldn't be tempted to check email constantly. (so he isn't superhuman after all!)

I'm starting a free weekly live interactive webinar to discuss the 4HWW (4 hour work week) principles and applications to our lives, if you are interested contact me at my website UniversityOfVictory dot com (read the President's Blog) I'm looking for co-hosts as well as listeners.

~Victory Darwin
(social entrepreneur, Trump University and Success University dropout, and President -University of Victory)