Is The 4-Hour Work Week Desirable?

Timothy Ferriss’ “4-Hour Work Week,” is still hot. Especially after his show, “Trial by Fire,” premiered on the History Channel last week.

Timothy’s book, The 4-Hour Work Week (“4HWW”), lays forth a blue print, new-age lifestyle founded on outsourcing, automation, working wherever you want, taking mini-retirements, posing as an expert, checking email only two times/day and accomplishing challenging tasks.

Like a mullet, Timothy isn’t sporting a characteristic, he’s sporting a lifestyle.

Everyone is a skeptic when they first hear of Tim’s idea. “How do you survive? Can you really work four hours and make money?”

After a certain point, yes, it’s possible. But it’s harder than Tim makes it out to be.

First, you have to work extremely hard to get to the point of working only four hours a week. Like an airplane taking off, you have work extremely hard before you can get to cruising altitude.

However, I think an even more important question than, “Can you live off of working four hours per week,” is: “Who does it work for?”

Tim is single without a family to support. Will it work for someone who has kids flying around? Probably not. And if so, not for very long.

That’s really the main part of Tim’s book that I have a problem with. He believes that if he can do something, anyone can. I liken his reasoning to, “I have brown hair. I’ve never been struck been lightning; therefore, everyone with brown hair will never get struck with lightning.”

Additionally, his Chapter 8, “Outsourcing Life,” is drastically overstated. Tim reasons you can, “build an army of overseas MBAs for $5 per hour and do whatever you want.”

From my experience outsourcing, this figure is way too low. India MBA’s go for well over $20/hr. In fact, you may get an MBA in the U.S. at a cheaper rate. The outsource sector in India is bloated. Service providers in India have enough supply (work) to last for a long-time.

Although I disagree with his reasoning and outsource expectations, I think the rest of his book is quite valuable. He outlines a life-style that focuses on results. His philosophy is awesome.

In my own words, his philosophy is about aligning interests with output.

For the past four months I’ve experimented with components of Tim’s philosophy.

I’ve worked in a remote location for the past four months. It’s allowed me to focus on results, rather than busy-work. Granted, I’ve gone into the office at least once/week.

Additionally, I’ve developed my own lifestyle. Whereas Tim espouses 4 hours per week and working in a remote location, I’ve adopted a lifestyle that focuses on results and working in a remote location. The difference between 4HWW lifestyle and my lifestyle revolves around work. I work extremely hard, and it’s definitely a lot more than four hours per week. However, it doesn’t feel like work because it’s what I enjoy doing. I enjoy reading up on venture funds, researching, constantly getting a pulse of the industry, speaking with entrepreneurs and pulling due diligence all-nighters. Additionally, during nights and weekends, I involve myself with side-projects.

My lifestyle looks a lot like this:

Tim heavily espouses the four hour work week. But think of teachers or volunteers. Take for instance, a lady named Rachel, who’s job revolves around raising money for children in Africa. Should she work only four hours per week? Should she ditch her job of helping poor children, and instead take a two month vacation in Cabo?

I don’t think so, in fact the four hour work week can quickly become a rather selfish lifestyle. It tells you to focus on yourself.

The secret of this world: It’s not about you.

It’s about answering the question, “What passion can I embrace that result in making this world a better place?”

In the end, I think rather than striving for working as little as possible, you should strive to find a paying job that is aligned with your passion.