Anyone read 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

Just finished it the other day and its pretty inspiring.  If anyone is looking to get out of the 9-5 grind I'd definately recommend it.
 
But, has anyone hear already read it?  Did you try any of the stuff?  
 
What would you do with your life if you only had to work 4 hours a week and could do it from anywhere with an internet connection?

what's it about?do you have an electronic copy ?

I quite fancy reading it actually... Apart from Amazon, who seem to charge delivery on every single item, are there any decent online book stores?

Autobot


I quite fancy reading it actually... Apart from Amazon, who seem to charge delivery on every single item, are there any decent online book stores?

 
try here http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/
 
is that the book where he out-sources his life?

a mate read it, he swears by it, not read it myself. He's also dont eh 60 min body thing or whatever it is by the same author

Yeah, how to get remote working from your day job so you can develop an online business which you then outsource so you can live life without a job but with money coming in.
 
Pretty inspiring although chances of making it happen are probably slim as still requires quite a bit of work I would imagine?
 
I think his other book, 4 Hour Body is a bit more dubious judging by the claims.
 
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/faq/
 

This is the bit I don't get at all.  If his whole idea is to get a job and then outsource it at a lower cost, why does it not occur to anyone simply to cut him out of the loop and outsource directly?
 
The whole book is a fantasy, I guess that's why it's so popular.

I read the first few chapters but couldn't see it actually going anywhere.  It's been by my bed for months now...

Wheels
This is the bit I don't get at all.  If his whole idea is to get a job and then outsource it at a lower cost, why does it not occur to anyone simply to cut him out of the loop and outsource directly?

 
That's not the idea.  The idea is to find a way to make money, preferably online, then once it is up and running outsource the process so you aren't doing the work any more.
 
I've done the first part, but haven't managed to outsource myself yet as its quite tricky!
 
 

Faux Real

That's not the idea.  The idea is to find a way to make money, preferably online, then once it is up and running outsource the process so you aren't doing the work any more.
 

 
But if you outsource all the work, what value are you providing?  How long before the people you have outsourced the work too work out they can cut you out and make all that margin for themselves?  Do you think once you've outsourced something, there is no work left?  What if whoever you have outsourced the work too fails to deliver? etc. etc. etc.
 
The whole idea that you can run a successful and worthwhile business with just four hours a week is a fantasy, nothing more.

Maybe the internet is a business model you can not encompass and comprehend Wheels.

Its old news, try the 230 minute week instead.

Form

 Maybe the internet is a business model you can not encompass and comprehend Wheels.

 
Maybe....but last time I checked the internet wasn't a business model.

Wheels
But if you outsource all the work, what value are you providing?  How long before the people you have outsourced the work too work out they can cut you out and make all that margin for themselves?  Do you think once you've outsourced something, there is no work left?  What if whoever you have outsourced the work too fails to deliver? etc. etc. etc. 

If you outsource the work your role is to direct or manage the outsourcers. 
 
Most people doing outsourcing work want the regular income and paid employment of doing their work.  They either don't have the resources of their own to copy your business or the skills to do so.  If you are worried about them taking over your business then you hire different people to do different tasks.  For my 'business' I hire someone to write content, another person to do search engine optimisation and so on.  They each do a different task which on its own isn't enough for them to cut me out if they wanted, maybe if they all joined forces...
 
My main problem has been, as you've mentioned is finding good people to do the work, its a lot of trial and error but I am getting there.
 
The 4 Hours a Week from the book comes from managing the outsource team.  Once they are trained up they would require little further instruction.
 
Have a look at this site: http://onlineincomelab.com/ for an example of an approach that gives instructions on how to outsource the building of websites.

Wheels it is possible a few friends who either own or are senior executives in IT/business based companies do this to varying degrees but as you've said there are numerous issues, some of which are mentioned. One company outsources much of its basic web/business design to Indian companies but results have  been variable and often poor which doesn't win customers/contracts.
 
Others who use UK based individuals/companies also have had problems not so much with loosing work but with unreliability/missing deadlines etc...
 
I think if the work that is outsourced is "fragmented" or elements/individual workstream i.e. not a complete piece of work, then its possible but can come with its own issues.
 
For example a CEO of a company I know well outsourced the basic population of a business/finanical system for a huge European company, all of the skilled work/architecture of the system was undertaken in-house but the donkey work outsourced (he did not want to use highly paid employees to undertake fairly routine work). The companies involved in this outsourcing would just not have had the contacts/relationships or ability to undertake the main contract.
 

As a bit of a cynic I have always been a bit skeptical of things like this, but my brother-in-law is an internet marketeer, not sure if that's the right term. He comes up with ideas to make money on the internet outsources the work and then sells the product/idea on. He is making fortunes, has a big house in a little village and works 3-4 days per week, admittedly not 4 hours, organising new products and outsourcing the work. If I didn't know he was doing it successfully I wouldn't believe it possible. Though I do get the feeling it is all a bit like pyramid selling and the people at the top (leaders) can make money by selling the aspirational lifestyle to a mass market (followers).
 
He says it's just a numbers game the more people you get your idea to the greater the sales. He has a certain %  contacts to sales figure that  he generally works to. After doing this he has got huge distribution lists he has built up, and the majority of the business he gets is from America!!
 
It has made me realise that someone somewhere will buy anything it's just a matter of finding enough of them!!!

Sounds interesting Edward. Can't you get him to teach you how to do it?

I'm always sceptical about these quick fixes, people not saying the OP are always looking for a quick fix in life, when they get a sniff of something that can achieve this, they cling onto the idea that it works, i think their hooked on the idea emotionally rather than logically and will even part cash in the hope of convincing themselves that they dont have to work hard in life. The lazy will always listen to people talking about shortcuts as they dont wanna face up to reality, this applies to getting rich, loosing weight etc. Just my taughts!
 
p.s not a dig at you FR.

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the only thing streamlining and outsourcing has enabled me to do is work on other projects which has meant more things to think about on a daily basis.
 
i would love to work a 4 hour day never mind week, i just can't see it happening. Although i have been looking to read this book if only to pick up some tips i can incorporate into my own work life.