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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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“Most people aren’t lucky enough to get fired and die a slow spiritual death over 30–40 years of tolerating the mediocre.�
– Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek
Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, starts every chapter with a quote from someone else, so I figured I would borrow one from him to start this review. Simply put, his book will change your life (or at least the way you think about your life). Whether you are an employee, entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur, Tim’s advice is invaluable.
Before you read further, I must warn you, this book is very dangerous. I literally almost quit my job the morning after reading the first 150 pages. Tim gives inspiring advice on how to leave the cube and become self-employed. He even lays out step-by-step instructions on how to come up with a product to sell.
One of the most useful sections of the book is when Tim describes how to convince your boss to work remotely. He may be making a stretch by assuming you can simply decide to be more productive on the days you work from home, but I think he’s right. I could be more productive if I decided to. It really is a choice.
He stresses many of the things we have stressed in previous posts. For instance, nine-to-five work is nothing more than a social norm that people feel they must follow and flexibility/telecommuting can foster greater productivity.
Hands down, the best chapter of the book is about self-automation. Tim lays out exactly how to outsource every part of your life to create more time for the important things. From writing a great business plan, to sending your fiancée an apology email – everything can be outsourced. I have already contacted one of his outsourcing agencies to do some work for me!
Tim Ferriss is not the average guy. He has some serious ambition, drive and a little craziness in him. Not everyone can be a National Champion in Chinese kickboxing, a world-record holder in tango, an actor in a hit television series in Hong Kong and a wildly successful entrepreneur. However, if we could all figure out what we would do if we had 36 extra hours per week and then pursue it, life would be a lot more interesting.
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Wow, awesome review. I’m really glad I ordered this book along with a few others (Brazen Careerist, Lessons from a (Very) Young Entrepreneur). Can’t wait to get home and read it!
You won’t be dissapointed by any of them, I promise!
I just finished reading this book a week or so ago, and I was definitely impressed. While I don’t agree with everything, I like that his book advocates a completely different “workweek”. I think that it’s so easy to think of the 9-5 workweek as normal that we never think of alternatives. Definite kudos to Tim Ferriss for taking the risk to work differently and then writing about it.
He also has a blog (www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/) that I recommend checking out.