Andrea Seydel Live Life Happy Unconventional Book Club Highlight
The 4-Hour Workweek
After reading the 4 Hour work week by Timothy Ferriss, it seems encouraging to think we can design our own lifestyle by being super productive and effective! Ferriss, isolates steps to achieve a work week that feels less like work and more like adding LIFE to your week! He referred to these steps with the acronym DEAL, since we are all dealmakers with our realizes and our lives!
STEP 1-DEFINTIION
(BE PRODUCTIVE INSTEAD OF BUSY)
It is time to redefine the norm or rules around work. Replace typical assumptions about what #success, retirement and work life SHOULD look like and challenge status quo. Ferriss emphasizes shifting your #mindset around the fact that doing less does not mean lazy and less achievement, but rather suggests being productive instead of busy. It's time for a system reset, as he puts it. Ask yourself, when has realistic and responsible held you back in the past? Can you highlight exciting and important dreams you desire for the next six months? The approach in the book, The 4-Hour Workweek, suggests facing fear straight on and don't ask permission.
STEP 2- ELIMINATION
(SIMPLIFY AND BE EFFECTIVE INSTEAD OF EFFICIENT)
It is time to decrease and eliminate on a daily basis and end time management all together. Ferriss says, when you focus on productivity and being effective you get closer to your goals. He says, take the Busyness out of business. Focus on one task at a time, simplify and finish. Use Pareto's law, also known as the 80/20 rule. 80% results come from 20% of your effort. ELIMINATE the things that are not effective and do more with less time. Ferries suggests to use count down time lines, decrease options, take a low information diet, eliminate time wasters, limit interruptions, and be selective with your time. Focus on the 20% of successful action that is producing 80% of your desire outcome. Conversely, eliminate the 20% of time wasters that is contributing to 80% of your ineffectiveness. A great question to ask yourself: Are you inventing things to do to avoid the important things?
STEP 3- AUTOMATION
(PUT THINGS ON AUTO PILOT AND OUTSOURCE)
Automation should be a huge focus and goal if your plan on decreasing time working. Put things onto auto pilot and out source work where you could make better use of your time. Ferriss, suggests online sales through finding a niche market you are familiar with, sell products or programs and automate the entire process. He suggest starting to build systems now with the end of working less in mind. Batch check emails, create auto responders, delegate tasks, eliminate paper mail, and magnify your efficiency. He states, automation is the key to working a 4 hour work week eventually.
STEP 4- LIBERATION
(ADD LIFE TO YOUR LIFE)
Embrace your out of office life. Start by increasing your value outside of the office. Prove your increased output out of the office and isolate the business benefit and productivity. If you are at an office, simply ask for expanding remote time. Ferriss, suggests simply pulling off the band aid quick, as quitting your day job is not permanent and you can always go back to an office job. He suggest trying tiny retirements or remote working to test the mobile lifestyle.
It's time to take back your time and life and as Ferriss suggests, it's time to redesign and renegotiate your life. Replace your assumptions and start reverse engineering for your true #goals. Be productive instead of busy and watch your success increase and your work time decrease!
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