Inside Scoop

Photo: Mike9Alive

Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Workweek has a devoted following among the alpha geeks I know. The mix of productivity tips, how-to-buck-the-system bravado and sensible business advice — not to mention his cool ‘jobs’, e.g. travel and martial arts — make it the current geek bible.

But if you follow the rules exactly, you’re guaranteed not to start the next Google / YouTube / Facebook. (And the author says as much.)

The 4-hour work week is for people whose passions can’t or won’t pay the bills. It’s for people who would happily put in four intense hours’ work every week, so they can spend the rest of the week elsewhere.

It’s not for people whose passion IS their work.

The productivity tips in the book are applicable to startup founders, as is the business advice and even the ethos of outsmarting the system — but a four-hour work week is only suitable for certain types of businesses. Next Big Thing internet startup is not on that list.

If you want to build that hot new thing, get used to long hours. (Or even better, build something you’re so passionate about that the hours fly by.)

Then use those productivity tricks to work smart as well as hard. Tim Ferriss achieves more in four hours each week than most do in 40. You can use those tricks to achieve more than most people think possible: what Joe Desk-Jockey does in 10 weeks, you could find a way to do in one.

That’s the 400-hour work week: being 10x as productive as the average person.

Audacious? Sure, but aren’t all good startup goals?