The Lie of The Four Hour Work Week

Great! Tim, is misleading with his title. I think he does do a disservice by equating work and tedium. On the other hand he is simply playing into what probably 98% of the population believes. And he has done it successfully. I liked his book. I like his blog. I don’t believe he works 4 hours a week. I don’t believe anyone on their death bed will be satisfied with a life like that. That isn’t authentic happiness.

Thanks for this post. I thought the point you made about work being portrayed by our parents as something they did just to clothe and feed us was a good one — it brought up for me how sometimes we tend to feel virtuous for the suffering we experience in our work, and how attachment to that suffering can limit us. Whenever someone says to me “I wish I had the luxury of doing what I wanted for work like you, but I have a family or loans to pay off,” this definitely hits home.

Hey Jonathan, you have always had awesome content and thank you for pushing the envelope on these kinds of topics.

You’re right, Tim describes work as drudgery – something meaningless that we HAVE to do to survive. People HATE the 9-5.

I think that MOST people will never find a job that they’re PASSIONATE about. I know that your eBook hits on this exact topic, but most people will not be able to read your eBook or act upon it. I believe that Tim’s advice is for the masses.

Few people have the leadership qualities and the aspiration to change the world and make it a better place. The masses just want to get by in life and enjoy it along the way. For example, I have a friend who is content with going to work, eating dinner, and then watching Lost or TV or Hulu. He likes to party on the weekends and hang out with his girlfriend. I think this guy is the masses. Work will always be drudgery to this person because work is just a source of income for him. Tim’s book targets him because it would allow my friend to self-automate his income so that he can spend more time relaxing in life.

It’s hard to write the point I’m trying to make through a comment. I feel a post is more in order. Look out for a blog post response later this week.

I love the post either way and I’ll make sure to Tweet it out!

- Jun Loayza

Penelope Trunk as inspiration, well, I guess we all have to get it from someplace.. Occasionally she has some interesting blog articles, once you get past her torn apart marriage, sexual promiscuity, and blatant self loathing…

Thanks Jonathan.

I love how you equate work with things like meaning and purpose and a sense of something sacred. And I laughed out loud when you made the analogy about our cultural attitude towards work being like a 6 year old trying to get out of doing chores.

Personally, I am very happy that I am longer 6. Being a grown up is so much more fun. And having work that allows you to feel like you are contributing to your community, where you use your talents and gifts to their best advantage, and where you experience fulfillment and self respect is a joy like no other.

It’s time that the whole concept of work was reclaimed by the adults of the world and I am glad to see you doing that here!

Jonathan,
Of course the four-hour workweek is BS. I have been thinking this ever since I got about 40 pages into the book. I think we can all work to lighten our load, slow things down. The exception to that is when we really find something that fits for us. Even then it makes sense to keep it in check. Why ruin a good thing?

Check out the TED video by Carl Fiore (I think that’s it) author of The Power of Slow.
Slow is a much more Illuminated point of view.

Thanks for saying out loud (so to speak) what I’ve been thinking of for some time.

Mike

@ malingerer: “Sexual promiscuity?” People still use that term to describe women who enjoy sex??

@ Jonathan: Except for insisting, as usual, that a 9-to-5, if carefully chosen, can be lucrative and fulfilling, I loved everything about this article, and especially “I think it’s the lack of purpose, the lack of depth in our work that leads us to chase ideas like a four hour workweek and autopilot income.”

This post speaks to the value and necessity of defining terms for ourselves.

If we do not define terms, such as success, wealth, rich, poor, retirement and work then, by default, we are being led by social conventions — the paved road.

I’ve not read 4HWW but it seems to feed into the desire to break from social conventions yet only leads others to follow someone else’s definition of “work.” This is not my idea of promoting independent thought, which is truly the path leading away from the paved road of social conventions.

“Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.” ~ Martin Heidegger

Compelling post, and I agree with it.

Sometimes I think of work as play, and only 4 hours a week wouldn’t be fun at all.

Read about it at: http://yesbutstill.blogspot.com/2009/02/work-is-fun-personal-musings-on-notion.html

Hey man, just wanted to stop in and let you know that your blog is a huge inspiration for me as far as content goes.

This post is no exception. Thought provoking and well written as always.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I quite like 4HWW, but like anything else, wouldnt necessarily approach it as doctrine :)

Another recommendation: Life Entrepreneurs (http://www.lifeentrepreneurs.com/)by Chris Gergen and Gregg Vanourek. They explore a continuum that combines social entrepreneurship with lifestyle design. Its very inspiring!

A friend and co-worker once said to me: All work has value. I totally agree.

And it does, from the janitor and mailroom staff to those who do the endless (and generally unnoticed and unrewarded) stuff that keeps small and large companies alive. And our society moving along each day.

Here in the city, we could not survive without the garbagemen and the taxi drivers, for example, people who often take a lot of abuse from the very people who need and use them the most. And we all know how easily our days go from OK to awful after interacting with others who are miserable in their jobs.

I agree that it is important to focus on your passion and try to match your skills and experience in work (in its broadest sense).

But…and yes, there is a but. It is simply not possible for everyone to be engaged in work that reflects their passion. Because passion often exceeds ability, skills and opportunities (present and future). And that was before the economy went in the tubes.

It’s a harsh reality but one that many people working at or below the mandated wage face every day. Sometimes a job is just that: A job. Not a career. Not one’s passion. A way to pay the bills and if you are lucky, allow you the freedom in your spare time to pursue a hobby, interest, or passion for which you cannot make enough money to live, but can still enjoy and add meaning to your life. (and often that of others)

It’s a reality that many people who made above-average salaries and had really good and creative jobs have learned in this economy, when many are now baristas and retail sales clerks–jobs they never had before and are shocked to see how demanding and exhausting they can be (wow. The same 8 or more hours you worked before for thousands of dollars a week. Now you only get $10 an hour. Gee, now you know how all those folks you stiff, ignore and act nasty to in restaurants, etc. feel at the end of the day.)

I’ve worked all kinds of job from the most menial (mailroom staffer and go-fer to better paid office temp) to being a consultant for Fortune 50 companies, a VP of a PR firm that serviced one of the top five U.S. brands.
I had a good time doing them all, once I set aside how I was treated by some of the customers and staffers. None of them ever reflected what came to be my personal passion but I always threw myself into whatever I did 150% or more because to me, you did what you did VERY WELL. You excelled just because that’s the way you do things. Always improve, make it better. Even if you’re NOT paid to do so. Without attachment to the results. (When I worked in retail, I did not get paid commission as others did. I still outsold everyone else.)

What I saw was that how someone approached their “work” (however you define it) and how well someone did a job was not based on how much they were paid, but on their own professionalism. I saw a lot of professionalism in “low-level” employees and a true lack of it in many very well (and over-) paid execs.

It’s not your title, your actual job or who you work for that matters. It’s that old-fashioned thing called a work ethic. And a good work ethic doesn’t mean you have to recast what you’re doing into something it isn’t just to get through the day. It’s possible to do anything and not look down at it or, conversely, to make it more than it is to you (and that includes the well-paying jobs that many have but are still unhappy with). Work often is actual servitude, even with those who have a Zen attitude to life and deep gratitude.

You do the job as best you can, no matter how much you’re paid. You work well and with pride, whether you’re cleaning a bathroom (something I did as a VP because the owner of the firm refused to hire a cleaning person!)or making a pitch for a multi-million dollar account. You work as best you can, not to impress, to get a raise or to move up the ladder. But because it represents an investment of your time and energy and as such, you owe to yourself.

Pride in work comes from within.

It has to be that way because quite frankly, most people and companies you work for have NO respect for their employees; treat them like crap and drain them of their health, energy and well-being.

To pretend that many working conditions are not as bad as they are, or to use it as an excuse to NOT do your job–both are unacceptable.

If we all treated each other with more respect and compassion, without regard to title, position or income level, and with gratitude for the work that everyone does, we’d find that we wouldn’t have to focus on these semantics about what work is, and isn’t. It just is…

Some jobs are NOT about self-expression or creativity or passion,nor could they be. I’m not sure I agree with the choice of the word “sacred” as being one that describes all work.

All work has value and should be acknowledged as such. All people have value beyond what they do and what they are paid.

But I get mighty tired of people acting like “work” is not WORK. With all that implies. It is NOT an option for the majority of people, something that will always make it challenging for many reasons. And even though it can and does make a difference, it’s still often physically, emotionally and mentally tough. And there’s a big difference in how the world views the work of say a doctor or a subway clerk. Yet both have value.

Got a little off the track here, but this article just annoyed the heck out of me (possibly because it started off with a reference to Penelope Trunk. When she’s your inspiration, well, enough said.)

Tim was honest about his title being nothing more than derived from a PPC campaign, it got more clicks than any other title.

Excellent post Jonathan, this is why you’re one of my favourite bloggers!

Cheers,
Glen

Hey Jonathan, thanks for saving me the four hours I would have spent reading the book and probably coming to a “WTF, I paid for this in time and treasure?” conclusion. It was on my list of books I should have read by now but was too busy having fun at work to get to. Instead, I’ll spend 13.5 minutes commenting on your blog. I love ROI :-)

I wonder how many people out there have to “sneak around” early mornings, late nights and weekends to “work” because those around them have a pre-defined notion that work is something you do in someone else’s office 9-5? I know two people off the top of my head who have to “hide” the fact they are doing work from their spouse, almost to the level of “I’m having an affair” covertness.

Work is not a bad word. My work is who I am. My company is who I am. Why is that not celebrated more often? My work makes it possible for the people around me to be who they are as well. Why is that bad?

Hi Jonathon,
Great post. Your distinction between work as a chore, or burden, and work as illuminating and edifying play is a great one. As one of your commenters quoted, “work is love made visible.”

I coach people in the act of creating, and I like to use John Ruskin’s description of art/creating as a definition of “good work” — it’s the place where the head, the hands, and the heart all come together to produce desired results.

Thanks for this. Much appreciated!

I really love you way you expressed the true meaning of work, I appreciate the thoughtfulness. Tweeted!

On a side note, pay someone else to do those taxes! That way you create value for whoever loves doing taxes and you can spend more time on the work that directly provides the most value to you which in turn indirectly gives the most value to others.

Hi Jonathan, I have to admit – I also tend to think of “work” as something you have to do, but don’t want to. But, I think the idea that you presented in this post, that “work is sacred” is a much better way of perceiving what’s really work. Making a contribution with something that you love to do is the best possible “work” scenario that I can imagine. Thanks a lot.

Jonathan! What an honor to be included in this list. Thanks so much for thinking of me and for the sweet sweet link.

I’m calling you tomorrow, bro!

–Clay

Nice post. I think it is a very to-the-point speech by Steve Jobs at Stanford:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

There’s so much that the western world doesn’t understand and takes for granted. I’m exceptionally lucky to be born in the UK and have a service based job.

Most people in the rest of the world work simply to survive; you think that the men, women and children that made your clothes, iPod, laptop and the seat you’re sat on love their job, and have time to worry about hobbies? 12-16 hour work days, 6-7 days a week are extremely common in many parts of the world and these jobs that us westerners have outsourced are rarely glamorous and almost never pay enough for a hobby.

Most of the world works simply to make ends meet. You’re just lucky enough to be from a part of the world where that’s not always the case.

It’s absolutely essential that the rest of the world does the jobs we tut and think we’re too good for, and gets paid just enough to afford a roof and a small amount of food every day, so that we can continue to wipe our asses with luxury toilet paper, earn money by typing and talking to each other, and complain when the bus is 4 minutes late.

I feel guilty purely for being born, and I hope that everyone who’s born healthy and in a developed nation feels exactly the same.

Johathan I am always inspired by your posts. It is true, work is not bad. I have had jobs that sucked the life out of me and then jobs where I felt I soared. Life is now. We should all be soaring. Thanks for your work in elevating the human condition.

Thanks, as always, for perspective.

I think it’s also worth saying that you can make a job that feels like a chore feel more like play, just by changing your mindset and your daily activity. So, get your “tasks” done as fast as you can, and then actually interject play into your work. Here’s a post I actually wrote – at work! – about some ways to play on the job :) http://tr.im/8h0i

Jonathan,

Thank you very much for this post. I was feeling very guilty about ignoring Twitter because I wanted to write instead. After reading this post, I give myself permission to put social networking aside for a day or two…well, actually it’s been a bit longer…but hey at least I am writing.

I really liked this line, “Just because we’re born with a bad definition of something doesn’t mean we have to keep it.” Oh, there are so many things this applies to:~)

Jonathan,

You said if you do escape from work that:

“Sure, you’d have a lot of free time, but is that really what you’re looking for? Just free time?”

Tim Ferriss makes it clear throughout the book that he’s not encouraging people to simply create gobs of free time just for the sake of it.

In both the beginning of the book, where he encourages readers to define what they really want to spend their life doing, and the end of the book, where he looks at the issue of greater purpose, he’s clear that more time isn’t the goal–rather, more time to do what we’d rather do is.

@Jonathan

After reading your original post, I feel a need to defend Tim Ferriss a bit. I think your post is engaging in “semantics,” meaning that it makes it appear that there is more disagreement than there actually is, by defining words differently.

Specifically, you use “work” to represent sacred, passion-driven, creativive activities that generate value for self & others. Time Ferris uses the word “work” to represent the drudgery-filled jobs most people engage in. So obviously the sentences you each type about “work” are going to be different. But I don’t think your end-goals really are.

You’re all about following your dreams here. So is Tim Ferriss. In fact, the first exercise in his book is “dreamlining,” defining dreams one wants to realize and doing some broad-brush outlining on what it takes to achieve them. The rest of the book is filled with techniques for making that happen, by creating time, income & mobility. What you spend your “free time” on is up to you. Ferris suggests travel, lifelong learning and service. In any case, he is clear that the point isn’t to create time to sit on your butt – he says excess free time is a poison! – but to create time to do what is really important to you.

The main difference between the two of you is that Ferris is up-front about the possibility that what you love, what you’re passionate about, and your dreams aren’t necessarily going to correspond with what the rest of the world is willing to pay you for. Even if you figure out a way to make money off your passion, you may still spend much or most of your time in other activities. For example, you might produce a product related to your passion, but if you spend most of your time managing, advertising, marketing and shipping, most of you work time is still not actually spent on your passion itself. Or you might, say, paint, but to make money you end up painting what others want to buy, not what you yourself want to create.

(Penelope Trunk, incidentally, talks about the same problem. Her suggestion? Give up on doing your passion full-time, get a not-dream job, and follow your passion as a hobby only – a pretty far cry from your perspective here at Illuminated Mind.)

What Ferris primarily proposes is a way to separate INCOME from ACTIVITY. That means you can stop doing a lot of money-producing things, things you don’t want to do, and can instead do what you love, what you dream, what you’re passionate about, without having to worry about either being a “starving artist” or contorting your passion into a cash machine.

If your passion pays pretty directly, that may not be necessary. But if your passion cannot pay, or can’t pay in its pure form or the form you dream of, then having an automated income stream may be the most efficient way to stay true to yourself.

That may not be the path you’ve chosen, but it does seem to be leading up the same mountain.

Yes, there’s definitely flaws in Tim’s ideas (specifically his method for making a “muse”), but I know for me the books was more a call to arms to grab hold of my life. I agree with a previous post that this is a bit of a semantic argument.

For those who have broken out and are working and making a sole living on something more meaningful to them, I’d say one problem is being overwhelmed with new projects. You love you work so much that you overextend yourself. I know that’s my problem. I need to learn to say no, and better leverage the time I have. I think the 4HWW can help a bit in this matter (talk of VA’s).

If you don’t learn to do this, I think you create a lot of stress for yourself. You could consider it “good stress” because it’s doing something you love. But it’s still stress nonetheless.

Hey Jonathan, great post as usual! You have a great way with words. I agree with you that we need to redefine the concept behind the word but I think that you are missing the point behind 4hww, Tim’s ideas revolve around Pareto’s Principle, instead of trying to do everything just strive to do the few activities that brings you the most results. If you read tim’s blog you will also see how he explains that he spends between 4 and 6 hours a day writing and he goes on to clarify that the idea is not only to work 4 hours and then do nothing but to have more time to do the things that really matter to you.

Thanks for this post–it’s the second one this week that mentions Finance Your Freedom.

I like the idea of adding value to other people’s lives.

I second the commenters, saying that your and Tim’s view align pretty well. I read the 4HWW and found the idea of “financial freedom” or “independance from income” very fascinating. The reason being: you can be anywhere in the world (travel is costly….), doing the things you love and be refreshed whether “working” (= doing the things you love) or sipping martinis at the pool to relax and gather new zest for the things to come, which I think both things are fine in their own right – it is a dream life which does not rule out at all that you can be of service to others and contribute to the world.
I simply says “don’t you (ever) worry about money any more” – after achieving financial freedom you are completely free to become and do pretty much whatever you want and whatever you do – and I don’t think this is only for the “young and handsome” – read about Steve Pavlina who finances his “more of free time with his family” with his Blog by providing great content about what he loves – after all he promotes passive income also.
I think that passive income is the best way to live your dreams – even if that means working in a company (!) that you love, 9-5 – the vacations you can take from your added passive income allow you to travel the whole globe – so I don’t think that there is anybody who would not profit from passive income ;).
Your post complies with one of the basic “making noise”-rules (in the good sense) in the blogosphere and elsewhere: polarize people(!) – I for one liked the 4HWW pretty much and just had to comment on your post (well done here :) ). Where Penelope goes over the top in my opinion (won’t read any of her other posts – too much senseless ranting for me), you strike the right balance. Keep it up!

Thank you!

I haven’t read the book, but have felt the exact same way about it. Even if it’s something I love doing it’s still work. Most definitely. And it’s hard work.

Well said. Woo hoo! (Can you tell how happy I am you published this post? ;) )

I agree with you definition of work and your take on Tim Ferris’ book. Strangely I just wrote a post similar to yours. http://tinyurl.com/davw9n

This is very noble sounding, and perhaps what your regulars want to read, but it has very little to do with the world most of us live in.

Work is sacred according to most of the world’s spiritual traditions. Why is it, then, that our society so often turns work into something profane and dehumanizing? It’s sad, but true, at least in the corporate world, that most jobs are designed to achieve the polar opposite of what you offer as the ideal for work. Is it any wonder that so many working people become so miserable and sick?

What about all those jobs that nobody really wants to do? How many more of them can be outsourced?

The four-hour work week is false advertising, agreed. So is the notion that everyone can become self-actualized through work. There are many, many factors that exclude the possibility of this utopian view.

I’d like to live in such a world, but it’s the exception, not the rule.

Wow great article. There are so many ways of loving your work even if you have no apparent choice about what you actually do. I count myself as someone privileged to be able to do a job I love, with great people and feel like I am making a decent contribution at the same time. (Eco-architect, mostly designing schools.)

I love the work I have been doing the last 4.5 years. The years before that, I always found jobs where I’d figure out a way to enjoy it, but this job is just great. See, I’m raising a piece of software. Literally. As it grows, I grow. Like a parent and child.

I still try to keep things simple. Sleep, live, work. And since I am a libra who loves balance, it’s 8 hours for each. I don’t mind that at all.

Often times, I’m not sure which piece of my pie I like most, considering I love all three as much.

First off this review is not accurate. Number one you are taking his out of context. Reminds me of why there are 50 million religions. that is because when people read something they interpret it the way they want to. What tim is saying is that work is a excuse to do more of work. Hence the upward divorce rates, children going crazy, ect. This is because when people get away from the arena of self, they can focus on the people they affect around them. Work is a sorry excuse to feel busy. And if you don’t feel bored after working 4 hours then you are not focusing your time correctly. At the end of the day this is not to bash this website. I can say because of applying tim ferris principles I now have left my job that I was sad, My relationship was suffering, my mom was sick. and now that I work less I can enhance these. So before writing a horrible review think and understand first. Tim has changed my life. He has given away $5,000 dollar information for 19.95. He has told you how to get a assistant for 4.00 this information pricless for other people it means nothing. Be blessed to success.

You are a true hater. This book was eye-opening on a countless number of levels. It provides practical advice for all people stuck in “cubicle nation.”

I completely agree with Micheal’s last post. It is basically a semantic argument about the word “work”. Both Tim ferris and the author of this blog are heading more or less in the same direction, and that’s what is really important.
All the best!

Work is sacred? Do you have that printed on a great big sign at one corner of the sweatshop you run? I imagine this was the same line the guy banging the drum fed to the slaves chained to the oars. Work is sacred my a$$.

The heart of Tim’s book is an assertion that you must live in the now – to embrace your dreams in the now – and to never defer your happiness for some murky “future”. “Work” as is generally understood is a social convention designed to maximize the output from uninspired laborers. As long as “workers” feel “grateful” to “employers”, the convention is reinforced and perpetuated.

As someone who is waking up to the lie, I was and am inspired by Tim’s ideas. The core thesis is that your time is sacred – not work. So make the best of it.

Your awesome! I argue with my parents about this stuff all the time (I’m on your side). =)

“All sides of opinion, feed an open mind. Your values are twisted, let us help you unwind.” Peter Gabriel

I appreciate all the comments on this blog except those from people who have not read, or completed the book. There are too many uninformed opinions out there and this just drives that point home for me.

I also find it very interesting that someone who is promoting his own philosphy on this subject, and has a book of his own, is so objectional to anothers work. Seems a bit self-surving to me. Especially since it definitely appears that your philosophy aligns so well with Tim’s. As I said, interesting.

I am interested in pursuing your material as well since I am not one to read one book, or accept one persons views, as the Holy Grail of life. It appears that you have alot to offer and as my opening quote suggests, I am open to all sides of an argument. In fact, that is why I came to this article. How much research did you do to determine the “click” value of your title? :)

The logic in this article is flawed. You realize the problem is that people don’t like work. Tim Ferriss also realizes this in his book and offers a solution. But you simply offer a different solution to this problem and do not explain why the four hour work week is a lie.

Also, you try to redefine work. Its gonna take a lot to pull that off.

you don’t like Tim, so you can’t understand his ideal

The book is misleading, using The 4 Hour Work Week, but the points that are not:
1. Get off your XXXX and do what you want or have a passion or dream. Action.
2. If anything change your thought process, look at things from a different angle.
3. In today’s economy, how can you open a business and be cost effective by not outsourcing.
4. Becuase of the economy, more new businesses will be started over the next twenty years by those who no longer believe working for someone else is the answer.
Forget the 4 hour work week, think of it as anyother self help book. Did it cause you to think, but more important, did it inspire you to do something. If you did do something, the books value is twenty fold.

The 4 Hour Work week completely opened my mind up to a new way of thinking about life and work. I think the book is really, really good. I think people get hung up on some of the specific things he says rather than the spirit of the book. The book is written from the perspective of a physical young man and some of the things he’s into aren’t the same things I am because I’m a 40 something woman. I still saw the spirit of what he was talking about and looked to ways I could break out of my own limiting thinking. Also, being an artist, he opened up a world of thinking about money that had eluded me.

Frankly, after spending the past year studying Internet marketing, I’m finding I want to go back and read the 4 hour work week again.

This is my first visit to your blog and you seem like an intelligent, searching person so I don’t want to criticize you, but I wonder if using the provocative title wasn’t a little unfair to Tim Ferris? He certainly doesn’t advocate that you spend the rest of your week smearing cocoanut butter on your stomach, but that you are freed up to do the things you are passionate about.

The problem is Tim is a liar. he hasn’t done half of the things he claims in the book. Anyway he is a great marketer and there are plenty of stupid people out there who believe him – so why not?

and for the people that are trying to get to a 4 hour work week – Tim is gone for a long time. With the money he made he has invested in start up companies, and now he hangs out with some of the popular leaders of the silicon valley. This is the way he gets around: going after leaders, use them, and then dump them.

Opinions can be swayed but verifiable facts cannot be disputed. Has anyone here applied Tim’s principles successfully? Has anyone even tried? If so, please sound off. Debate can go on forever, but seeing (even if just once) is believing.

Your two points for why the 4HWW are a lie are YOUR opinions/perspectives. Your presentation of work as sacred has precisely the same tact as Ferris’s arguments; you’re shaping the perspectives of your readers.

Work is no more sacred than it is a chore; it’s opinion akin to “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

I can respect your opinion; it’s what YOU think of the 4HWW. Try to be a little more mindful, however, that what may not work for you won’t work for someone else.

Your opinion does not prove something to be a lie.

Hi, I love your perspective on the book and Ferris’s ideas.

I’m reading the book now and have loved it so far. I don’t think we need to take the idea of a 4 hour workweek as literal, a 14 hour workweek might be more realistic, or even a 24 hour workweek. Some people who have built wealth in their lifetimes have 1hr work weeks.

What I found as I started reading the book is that Ferris is like most of us, he looks to get more done and wants to enjoy life as well, in an over extreme way. I personally don’t care about sports that much or all that other stuff he talks about in his bio. HOWEVER, I would like to take more time to enjoy myself and vacation in places like Fiji or California, spend more time with friends and family and do other things I’ve always wanted to do etc etc.

This doesn’t mean that we have to view work as something to eliminate. I think I’d want to do what I was doing even if I was FI. I actually have plans for a mini retirement(image that at 19:D), coding open source projects and contributing my skills for nothing in return(both as servitude and because I love doing it). I could do this at home, at an office or laying on the beach with a cigar and a laptop.

I AGREE with you that work is sacred, but there are different definitions of work as well: no one says it has to be 4hrs and no one says it has to be 40hrs a week. Some work takes longer than other work. Some people’s work is building their wealth, other people’s “work” is ruthless discipline for a shot at the Olympics. I might agree with you more than I agree with Tim’s view on work. I like his no bs view: “don’t focus on the minutia” but most people would be bored out of their skulls with Tim’s life, basically because most people haven’t got a clue what to do when they don’t have work. And that can be OK, but not when there’s other things in life out there that should be enjoyed.

Overall if you take bits and peaces out of this book and apply it to your own work/career life you can benefit. You don’t need to live his life but I believe something valuable can be taken from this book. Somehow it’s almost like E-myth. The only thing I get confused on is this concept of working only 4hrs a week, up front he presents it as a novel idea, once you’re in the book you realize this is nothing new, people have been finding ways to leverage their time and resources for years and years. And the fact that he used the Internet doesn’t make it any newer an idea, it’s just another way to make money. Just as realistic as, 100 years ago, creating a car company and selling model T’s or starting a bank.

It all depends on where you want to go, what you’re working for, and what else life has to offer you/what else you want to experience.

Enjoyed reading your article:)

Cheers, and Happy New Year!
Clinton Skakun

This does not make sense.

Tim defines work as “stuff that you don’t want to do, (but you do it anyway to make money)”
According to you (and I agree), most people define work as “[akin to] slavery, toiling and punishment. Work is seen as something you have to do to pay your dues”

So, what you’re saying here is: Most people agree with Tim’s definition of work.

Then you state that Tim’s definition is too narrow.
But most people agree with Tim.
Words are typically defined by what most people think. (“duck” only means “duck” because people believe that that’s what it means)
Thus, it’s not that Tim’s definition is too narrow, but rather that your definition is too broad!

Where you say “work”, most of us would say “activity”

So when Tim says we’ve got to do less work, you interpret this to mean that we should do less activity, i.e. have boring lives. This leads you to write: “Sure, you’d have a lot of free time, but is that really what you’re looking for? Just free time?”

Of course not! Ferris devotes a whole chapter to the pursuit of meaningful activities once work (what you would call “chores”) has been minimized. That chapter is called “Filling the Void”. Here’s a quote: “Isn’t more time what we’re after? Isn’t that what this book is all about? No, not at all. [...] For some, the answer will be working with orphans, and for others, it will be composing music. I have a personal answer to both – to love, be loved, and never stop learning.”

It seems to me that you and Tim agree on almost everything! The only thing you disagree on is the definition of “work”. And for that you call him a liar.

It just doesn’t make sense.

I really like it when people define their terms upfront. But when people start throwing accusations around about definitions and perspectives…. It’s childish. Furthermore, I am sure you picked the title of this post for much the same reasons that Tim picked his title for. In short, you are being a hypocrite. So much simpler to write about the how your perspective changes when you define this differently.

Hater!

Hi, I think most of you take 4HWW much too litterally.

Book is not about hating jobs, it’s about doing things you love. It could also be working! Yes it’s provocative, but that’s just to make a point to stop for a while and think why you are doing the things you are. Many seems to be stucked with the book title and don’t understand it. The book covers ideas how test and build you thing, including marketing. The title of the book is exactly that, it’s couple of words that sells the idea, not the message itself. The message is in the book if you care to read it. I didn’t buy everything in the book, but I started to think little bit more out-of-the-box and that’s fine result from one book.

For me the main point in the book was to beginning to think about value creation which is not directly connected to spending your time. Tradiotional working usually links those things together.

BTW this blog is exactly Tim’s idea in use. So while we are writing, we are taking part of blog owners “muse” :)

The thing that bugged me about 4HWW was that he didn’t start from 4hr workweek to make his money. He happened to get into vitamin supplements at the beginning of the craze, and is now rich, and he can now do whatever the hell he wants within his 4 hour workweek.
That said, I did agree with some of the info about not being a slave to your email, etc.

Total distortion of Tim’s meaning. He is very clear that one should not become a vegetable, but should engage in interesting, challenging, fulfilling projects. Furthermore, simply redefining work as a “mutually beneficial exchange” does not make it so. If you’ve ever worked in an office and had to perform repetitive, mind-numbing and soul-killing chores, you would know exactly what Tim is talking about. I think you’re just jealous of his success.

I couldn’t agree with you more. When you love what you do it’s not work. Enough said.

Kudos Jonathan for the straight talk! Like Penelope (although much less intensely) I disliked The 4 Hour Work Week; thought there was something left unsaid and I did feel kind of slimed by the end of the book.

I much prefer your take on it, that work is sacred. This reminds of how Seth Godin talks about “giving away your gifts” in Linchpin.

thanks for having the balls to write such a great post!