The Four Hour Workweek: Does It Really Work?

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The book may be quite old now, but the impact of the Four Hour Workweek is still very much being felt. This is a book from author and life-coach Tim Ferriss which outlines precisely how we can whittle our workload down to a meagre four hours a week thanks to the advantages of the digital age. It talks about our need to ‘create work’ for ourselves and how we get trapped in the rat race, and then it discusses how to get out of that cycle and to automate, outsource and eliminate a lot of the work that takes up the most time. Through the book, Ferriss pretty much invented the concept of the ‘lifestyle entrepreneur’ or ‘digital nomad’, or at least brought it to a wider audience.

But as with anything that makes such a big splash, this book was not without its controversies or detractors. There are many who claim that Tim’s advice is nothing but empty drivel, and some who even use words like ‘scam’ or ‘fraud’. So what’s the real story?

This Book is Not Literal

Those who get too hung up on the details of Ferriss’ infamous book are somewhat missing the point. While there is broadly the claim that in theory you could reduce your work load to just four hours a week, the number four is really more arbitrary. Likewise, Ferriss never explicitly claims that the advice in the tome will apply for everyone. This is a book aimed mainly at tech savvy entrepreneurs in their late twenties/early thirties, though it certainly contains lessons that will apply in to others who fall outside of that category.

Another point to bear in mind going in, is that some of the advice does need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Tim is somewhat cavalier for instance when advising on cutting friends and contacts out of your life (when it’s not always that easy), will often apply simple quotes to far more complex situations, and makes several suggestions that will involve a fair amount of financial investment (testing ads on AdWords is not as affordable as he would have you believe).

This Book is Useful

That said though, there is also a lot in this book to praise, and if nothing else it will certainly provide food for thought.

If you work in an office right now, then you may not be able to arrange a remote work agreement quite as easily as Ferriss suggests, but it certainly won’t hurt to try. And perhaps there are other avenues you can pursue?

If you run your own business and it’s weighing you down heavily, then Tim’s advice might not get you down to four hours a week, but it can certainly help you to streamline your e-mail and to consider more outsourcing options.

For an entrepreneur it can suggest quicker business models that might help you to gain more revenue without too much extra work and provide a range of useful ideas for tools and services to use from moving and storage to virtual assistants.

And that’s really how to approach this book – as a meditation on a subject that at the time really needed to be discussed, with a lot of very useful tips. The problem is the title which makes many people think this book is going to change their lives. It’s not, or at least it won’t without a fair amount of work, dedication and nerve on your part.

But even if you only take one or two lessons from the book, it can potentially put your life on track and start you moving in the right direction towards more free time and less stress thanks to technology.

My favourite piece of advice in the book? ‘Ask for forgiveness, not permission’. If you’ve been thinking about doing something but have been putting it off because you’re worried how others will react, then just do it and say sorry afterwards. Nine times out of ten you’ll find the repercussions are much less than you feared.

The internet age has provided us with a new way of doing business, but we have yet to embrace it. This book might be the first to start that discussion.

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The author of this post, Nancy Baker, is a freelance blogger who often writes for Tender Touch, a moving company in Toronto. She likes to keep herself updated with the latest happenings in the world of sports and shares her opinions via blogging. Follow her on Twitter @Nancy Baker.

Do You Dread Going To Your Office? These 5 Apps Will Take The Dread AWAY!

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Let’s face it, going to your office and running your business can be dead FRUSTRATING and STRESSFUL!

Thinking about managing your team, making sure that the deadlines are met, assigning tasks, and taking care of the paper works (among many others) isn’t a task that anyone’s going to be excited doing.

If you’re sick and tired of getting stressed everyday, then why not do something about it?

What “something” am I talking about? I’m glad you asked!

I’ll share with you these awesome apps that you can use to make running your business or office works a lot simpler and painless. Once you get the hang of using these apps, you’ll find that going to your office isn’t so dreadful at all. Heck! You might even dread leaving it!

Without further adieu, here are the magical apps that can make your office life A LOT MORE PAINLESS!

  • Trello

Project management and team collaboration can be such a pain if you aren’t using the right tools for it.

Trello in this case would be the perfect tool to use.

You can share your “lists” which contains “cards” within them. The “cards” will contain the responsibility or tasks that you want done.

So if for example you have an article that you need written within today, you can create a card labeled “Article about (topic)” and assign it to one of your team members.

That team member will then update the status of the card by changing the color codes and adding labels. He or she can then transfer it to the “list” containing the completed tasks once he/she is done.

Trello’s very easy and intuitive to use. There’s no doubt that with this tool, your team collaboration’s going to be 100% better and painless!

  • WorkFlowy

Let me guess, you’ve missed several important appointments or “to do” things, haven’t you?

I don’t blame you at all! If you’re busy and doing so many things at the same time, something like this is bound to happen.

This is why I want to share with you WorkFlowy!

WorkFlowy is an app that can help you organize your “to do” things or your ideas. You can create lists and sub topics, so you can be as descriptive and as detailed as you can be when writing your ideas or “to dos” down.

Once you have your lists, you can simply work on them one by one making sure that everything is taken care of within the day.

  • Skype

Who doesn’t know what Skype does, right? I’d hate to mention Skype again, but that’s just how powerful this tool is as far as getting your communication with your team a lot more established.

  • Fruit Ninja

So you must be thinking, “why’d he include Fruit Ninja?”.

My answer… It’s weird that you’d even ask!

Taking a break is just as important as working. Just like what Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”. You’re playing Fruit Ninja can be an awesome way for you to rest (sharpen your axe) and take your mind off the whole running a business thing.

There are tons of cheats that you can use to make the game more exciting. But if you want to experience the sheer fun and difficulty of the game, then I suggest that you play it normally.

  • Google Apps

Google drive is such a HUGE ASSET for business owners.

You can make spreadsheets, share documents, collaborate with your team, and SO MUCH MORE!

Having this app around will help you manage your office work more efficiently. The best part is, IT’S FREE! While there’s a paid option for the app, the free services are powerful enough to make your life a lot easier!

There goes! Use these apps and you’ll start looking forward going to your office!

You’ll find that your office works are A LOT easier and they aren’t as stressful as you’ve experienced them to be!

Do you have anything to share?

Whether you have ideas, suggestions, or simply comments that you’d like to share with us, feel free to do so in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Why hosted VoIP is a logical choice for enterprises?

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The ways humans communicate have changed over the years as the civilizations have progressed. From sign language to mobile phones, the communication systems have seen a tremendous evolution, never heard or seen anywhere else. And the next step of this evolution is VoIP. These systems not only give the companies a whiff of advancement but also provide them with unparalleled capabilities. When the concept of VoIP came through it was thought that the SMBs would be the only beneficiary but recent trends have shown that big companies are incorporating the cloud in equal measure. Here are the top reasons why VoIP is such a hit with the companies

Cost Efficiency

  • The market these days is in a state which is far from stable. In such a situation every company needs a communication system that would be efficient and cost saving just like cloud clomputing. VoIP provides just that.
  • The initial savings in a VoIP system are incomparable. No additional equipment is needed as in the legacy systems where costly equipment’s are required in order to carry out the communication.
  • The maintenance expenditure is also saved as it is the responsibility of provider rather than user.

Flexibility and scalability:

  • The requirement of a company keeps changing as the business grows or shrinks. In such a scenario, VoIP provides great scalability as the VOIP connections can be changed according to the need of the user without much fuss.
  • Flexibility is VoIP’s second name. One can take calls from anywhere, banishing any concerns related to missing an important call.

Customization

  • VoIP gives us with the unique ability to customize the system according to our needs. One can set custom message for different numbers, can block unwanted numbers and can divert the calls to personal number if required.
  • The voice mail messages can also be received via an email, keeping you up with every happenings and customer dealings.

UC- Unified Communication

In a hosted PBX system, the client gets services which not only enhances his experience but also gives the company a branded and rich feel.

The UC services include

Call Forwarding:

In this process any received call can be conveniently forwarded to any person or department.

Call Blocking:

Any spam or unwanted calls can be easily blocked out by the user, enabling him to fully concentrate on the work at hand.

Call Queue:

Suppose there are 6 lines going into a department, and all of them are busy. So the 7th call arriving would be automatically be put in the queue. The benefit of this technique is that no call is wasted or ignored making the productivity higher.

IVR- Interactive Voice Response:

The IVR refers to the automated voice that greets the caller every time a customer care or a toll-free number is called. The IVR not only automates the process but gives the caller an interactive environment in which he can choose the department directly rather than going through cumbersome process of telling his problems and grievances.

Music on Hold:

The music on hold makes sure that the caller does not get bored while his call is on hold.

Caller Id:

This feature is a very basic one but ensures that in search of attractive features PBX has not forgot about the basics one.

Conclusion:

The features of PBX make it impossible for the firms to ignore it, thus making it a widespread and a successful technology. Moreover recent trends show that more IT guys are enrolling into PBX tuition to make them well verse with the technology, indicating its undoubted rise.