Book - The 4-hour work week, Tim Ferriss (Part 2)

Am I being productive or active?

These are some of the many tips for being productive.One of my often used words is ‘focus’ and Ferriss is big on making every minute count and not creating tasks for yourself.If [due to a heart attack] you could only work 2 hours per day, what would you do?If you had to [with a gun to your head] stop doing 4/5 things, what would they be? Emails, phone calls, advertising, paperwork or my personal favourite, meetings. You can add Facebook to that although I eliminated that almost immediately after I started on it.Do not multi-task is a hard instruction to stomach for the serial multi tasker but I do get it. Eat first, the do internet research – both become more effective. Similarly, only aim for one or two critical tasks per day and do them completely in one sitting, from start to finish, without moving on to anything elseI love the tips given to offer solutions rather than asking questions:“Can I make a suggestion?”“I propose…”“I’d like to propose…”“I suggest that..What do you think?”“Let’s try….and then something else if that doesn’t work.”These are probably phrases you use any way so it’s a matter of trying them at crucial moments when you want to take control of a situation.Cut down on reading (ironic as I’m sitting here reading his book.No newspapers scan headlines as he goes past newsstand. I’m with that one – I feel if I need to know something someone will tell me on Twitter. I do actually like reading and consuming information so most Sundays I will buy the newspaper (which takes me a week to read)Only read how to books when it’s autobiographical. From now on that’s how I’m going to write my how to articles like that now – ‘how I did it.’Elimination also means No news – I’ve subscribed to this for most of my working life but if you don’t – he says to go cold turkey for five daysLive on need to know basis – my mind is cluttered enough without filling it with info I have no need for.Practice the art of non-finishing – a new one on me. I have picked up a few books that I’ve not bonded with, some I have finished and very few have I given up on and that’s mainly if the book goes into a subject matter I’m not comfortable with.Batching. Doing jobs in batches i.e. emails, paying bills, laundry, shopping,Virtual Assistants. Have multiple and try to use those organisations that have more than one person so you’re not stuck if they are not available. Give precise instructions (what is it for) and short deadlines. Make sure they can do phone calls (even if you think they are not necessary right now)Niche market. Creating a demand is hard. Filling in demand is easier. Don’t create a product then find someone to sell it too. Find a market – define our customers, then find or develop a product for them.So this is another way of saying my main customer theory – ask the customer what they want and give it to them.Mr F suggests one way to find a niche is to look at magazines with audience of at least 15000 and advertising for under say £3000 and brainstorm what you could sell that audience.An expert, in the context of selling to a customer, just means knowing more than the customer.Or you can be perceived to be an expert (and of course become one overtime (4 weeks)These days, having deliberately slimmed down to become a solopreneur, I want people to know it’s just me. However, when building a company, I think it’s good advice to have multiple email addresses (that are all forwarded to yours) and to have someone answer the phones (I had Miss Moneypenny who picked up the calls when we couldn't)Instead of asking permission, seek forgiveness.Although irrelevant to me, his tips on (gradually) convincing your boss to let you know work from home are brilliant!A brief version of a brilliant story; fisherman who fishes enough to sell & support family and give to friends then spends his days with his family, doing whatever he wants. Mr Harvard MBA sees this and gives him all the ideas to expand; fish more, buy boats, have employees, move to LA, possibly then to NY to run the now very large company. Some 20-25 years later he could sell up for millions. ‘Then what?’ the fisherman asks. ‘Then you can spend all your days with your family, doing whatever you want…..And guess what, he’s advocates my beloved re-occurring mini retirement, something I have already done starting with a year out working a few hours per day including 6 months in New York for writing school. Then go and be somewhere else for 6-12 months then move on – something I very much want to do and my preference for it is in Vancouver.