Debating the 4 hour work week

A friend of mine passed this article along to me which examines some of Tim Ferris’ ideas and principles in the “Four Hour Work Week.” The author goes on to state 5 main reasons that he disagrees with Tim Ferris.

Oh and by the way, I have read “the Four Hour Work Week.” Although I don’t agree with some of Tim’s tactics and many other things in the book, it is a very inspiring book. It is full of valuable and practical information from everything from time management to tips on building a business to details about how and where to travel. It is a book that just about anyone who reads it can take something useful away from it.

That said, lets get back to the debate. The excerpt from the article is below with the 5 points of disagreement the author had are listed below…

If you spend any time on the web, you probably have heard of Tim Ferris‘ book “The Four Hour Work Week.” In the book, Mr. Ferris sets out to show people how they can spend far less time working and thus have the freedom to design the lifestyle of their dreams.

Basically, what this entails is outsourcing as many menial tasks as you can to some person in India so you can have time to travel the world pursuing your passion. While I think Mr. Ferris makes some good points about being more effective during your time at work, his premise that people should seek to avoid work completely through lifestyle design never sat well with me. Here are five of my beefs with “The Four Hour Work Week:”

1. How can leisure have any meaning in the absence of work? Oftentimes I crave a break from work, and when it finally comes, the first week of relaxation is fantastic. The second week is also enjoyable, but after that it gets a bit old and boring; I start to feel antsy and once more want to be engaged in doing something useful. By being industrious, when you actually get a break, it feels fantastic. You can’t have the sweet without the bitter.

2. Who will do the work when everyone wants to live the “Four Hour Work Week?” The idea of avoiding work just isn’t tenable. Sure, right now it’s possible to outsource work to some worker in India, but what happens when that guy in India wants to outsource his work so he can “lifestyle design?” Perhaps he will outsource his work to someone in Vietnam. But what happens when that person in Vietnam reaches a level of prosperity that allows him to live the dream? And meanwhile here at home, who will be our teachers, doctors, and lawyers? Who will fly the plane when we want to go gallivanting around the world? Oh yes, those poor souls who never bought the book.

The whole idea of shifting all your work to someone else is elitist and undemocratic. The implication is that the only people who will work are those who are not clever enough to have escaped from it. Why is work beneath you, but okay for other people?

3. Hard, and sometimes unpleasant work refines your character. If you outsource every unpleasant job to someone else, how will you develop the virtues of persistence, endurance, and self-discipline? Every arduous task that you complete strengthens your ability to deal with hardships in the future. If someone close to you dies, you won’t be able to outsource your grieving, and if you become sick, you can’t outsource the will to get better. If you have spent your life avoiding hard work, will you have the mental and emotional strength to deal with a crisis you can’t pawn off on someone else?

4. Work encourages personal responsibility. When you choose to do things yourself, you take ownership of the task at hand and thus the results of that effort. If you outsource your work to someone else, you may avoid having to take the blame if something goes wrong, but you also rob yourself of the joy and pride of success when things go well.

5. “The Four Hour Work Week” sets a bad example for your children. What does it teach your kids if they see that every time dad has an unpleasant job to do, he makes someone else do it? Outsourcing your work sends the message to them that every time you are faced with an arduous task, you should give up and let someone else do it for you. If you’re running for class president, why bother coming up with a campaign and making posters? You can just get someone else to do it. Being harassed by a bully? Don’t face him down….just hire someone to kick his ass for you.

I think my personal opinion on the whole thing fall somewhere in between Tim Ferris and the author of the article. Lets look at each of the 5 points…

1.  I agree that leisure is not worth much unless it follows hard work. Ecclesiastes 5:12 even states that, “the sleep of a working man is pleasant.” However, what I took from the book was that by breaking free from the slavery of trading hours for dollars frees you up to pursue (with much hard work) your passion.

Sure, Tim glamorized the life of luxury and ease, but what I got out of it was that I really could break from doing a job just to pay the bills to doing something that I am passionate about and getting paid for it. There aren’t many people who change the world doing something they are not passionate about.

2.  I was actually thinking this myself as I was reading it. “I wonder if any of Tim’s contracted worker’s have read his book?” Realistically, just like anything else, most people will not follow through. Only the determined few will actually go for it, leaving many others to do the work. And, learning from my co-workers, there are probably quite a few people who would be fine with the work. Some people just aren’t willing to make the sacrifices to follow Tim’s plan.

3-5.  I decided to lump these all into one. Hard work does refine your character. I heard a wise man say that, “you should do one thing you hate every day, just for the practice.” His point was that if you want to be successful in life, you are going to have to do things you hate. So, you might as well get used to it.

Looking at the whole outsourcing thing as a bad example or as something that would steal your sense of accomplishment doesn’t fit with me. A man or woman is only capable of so much without the help of others. So, whether it is hiring employees to delegate to or outsourcing the tasks to a contracted worker, either way more is accomplished with the help of others.

Many business owners get caught in the trap of focusing on the unimportant tasks that will yield little fruit rather than the important ones they should be focusing on. Tim is obviously quite the master of “letting go” of the menial tasks and is not afraid to ask for help.

For those who have read the book, what are your opinions?

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