Over the weekend I read 'The 4-Hour Work Week' by Tim Ferriss. 1/3 of the book was Great, 1/3 was crap and the last 1/3 just helped reinforced things that I always knew I should do. Do I recommend the book? Definitely. It was a great slap in the face to get motivated and complete things that I have wanted to do for years. I don't think I have finished a book in one weekend since the first Harry Potter.

I found Tim through his blog I was researching for my last vacation. It was my goal was to only pack a carry on bag to eliminate the hassle of checking in and recovering checked baggage. I found an interesting article from Tim about what he travels with OS. From there I new that we shared the same minimalist approach. The big difference he was living it but I was some how still had a life full of clutter.

Over the years I have often had moments of inspiration were I was to de clutter my life and live with their bare essentials. Normally I get this inspiration when traveling internationally. It is easy at this time to have goals like

- Only have enough clothing to fit in a suit case.
- Only have one of everything else that I might need. Spoon, plate ect.
- The websites, TV shows and newspapers that I read at home because I feel I need to be up to date arnt really that essential and stop reading/viewing them.

Then I get home and quickly get back to your normal life. I believe this is because all these things that we build around us are there as crutches to helps us get through normalcy and as Tim puts it, to fill boredom.

I often joke with my girlfriend about leaving my house and moving into a cargo container. She doesn't think it is that funny at all. But to me, it is really me saying to my self I should be able to get buy on what I could fit into the container.

The book has really highlighted that I need to get rid of this clutter to feel better about my self.

So what was the best part of the book?
Reading the book really made me review my life looking from the out side in. I already know that I am quite inefficient and do many unnecessary tasks during the day to fill boredom. But the best bit of the book dealt with how do deal with other people that waste my time for no other reason but to fill the boredom in their life. No 1. was people that always want to have a face to face meeting when it is not necessary to actually complete a task. How often do I get request for a face to face meeting that after completion has resulted in nothing. After reading the book I have concluded that these meetings are held for the following reasons.

- An excuse to have a social meeting.
- For the person to use their power of persuasion to get something they want but I do not and ends up being a waste of time.
- As a system of control. The person either wants to prove to me or to them selves that they can get me to jump through meaningless hoops.

How does Tim rectifying this? He does not agree to a meeting with out a clear agenda of what is to be discussed and completed. Also, to try to set a finish time to the meeting.

Any other important lessons from the Book?
Yes, the other major lesson that I got from the book was the 80/20 rule. I will write about this in another article.

So is the four our work week a myth?
When it comes down to it I think that Tim was part lucky, part genius, I will not be able to reproduce what he has done and recommends in his book. I have a problem how he out sources a lot of his responsibilities to Virtual assistant in India. I agree with his methods of become more efficient but this will not allow me to vagabond around the world. I believe that inefficacy is a major problem with our society and I will use his methods to help my self and those around me more efficient I will think there is better uses for this time.

What recommendation am I going to implement?
- Only agree to meetings that have a clear objective and agenda.
- Stop multi tasking and set stringent times for doing specific jobs. When I come to work on a weekend I can do a days work in two hours. I can apply my self to getting one job done free from distraction and other little jobs.
- Remove my self from being instantly contactable. This will make me more and the way other people deal with me more efficient. I have already deleted every one from my gtalk account accept for my girlfriend, I like her distractions.
- Check emails only twice a day.
- De cluter my house and belongings.

and many others that will appear in further articles.