The 4-Hour Workweek: Historical Context

Back to Main Page

A self-described hellion who “marches to the beat of a different drummer,” author, adventurer, and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss has been figuring out efficient, adventurous, and expansive ways to live life, earn an income, and spend both money and time at least since his days at Princeton. After landing in an office job that bored him to distraction, he couldn’t help noticing how much time was wasted on inefficiency and how people were even rewarded for it.

The American dream of having a high-paying career, spending most of your life in an office, cramming the rest into overextended weekends and rapid-fire vacations, and then waiting until late in life to retire seemed more like a nightmare to him. Being laid off from his job propelled him into his own internet business selling his personal brand of supplements, at which point he found himself working 24/7 until he finally had a meltdown. In dire need of a break, he packed his bags, got on a plane, and headed for London, expecting his business to fall apart in the meantime. To his total surprise, it did even better, and that started his mental wheels turning in the new and exhilarating direction of what he terms Lifestyle Design—a style of living that makes the most of both money and time, interspersing work and life in a series of mini-retirements instead of saving the real living for the end of life after exhausting yourself in a never-ending work cycle.

Using automated systems and outsourcing to maximize his income while minimizing effort and work time, Ferriss now spends much of his time traveling the world as he embarks on various adventures, including (but by no means limited to) Guinness World Record holder tango dancing in Argentina, championship competitive kickboxing in Thailand, motorcycle racing in Europe, TV acting in Hong Kong and China, political activism, building schools, writing, guest lecturing, angel investing, and simply enjoying life wherever he happens to be.