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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Hardcover – December 15, 2009
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Ever wonder, “How can I work smarter and not harder?” Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.
This step-by-step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches:
• How Tim went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week
• How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want
• How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
• How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
• How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
The new expanded edition of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek includes:
• More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point
• Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating e-mail, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than $8 a meal
• How Lifestyle Design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times
• The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either
- Reading age5 years and up
- Print length448 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5.73 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
- PublisherHarmony
- Publication dateDecember 15, 2009
- ISBN-100307465357
- ISBN-13978-0307465351
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
—Jack Canfield, Co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul®, 100+ million copies sold
"This is a whole new ball game. Highly recommended."
—Dr. Stewart D. Friedman, Director of the Work/Life Integration Project, The Wharton School
"Stunning and amazing. From mini-retirements to outsourcing your life,
it's all here. Whether you're a wage slave or a Fortune 500 CEO, this
book will change your life!"
—Phil Town, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Rule #1
"The 4-Hour Workweek is a new way of solving a very old problem: just how can we work to live and prevent our lives from being all about work? A world of infinite options awaits those who would read this book and be inspired by it!"
—Michael E. Gerber, Founder & Chairman of E-Myth Worldwide and the World's #1 Small Business Guru
“Timothy has packed more lives into his 29 years than Steve Jobs has in his 51.”
—Tom Foremski, Journalist and Publisher of SiliconValleyWatcher.com
“Thanks to Tim Ferriss, I have more time in my life to travel, spend time with family and write book blurbs. This is a dazzling and highly useful
work.”
—A.J. Jacobs, Editor-at-Large, Esquire Magazine, Author of The Know-It-All
"If you want to live life on your own terms, this is your blueprint."
—Mike Maples, Co-founder of Motive Communications (IPO to $260M market cap), Founding Executive of Tivoli (sold to IBM for $750M)
"Tim is Indiana Jones for the digital age. I've already used his advice to go spearfishing on remote islands and ski the best hidden slopes of Argentina. Simply put, do what he says and you can live like a millionaire."
—Albert Pope, Derivatives Trading, UBS World Headquarters
“This engaging book makes you ask the most important question that you will ever face: What exactly is it that you want out of work and life, and why? Tim Ferriss is a master of getting more for less, often with the help of people he doesn't even know, and here he gives away his secrets for fulfilling your dreams.”
—Bo Burlingham, Editor-at-Large, Inc. magazine and author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big
"Reading this book is like putting a few zeros on your income. Tim brings lifestyle to a new level–listen to him!"
—Michael D. Kerlin, McKinsey & Company Consultant to Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and J. William Fulbright Scholar
"Part scientist and part adventure hunter, Tim Ferriss has created a road map for an entirely new world. I devoured this book in one sitting–I have seen nothing like it."
—Charles L. Brock, Chairman and CEO, Brock Capital Group; Former CFO, COO, and General Counsel, Scholastic, Inc.; Former President, Harvard Law School Association
"Outsourcing is no longer just for Fortune 500 companies. Small and mid-sized firms, as well as busy professionals, can outsource their work to increase their productivity and free time for more important commitments. It's time for the world to take advantage of this revolution.”
—Vivek Kulkarni, CEO Brickwork India and former IT Secretary, Bangalore;Credited as the “techno-bureaucrat” who helped make Bangalore an IT destination in India
"Tim is the master! I should know. I followed his rags to riches path and watched him transform himself from competitive fighter to entrepreneur. He tears apart conventional assumptions until he finds a better way."
—Dan Partland, Emmy Award-Winning Producer; American High, Welcome to the Dollhouse
"The 4-Hour Workweek is an absolute necessity for those adventurous souls who want to live life to its fullest. Buy it and read it before you sacrifice any more!"
—John Lusk, Group Product Manager, Microsoft World Headquarters
"If you want to live your dreams now, and not in 20 or 30 years, buy this book!"
—Laura Roden, Chairman of the Silicon Valley Association of Start-up Entrepreneurs;Lecturer in Corporate Finance, San Jose State University
“With this kind of time management and focus on the important things in life, people should be able to get 15 times as much done in a normal work week.”
—Tim Draper, Founder, Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Financiers to innovators including Hotmail, Skype, and Overture.com
"Tim Ferriss’s book is about gaining the courage to streamline your life… But even more than that, it challenges the reader to seriously consider an essential–yet rarely asked–question: What do you really want from life?"
—Rolf Potts, Author of Vagabonding and Travel Columnist for Yahoo! News
"Tim has done what most people only dream of doing. I can't believe he is going to let his secrets out of the bag. This book is a must read!"
—Stephen Key, Top Inventor and Team Designer of Teddy Ruxpin, Lazer Tag; Consultant to “American Inventor”
About the Author
TIMOTHY FERRISS is a serial entrepreneur, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and angel investor/advisor (Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Uber, and 20+ more). Best known for his rapid-learning techniques, Tim's books -- The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef -- have been published in 30+ languages. The 4-Hour Workweek has spent seven years on The New York Times bestseller list. Tim has been featured by more than 100 media outlets including The New York Times, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, Outside, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and CNN. He has guest lectured in entrepreneurship at Princeton University since 2003. His popular blog www.fourhourblog.com has 1M+ monthly readers, and his Twitter account @tferriss was selected by Mashable as one of only five “Must-Follow” accounts for entrepreneurs. Tim’s primetime TV show, The Tim Ferriss Experiment (www.upwave.com/tfx), teaches rapid-learning techniques for helping viewers to produce seemingly superhuman results in minimum time.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Is lifestyle design for you? Chances are good that it is. Here are some of the most common doubts and fears that people have before taking the leap and joining the New Rich:
Do I have to quit or hate my job? Do I have to be a risk-taker?
No on all three counts. From using Jedi mind tricks to disappear from the office to designing businesses that finance your lifestyle, there are paths for every comfort level. How does a Fortune 500 employee explore the hidden jewels of China for a month and use technology to cover his tracks? How do you create a hands-off business that gener ates $80K per month with no management? It’s all here.
Do I have to be a single twenty-something?
Not at all. This book is for anyone who is sick of the deferred-life plan and wants to live life large instead of postpone it. Case studies range from a Lamborghini-driving 21-year-old to a single mother who traveled the world for five months with her two children. If you’re sick of the standard menu of options and prepared to enter a world of infinite options, this book is for you.
Do I have to travel? I just want more time.
No. It’s just one option. The objective is to create freedom of time and place and use both however you want.
Do I need to be born rich?
No. My parents have never made more than $50,000 per year combined, and I’ve worked since age 14. I’m no Rockefeller and you needn’t be either.
Do I need to be an Ivy League graduate?
Nope. Most of the role models in this book didn’t go to the Harvards of the world, and some are dropouts. Top academic institutions are wonderful, but there are unrecognized benefits to not coming out of one. Grads from top schools are funneled into highincome 80-hour-per-week jobs, and 15–30 years of soul-crushing work has been accepted as the default path. How do I know? I’ve been there and seen the destruction. This book reverses it.
Product details
- Publisher : Harmony; Expanded, Updated ed. edition (December 15, 2009)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 448 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0307465357
- ISBN-13 : 978-0307465351
- Reading age : 5 years and up
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.73 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Time Management (Books)
- #144 in Personal Transformation Self-Help
- #180 in Success Self-Help
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company‘s ‘Most Innovative Business People’ and one of Fortune‘s ‘40 under 40’. He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of four #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef and Tools of Titans. The Observer and other media have called Tim ‘the Oprah of audio’ due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 200 million downloads. Tim received his BA from Princeton University in 2000, where he focused on language acquisition and East Asian Studies. He developed his non-fiction writing with Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee and formed his life philosophies under Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe. He is far dumber than both. Tim enjoys bear claws, chocolate croissants, writing ‘About’ pages in third person and neglecting italics.
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Customers find the book provides useful information and advice. They describe it as a valuable read for anyone looking to maximize their work-life balance. The book is straightforward and concise, with simple yet effective strategies for reducing tedious business tasks. Many readers consider the book worth the price and say it's worth the purchase. The writing style is described as well-written and engaging.
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Customers find the book provides helpful information and advice. They appreciate the excellent ideas, clear roadmap for creating a meaningful life, and fascinating concepts. The book provides useful tasks and worksheets to build habits. It makes interesting philosophical points about how we use our time. Overall, customers find it a valuable resource for ideas and topics covered.
"...It’s a solid concept. In fact, there really is little basis for the traditional 9-5 schedule:..." Read more
"...a small business for 12 years, I've learned to recognize a quality resource for ideas when I see it, and Tim Ferriss has collected a HUGE number of..." Read more
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"...I highly recommend this book. It is encouraging and motivating. It gives us all food for thought." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They say it provides practical advice and is a valuable read for anyone looking to maximize their time. The content is amazing and entertaining, making it a highly recommended read for entrepreneurs.
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"...I highly recommend this book. It is encouraging and motivating. It gives us all food for thought." Read more
Customers find the book easy to use and full of practical tips and know-how. They describe it as straightforward, concise, and engaging. The book focuses on reducing tedious business tasks and understanding where 80% of their time is spent. It provides advice, tasks, worksheets, layperson formulas, remote work agreements, automating processes through systems, and outsourcing.
"...but it allowed him to reduce his stress exponentially and freed up a plethora of time...." Read more
"...it possible to focus on the IMPORTANT stuff and make it easy to delegate everything else...." Read more
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Customers find the book provides good value for money. It helps them become more productive, more profitable, and enjoy their lives. They say one concept alone is worth the price and justifies the entire book. The book helps them create multiple streams of income that allow them to work part-time and still pay their bills.
"...: Optimizing your time, eliminating distractions, and finding passive streams of income to allow you to do minimal work while having maximum..." Read more
"...find ideas to make your life easier, better, more productive, more profitable, and more enjoyable. UPDATE:..." Read more
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Customers find the writing style easy to read and inspiring. They say the author speaks their language with humor and insights. Overall, they describe the book as a quick and useful read with usable content.
"...Honestly, the book is easy to read and the content is amazing...." Read more
"...The 4-Hour Workweek is inspiring, straightforward, and well-written...." Read more
"Tim speaks my language. Humor. Possibilities. Futures. Must read...." Read more
"...Another thing that I didn't like about the book was it's editing and writing style...." Read more
Customers find the book helpful for achieving a work-life balance. It provides practical strategies for optimizing your work life, automating tasks, and focusing on what's important. They say it helps them free up time to do what they want and live their lives to their fullest potential. The book offers an interesting interpretation of the work-life equation and discusses guarding your time.
"...it drives the point home of what the book is really about: Optimizing your time, eliminating distractions, and finding passive streams of income..." Read more
"...Second, the book espouses a 'lifestyle' philosophy which had many points that I had not really considered before reading the original edition...." Read more
"...you do you gain more time for family, friends, travel and lead a more balanced life...." Read more
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Customers find the book helpful for maximizing productivity and enhancing work-life. They say it's a simple idea to work smarter, not harder, and replace inefficient actions with effective ones. The book provides keys to working intelligently and effectively, including good time management and the right choice of priorities.
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Customers find the book amusing and entertaining. They appreciate the author's sense of humor and writing style. The book offers an interesting perspective on the topic, making everyday adventures rather than routine ones. Readers describe the author as witty, experienced, and intelligent.
"...One of the most engaging and laughable topics in the book was the chapter on virtual assistants (VA)...." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Plus the title made it sound like it belonged on an infomercial and not in my ...
I had seen the uber-orange cover of The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss all over: Bookstores (duh!), backseats of cars, airplane terminals, frat houses and more. Yet despite its proliferation into the hands (and Kindles) of millions of people all over the world, and its catchy headline, I had yet to read it. In fact, I had no inclination to read it whatsoever.
Quite frankly, I had no idea what it was about. Plus the title made it sound like it belonged on an infomercial and not in my book collection.
Things changed when I started listening to the Tim Ferriss Show podcast just a few weeks ago. The podcast is fantastic and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it; I highly recommend it.
From what I’ve noticed, if I enjoy reading someone’s articles or website, I generally enjoy their podcasts (the same holds true vice-versa). So when I saw that it was available for only $1.99 on Kindle I didn’t hesitate one bit.
Can I really only work 4 hours?
That’s what everyone wants to know. For the most part, no it is not feasible for most. In fact, Tim repeats in his podcasts and presumably other mediums that The 4 Hour Workweek is not to be taken literally. Rather, it drives the point home of what the book is really about: Optimizing your time, eliminating distractions, and finding passive streams of income to allow you to do minimal work while having maximum freedom.
It’s a solid concept. In fact, there really is little basis for the traditional 9-5 schedule:
How is it possible that all the people in the world need exactly 8 hours to accomplish their work? It isn’t. 9– 5 is arbitrary.”
The idea behind this book is to essentially turn the idea of working hard on its head:
Being busy is a form of laziness— lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective— doing less— is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.”
Many books of this nature are simply filled with fluff, woo-woo, and other law of attraction platitudes, but The 4 Hour Workweek is absolutely filled to the brim with productivity tips. This makes the book worth the price of admission alone (that goes for the full price hardcover too!)
There are a few concepts that he really stresses throughout the book and that will allow you to eliminate and optimize.
The first of which is the 80/20 principle, also known as the Pareto Principle. This principle states that 80% of results (profit, happiness etc.) comes from 20% of output. Once Tim discovered this principle, he applied it to his nutritional supplement company so that he could focus on the select few clients that brought him the bulk of his income, and to eliminate the pesky customers who were nothing but trouble.
Sure, it cost him some income, but it allowed him to reduce his stress exponentially and freed up a plethora of time.
A second major principle is Parkinson’s law, which states:
… that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. It is the magic of the imminent deadline. If I give you 24 hours to complete a project, the time pressure forces you to focus on execution, and you have no choice but to do only the bare essentials. If I give you a week to complete the same task, it’s six days of making a mountain out of a molehill.”
The best approach to Parkinson’s Law is to
1. Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/ 20).
2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson’s Law). The best solution is to use both together: Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to income and schedule them with very short and clear deadlines.”
There are a plethora of other tidbits of wisdom throughout, such as:
Check e-mail twice per day, once at 12: 00 noon or just prior to lunch, and again at 4: 00 P.M.
At least three times per day at scheduled times [ask] the following question: Am I being productive or just active?
More is not better, and stopping something is often 10 times better than finishing it.
Getting Your Own Personal Assistant
One of the most engaging and laughable topics in the book was the chapter on virtual assistants (VA). I say laughable because it’s actually incredibly feasible to have a 3rd world virtual assistant, and I couldn’t help myself from laughing at the idea of having a team of Indians heeding my every beck and call.
Consider this:
If you spend your time, worth $ 20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $ 10 per hour…”
Makes sense. Plus there are other good reasons to consider getting a VA:
Getting a remote personal assistant is a huge departure point and marks the moment that you learn how to give orders and be commander instead of the commanded. It is small-scale training wheels for the most critical of NR skills: remote management and communication.”
The Original Internet Entrepeneur
When I began to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, I noticed something: I had read this before. But it wasn’t because Aurelius was plagiarizing content 2000 years in the future, rather it was the inverse.
I’ve noticed this phenomena with The 4 Hour Workweek in that much of the content seemed all too familiar with the Digital Nomad and lifestyle design communities and advice of today. But seeing as it was written originally in 2007, one could say it was the first of its kind.
In fact, the proliferation of internet entrepreneurs are likely a result of this book.
On that note, look where Tim Ferris is today. He’s not lounging on a beach in Guatemala making money off his supplements. Rather, he’s busting his ass in Silicon Valley helping startups turn into massive success stories.
This is no fault of his; I just think many readers of this book and these internet entrepreneurs lose sight of this. They get caught in finding ‘passive income’ and settling for 1-3K a month; just enough to make do in a foreign country of their choice.
This is what I wanted for so long, but now this doesn’t seem like enough. I’d much rather be doing what Tim is doing now as opposed to what he recommend in his book.
Don’t Follow This Book Like the Gospel
Again, the 4 Hour Workweek isn’t designed to be taken literally. This is a pattern throughout the book.
In fact, much of the information regarding internet marketing and asking a boss for a remote work agreement is completely useless for me and may be for you. Yet, overall I was really impressed with the book. There was plenty of solid, actionable advice throughout. In fact, I’ve already marked this book down as one I will have to read again to internalize the concepts that stood out to me.
http://masculinebooks.com/2015/05/26/the-4-hour-workweek-by-tim-ferriss/
- Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2011I hesitated a long time before buying this book (first got the audio version on Audible.com, then downloaded the Kindle version for a written reference version for all the resources he lists), and largely because of the many negative reviews that bash Tim Ferriss's ethics, yada yada yada. WHATEVER! (As my teen daughter likes to say). Some friends/colleagues/mentors, whom I genuinely respect, told me otherwise, and that even if I got 1-2 ideas out of it, it would be worth it. I am so glad I listened! Admittedly, I still have a long way to go in implementing these ideas - heck, there are so many, I haven't even been able to decide which ones most apply to me.
So you know who I am: I am a small businessman/dentist, photographer, website designer and optimizer (out of financial necessity at first, then because I enjoyed it), and blogger - on top of being a husband and father of 2 girls. So yes, I am an EXTREMELY busy man, and in recent years, the busier I got, the more frustrated I got at not being able to do more. I felt like I'd finally run into the wall of "not enough time in each day." I'd already started reading/implementing David Allen's "Getting Things Done" systems, and that is helping, but it didn't make as much of a difference as I'd hoped, even though it did help me organize my desk at home and work and keep it cleaner than ever.
As a dentist, I will never be able to have a 4-hour workweek, plain and simple. You just can't do that much dentistry in only 4 hours. However, most people never have a clue how much administrative work goes into running a small business, and that often seems to take more time than taking care of patients, which is what I really love and how I actually make money; doing paperwork, keeping up with government regulations, dealing with insurance companies, managing employees, email, mail.......it eats up time like crazy.
Since I also manage my own websites (for photography and dentistry), with the increasing importance of Social Media, all the changes Google is making, etc. is is becoming important to manage my total "webutation," but it takes more and more time. How do I get it? And adding content on a regular basis? OMG - where am I supposed to find the time for research, writing, editing, link-building, Adwords, yikes!
As I said, I haven't gotten a lot implemented yet, but after running a small business for 12 years, I've learned to recognize a quality resource for ideas when I see it, and Tim Ferriss has collected a HUGE number of resources in this book, with ideas on how to make it possible to focus on the IMPORTANT stuff and make it easy to delegate everything else. I am actually EXCITED about finding ways to implement as many of these ideas as possible, leaving me more time to enjoy my family, get to traveling and photographing more, and no longer just living to work long enough to retire "one day."
JUST GET THE BOOK. Have an open mind when you read it. Recognize that it may not all be right for you, but you WILL find ideas to make your life easier, better, more productive, more profitable, and more enjoyable.
UPDATE:
I've recently come back to this book after a hiatus of several months, as I'm getting REALLY tired of working so much. One daughter has a year left before leaving for college, and the other is about to start kindergarden, and my wife and I want more time as a family, more time on vacation, more time AWAY from work, whereas it seems we are spending more and more time at work - NOT the goal. I just want to reiterate for those reading all the negative reviews - DON'T LISTEN. Tim offers real, systematic, solid, and ETHICAL ways to do better, and I am committed to putting more of them to work now. I'm excited about this book and what we'll be doing to LIVE more, not just work more.
Top reviews from other countries
- VictorReviewed in Mexico on October 23, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to learn how to optimize
A great book to learn how to optimize different processes in a job. It doesn't matter if it's a 9-5 job or if it's a business, the tools this book shows are really great and helpfull.
- TReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Redefining Success with The 4-Hour Work Week
The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss is an eye-opening guide that challenges traditional work-life norms, offering practical strategies to escape the 9-5 grind and create a more flexible, fulfilling lifestyle. With actionable tips on time management, outsourcing, and passive income, it’s a must-read for anyone seeking freedom and financial independence.
-
KristinLReviewed in Spain on January 27, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Un libro inspirador con ideas revolucionarias
✔️ Ideas innovadoras y motivadoras: The 4-Hour Workweek ofrece conceptos frescos y atrevidos sobre cómo maximizar la productividad y reorganizar nuestra vida laboral y personal.
✔️ Me hizo repensar mi vida: Después de leerlo, empecé a ver mi trabajo y mis metas personales desde una perspectiva completamente nueva.
✔️ Gran fuente de inspiración: Aunque algunas ideas me parecieron difíciles de implementar (como la de contratar un asistente virtual en Asia), el libro me motivó a buscar nuevas formas de optimizar mi tiempo y esfuerzo.
❌ Algunas ideas difíciles de aplicar: Algunas propuestas, como delegar todas las tareas a un asistente virtual, son un poco extremas o difíciles de implementar en la vida diaria, especialmente si uno no tiene el presupuesto o la infraestructura para ello.
En general, un libro fascinante que te desafía a salir de tu zona de confort y a pensar de manera diferente. ¡Totalmente recomendable! 😊
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EdoardoReviewed in Italy on May 6, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Ti apre la mente
Un libro interessante ben scritto e che fa riflettere
- It's greatReviewed in Poland on December 18, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars 👍
The book is absolute 10 but I wouldn't recommend it as the first book to read it's too long for the first book. It will make you bored and you won't read other books 📚