I was interviewed recently from Uruguay by Marco della Cava of USA Today for a cover story that appeared yesterday titled “Speeding Up the Mad Dash.” It’s a quick read and good food for thought:
If you’re reading these words, the chocolates and flowers are on their way. Because given the gazillion draws of modern life — the cellphone, the BlackBerry, the boss, the kids, the TiVo, the dog — it’s a small miracle this sentence has made it into your day.
Our fast society is only getting faster, putting inordinate demands on our time and prompting the people and companies that service our lives to come up with ways to help us reclaim some of it.
Don’t have time to read all those magazines you subscribe to?
Not a problem. A new website called Brijit offers one-paragraph summaries of even the most complex and deeply researched tomes. [2021 Ed. note: Brijit stopped its summary service in 2008.] “It’s like drinking from a fire hose these days,” says founder Jeremy Brosowsky. “There’s more good stuff than ever, but the problem is consuming it day to day”…
Is playing Monopoly akin to sitting through an endless symphony?
Monopoly Express now gets you and your top hat on and off Boardwalk in 20 minutes (Scrabble Express and Sorry! Express offer similar speedy promises). “People just have a lot more options for what to do with their time now,” says Rob Daviau, Hasbro senior game designer. “People still love board games, but TV, the Web, soccer games all cut in.”
Speed dating too slow? Speed Date.com dispatches with the in-person part of the encounter and sets strangers up for three-minute rounds of e-mailing or instant messaging. “We found that people think filling out long forms for most dating sites is too time-consuming,” says co-founder Dan Abelon. “Our goal is to get people together, but even faster than before.”
The sense that time is speeding up isn’t new… (Read the rest here)
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Related Reading:
10 Computer Shortcuts: Obvious to Techies but Unknown to the Rest [Be sure to see the great tips in the comments]
How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour
New Year, New You: How to Travel the World with (or without) Kids in 2008
Bad News: Higher Income = Less Leisure Time?
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
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Hello – I just finished reading the 4HWW. I bought the audio at about two months ago and now, I just finished reading the book… I am really excited and I want to start right now. However, I am a student at a local university and I am really confuse if I should finish my education first (I am already 26) OR if I should take a few semesters off and go look for my dream job that will give me the life-style that I want. This is really killing me and I am writing to see if anyone has good advices. I feel that I really need to get my degree but I also don’t want to loose any more time. I am growing – getting old 🙂 – and life needs to be lived! Any ideas? Comments?
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Hi Paula,
Just my 2 cents, but I would recommend finishing uni. There are lot of differing opinions on education, but I find that most people who leave college (or graduate from it) spend the rest of life trying to reacquire the lifestyle they enjoyed in college. Learning for me is one of life’s great highs, so I’m biased towards schooling. Life can end at any time, but a life of ignorance is too blunt. I vote for finishing school. People who choose to drop out usually carry an unspoken insecurity about their incomplete degree for life. There is no need for that.
Hope that helps,
Tim
How’s the Audi?
As the pace of our lives speeds up, the demand for the lifestyle design hacks that the 4HWW and related sources of information offer will also increase.
This article is also a good reminder that as people begin to reclaim their right to time, those of us who vie for for their attention must really hit the important themes and do so effectively.
Hi Tim,
On the same note as Paula’s, in your opinion, is an MBA worth the investment?
Thanks,
Devin
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Man, that’s a big one. I’ve almost applied to Stanford B-school three times, but ultimately decided against it. My short answer: it depends entirely on your objectives. What would you get from it vs. what would it cost? Stanford is — what — $120,000 all in, plus the opportunity cost (sacrificed income) from those two years? It ultimately wasn’t worth it for me (too many projects I want to get done in the next two years), but for someone who is targeting CxO-level positions in the future, I think it can be great. For the entrepreneur? Questionable but sometimes very useful.
Tim
I’m with Tim on this one. Finish what you start, especially since Uni will potentially be what makes the biggest impact on you as a person, in your entire life. It’s the place where most people get the stories that then last you the next 50 years.
You’re 26. No offence, but that’s not exactly pushing it, age wise. Take your time. There’s plenty of life left to be lived.
Rather than trawl the net to each news site (and other site important to me) I have started using an RSS Reader: I subscribe to my websites, and the RSS Reader downloads new stories and show a brief summary. This can be clicked on to see the full article. Thsi stops be visiting sites where there is no new stories ! I have chosen FeedDemon (Local Version) which syncs with Newsgator (Online Version. Both free at newsgator.com – They also work as a Podcast management system if you add the addon FeedStation.
Jeremy, the Audi is INSANE. I won’t tell it all here, but there will be more coming on this. Google the R8 and you’ll see every tuner’s dream. I’d never driven a optimized supercar, and — while I won’t be buying one — it’s worth every penny. More to come 🙂
Tim
Tim,
Great ideas and book. I already started automation on some of my tasks and I have only read a third of the book. Looking forward to the “how-to” of creating a profit automated business. I love my PhD schooling at the moment but it would be great to have extra cash flowing in (I already have a small business but the income could be better).
I find it impressive that you reply to the folk that comment on your blog since you read email only once a week. I guess doing the blog thing is different.
And about education, Paula, I agree with Tim. A degree will only give you options, and being a student is not that bad. We’re learning all the time. Once I reach the 4-hour work week, I will probably continue to be a student of life at different universities in the world. 🙂
Tim, one last thought, I have yet to learn how you achieved your goal of #1 NY Best but little by little I see how you create different paths to the book, I like it.
Ciao
Giovanni
I recently watched a TED Talk about Slowness, he raises some similar points so you may find it an amusing video.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/73
You drop a couple of extremely quotable lines in that article, like “Acceleration isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is when applied to all things,” and “Unending acceleration isn’t scalable, whether as a lifestyle or as a business model”
So true, and well spoken sir… a modern day Tyler Durden 🙂
E
On page 41, when referring to your business, you state “Critical mistakes in its infancy would never let me sell it.” What were these mistakes? Thanks.
Tim,
nice article.
On the subject of hiring VAs, what is your strategy for complance and monitoring of the work? Take emails for example, you have produced a long protocol of rules and decisions. How do you assess the level of compliance to those rules? Do you pick samples at random and verify how the VA dealt with it? Or, do you simply factor a certain % of errors into the equation (A la “the art of letting bad things happen?”).
Another example, in the case of the cross-referenced Alexa rankings that would have taken you 200 hrs, how do you determine that the job was done to the precision you requested? In this case it is simply impossible for you to check that the work is accurate, unless you give the same task to two people and then compare the results…
I am really struggling with some of the tasks I want to outsource (which fall broadly in the categories above) to come up with a way to monitor things.
There gotta be some kind of feedback mechanism for you to see that what you outsource is working, otherwise its just hoping for the best…
Thanks !
Daniele
tim – quick note – just wanted to say that your responses to comments are much easier to follow this way – thanks!
ps. definitely jealous about the R8.. sick
Tim:
I was interviewed for the USA Today piece, too. We’re building Brijit as a time-saver for busy people: “the world in 100 words.” Hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Jeremy Brosowsky
founder and CEO, Brijit
Hi Tim,
I agree with you that today’s hypersped life is not scalable and not sustainable in the long run. I like what you preach in terms of dropping the 80% of crap that is not useless and focusing on the 20% that is of the essence.
People don’t need a hyperfast life, they need focus.
Ergest
Here’s a time saver. I’m an avid theatre goer and have reviewed dozens of London plays and musicals in my Five-Word Reviews blog. I started it because I had so many visitors coming to town asking which show to see – now they can view them and get a quick review at a glance.
Wow Stanford MBAs cost more than I thought. I’d really like to move to California and study after Japan, but that seems like an awful lot of money. I’ll just have to dreamline it, right? It’s only 5k a month!
Any other ideas for getting a visa so that I can move to California?!
Manx Rich
hey tim,
sorry to side track the blog entries…but just wanted to let you know that i live in new jersey and party in the city and there is not one person who gives me more than 30s to chat that i don’t recommend your book to. no matter if they are the owner of the bar or the woman i run into in gym class. i am spreading the word. so much so that i realise that PR is probably something that i would be good at, rather more of a “connector” as malcolm gladwell says in the ‘tipping point’. where can i find more about your speaking venues…like the one in cali. i may be there for a paintball tournament in march….care to join us?
saludos!
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More on speaking coming very soon….
Tim
Tim
I am budding entreprenuer and future NR that is currently stuck in the corporate grind. Due to looming layoffs I am in a scenario where I may have to look for a new job. I have too many commitments (family and financial) to be a full time entreprenuer just yet. Do you have any advice you can lend as I start interviewing (cringing).
thanks
Vincent
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Look at the interviews as you interviewing them. Consider yourself in a position of strength and be as selective as your skill set will allow.
Good luck,
Tim
Ha ha,
Cool site, the speeddate one. It seems so new but I’m sure it will catch on like eharmony and match. I think these guys have the potential to give everyone a run for their money.
Jose Castro Frenzel
Tim,
I’m wondering if you can clarify something about the four hr workweek. I am willing to bet that you “work” much more than four hours a day and you love what you’re doing. Can you touch on the difference between working 10 hours/day in a job and spending 10 hours/day working towards exciting projects and goals? There’s a huge difference between the two and I’d love your thoughts on that.
Thanks
Aaron
Hi Tim,
Any more tips on how to outsource your online dating?
I’m recently single, consider myself a great catch, and want to meet someone great, but I feel like I can’t be bothered to go through the motions of weeding through profiles, responses, and bad dates.
Any tips would be awesome!
Cheers and thanks for the inspiration,
Elizabeth
[…] out or subscribe to Brijit [via 4HWW]– a 100-word summary of articles from major periodicals like the Times, Journal, Wired, The […]
Ha, I don’t agree with it all but nice none-the-less
HA WELL I DONT AGREE WITH YOU FREVER T.
sick posts dude, you have changed my life forever i am going to become a therapist now, thanks man. LOVE YA!
This post was excellent.