Is a 4-hour work week really possible?

Have you read “The 4-hour work week” by Tim Ferriss? If you haven’t I would highly recommend it.

In summary;

Whether you're an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, “The 4-hour work week” is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.

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. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

When I co-founded Prolific 6 years ago, my aim was to build a successful business at all cost (to the detriment of my physical health, mental health and work/life balance) to provide me with my “retirement fund”.

As time has passed my focus has changed as has the way I approach the business and its future plans.

This has occurred naturally but also from the copious amount of business and personal development books I have read.

“The 4-hour work week” has really made me reassess the way I approach each day, even down to each hour.

We all have the same hours in a day and a “to do list” which we need/want to achieve.

When I was an employee, I would make sure my day was filled and I kept busy. Not just because I was conscientious but because the busier I was, the better I felt and my days flew by!

If you adopt the same approach when running your own business, you will soon burn out. The “to do list” never ends!

After learning this the hard way, my days look very different and using some of the concepts that “The 4-hour work week” provides has helped me do this.

Such as; morning daily rituals, automating processes, flexible working in any location and changing my mindset “less is not laziness”.

Each day I plan my time strategically, each hour my focus is clear and my goals are achieved (most of the time!). I now work smarter, not harder and certainly work less hours than I ever have.

I don’t slog away each day focusing on “the retirement plan”, I work to provide my customers with the upmost support and service whilst living in the moment and achieving my personal goals and ambitions.

I’m constantly working on my work/life balance. Let’s be honest who wants to work more than they have to?!

Back to the title question. Is a 4-hour work week really possible?

Right now, for me, no.

I love building relationships with my customers and to do that I need to spend time with them and their businesses and this obviously takes time. I don’t want to change this about my business but wherever possible I use “The 4-hour work week” concept and use it as a “reference book” to check in with, to remind me of my goals and how I can achieve them. 

Do you have any personal or development books you could recommend? I’m always looking to add to my read list!