This book is a classic. A book that I had heard about for years as the key to breaking away from the 9 to 5 and taking back control over your time. This book has sold over 2 million copies, spent 4 years as a New York Times best seller and has been translated to over 40 different languages. So I finally decided to check it out and see for myself.
This was also the first audiobook that I have checked out of my public library so I was excited to see how I processed information through this form.
Audio Books
I currently drive around 6-7 hours per week for work so audio books made sense for me. Even with all the podcasts I listen to each week, I still had extra drive time to fill, so I knew I needed to try audio books.
I usually listen to podcasts in 2x speed to become more efficient which is a great skill I would recommend to anyone trying to mass take in information. However, I found this speed a little bit harder for audiobooks. I still used 2x mode, but I found myself rewinding more than normal to catch important pieces of information.
I also didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t take notes while I listened and drove, which is normally something I do while I read.
However, besides those two complaints, overall I feel like I still was able to take away many key points the same way that I could with reading. Plus, the audiobooks were free at my public library, so I used them more to explore books that I was curious about and not as much with the must own books.
Book Review
Overall, I felt like this book could provide the typical desk jockey with a spark to attempt their entrepreneurial journey as Tim writes in a very motivational and action driven fashion.
Tim’s key motivation point is advising everyone to attempt to become a part of the “new rich”. Which is a term that Tim coins as a position where you are neither the manager, nor the employee, you are the owner. Thus allowing you the ability to eliminate wasted time and energy, focusing on overall life efficiency.
Even if you do still work for someone else, Tim gives actionable steps to begin to take your work remote which allows you to focus on the part of your job that makes the most money in the least amount of time. Allowing you to use your time more freely.
Streamlining Work
This book’s claim to fame is through it’s tips to streamline your work in a way to boost efficiency and productivity without breaking relationships.
Tim outlines that much of work is wasted time and energy. Time getting ready, time commuting, time getting settled at work, time small talking with coworkers, time for pointless meetings, etc.
So this book breaks down these barriers to productivity and efficiency while giving readers conversation starters with your boss to encourage less time in the office, more remote work, and the ability to skip out on work meetings.
My favorite streamlining tip is Tim’s auto-responses to email. Rather than check his email all day long, which wastes time and mental energy, Tim checks his email just twice a day. To further improve efficiency, he has an auto-response stating this, along with a FAQ’s tab to encourage/empower anyone who may be emailing him to make the decision themselves.
He ends each auto-response with “Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness. It helps me accomplish more to serve you more.”
A very non hostile response that makes it difficult to be upset that he will not be responding to your email within minutes.
Outsourcing
The other big take home point that Tim attempts to make for streamlining work is outsourcing. Tim believes that anyone and everyone should be using virtual assistants. Specifically, virtual assistants from another country such as India. These assistants are very inexpensive and they can be used to perform the meaningless tasks such as scheduling appointments, creating emails, or cold calling.
Thus giving you more time to spend on the few things that make you the most relative income. Which Tim discusses as your relative amount of money you earn per hour of work. He believes it’s better to pay someone $10/hr to perform mindless time consuming tasks allowing you to focus on the tasks that make you the most money. This allows for the highest relative dollars per hour.
DEAL
This books breaks down this process to break away from work in the 4 part acronym “DEAL”:
- Definition: Define your dreams and nightmares. Shed the idea that you need to work until you retire.
- Elimination: Learn to ignore the unimportant which restores time and removes waste.
- Automation: Automate your cash flow, learn to create passive income
- Liberation: Create freedom from location.
“Being busy is a form of laziness”
This is probably my favorite quote in the book because it definitely challenged some of my previous viewpoints about productivity.
As you know, most of us are extremely busy with work, life, and social commitments. So busy that we often feel the need to make long checklists in an attempt to get it all done. By the end of the day, the more objects we check off the list, the more productive we often then feel.
However, this book and quote challenges that thought process and turns it on it’s head. Instead, what if we are actually busy and stressed because we are too lazy to set up the routines and processes to make our lives less stressful and more efficient?
I have always felt that time is our most precious resource, so shouldn’t we be doing everything possible to regain as much of it back?
Just something to think about.
Opposing Viewpoints
As I have mentioned, I love the efficiency and streamlining of work that Tim suggests but there are still several places where our viewpoints differ.
This book assumes that everyone can just become an entrepreneur. Obviously, I agree that we all can create passive income but the possibility of that occurring is much smaller than what this book makes it seem.
I understand he is attempting to motivate, but by only focusing on the success stories like his own, he ignores the thousands of people who attempt this and fail. Tim makes it seem that starting a passive income stream is easy which I truly don’t believe to be true.
He is also very vague in the book on how to get to this step in the process. Tim understands how to streamline work, but actually starting this passive income stream is something that he basically glosses over in the book because in reality it took long hours of hard work for Tim to reach his success too. Just as it does for most people. But selling this grind isn’t something anyone wants to hear and doesn’t get people to buy a book.
His tactics also seem a little sleazy at times as he basically states that the goal of our businesses are not to change the world nor help people, they are to make money with little to no time. Tim made his money selling supplements online that are “scientifically engineered to quickly increase the speed of neural transmission and information processing”. Which as a healthcare professional already sounds like a scam.
I want to make money too, but not at the expense of taking advantage of people. Which maybe is why my blog makes minimal income as I give all my information away for free…
Tim is also a “more money will always come passively so we should enjoy life” type of person, which to an extent I agree with. As we should do what makes us happy but by spending as Tim does, you would need your passive income to last forever and sustain this level of spending. And this is more risk than I am willing to take on. I’d rather be smart with my finances, live within my means, and always have access to my time. But this is more a personal preference.
Conclusion
I would recommend Tim’s book for those trying to streamline their work and create efficiency of their time. Tim has a unique approach to this and there are a few things I will be attempting to implement into my own life.
This book could also be used to motivate you to attempt to pursue your own dream to create passive income and remove yourself from the everyday grind of work. Tim has done it and now lives one of the crazier lives which he discusses in depth in this book.
However, if you expect this book to teach you how to start a business or create a passive income stream, there are much better books to equip you with these skills.
Overall, I think it’s a worthwhile book to read, especially as it is considered a staple of the break away from the traditional work scene.
If you have any personal recommendations of personal growth or finance books, let me know in the comments as I am always looking for more books to review!
