The Zero Hour Work Week !!
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
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26
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Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Scarborough,
Australia
Friday, November 30, 2007
Can you get by working only four hours a week?
That was the heading of a recent article we read in a local Perth newspaper.
The article reviewed a book written by Timothy Ferriss titled "The 4 Hour Workweek"!
Elsie and I looked at this article and said, "What? That's four hours too many for us!"
The article defines the next generation/life balancers: the New Rich, who have watched their parents slave away for years in order to retire with sizeable assets, only to find their best years are behind them.
The New Rich want a full life right now, and are willing to do the minimum necessary for maximum effect.
They don't believe in working harder or working at all, if they can help it. They have abandoned the traditional life plan (nose to the grindstone) for forty years until you retire. Instead they create rewarding lives in the present using the most important currencies: time and mobility.
The Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) asserts that 80% of profit comes from 20% of clients or 20% of efforts leads to 80% of results.
The author, Ferriss, makes a distinction between being busy and being truly productive. The New Rich reject being busy at work and focus on being productive. If they work in sales, they will will focus on the 20% most valued clients who deliver 80% of sales. By giving up on fruitless cold calling and lobbying of low-value clients, they free up a huge amount of time that can be spent on strategising or rejuvenating downtime!
Where as "Deferrers" as he calls them or dubs them, might dream of working for themselves, the New Rich have others work for them so they can pursue more interesting activites.
Where Deferrers aim to work on their own terms, the New Rich would prefer to do the minimum necessary for maximum effect.
Deferrers believe that to retire early is the ultimate goal. The New Rich plan to distribute recovery periods (mini retirements) on a regular basis.
In addition, Deferrers want more things, whereas, the New Rich want quality and less clutter.
And where Deferrers aim to be the boss, the New Rich reject the roles of boss or employee: they want to be the owner!
Needless to say, after Elsie and I read this article, "we were exausted"! Working zero hour work weeks is tough! Probably tougher than working four hour work weeks! We both agreed, we're enjoying our zero hour work week!
We thought there were elements of Deferrers and the New Rich in both of us! Or, perhaps there's a third category that better defines us? Maybe, we're "Dream Weavers"!
Regardless, it was now "Happy Hour" and the only thing on our minds was our rum and coke!
Here's to good WA rum and working zero hour work weeks! Happy Dreams!
Cheers, Rick & Elsie!
