---
title: "The 4-hour Workweek: What Tim Ferriss teaches us about time management"
description: In this blog post, Tim Ferriss teaches us the value of time management from his book The 4-Hour Workweek.
image: https://www.turbinehq.com/hubfs/Turbine-The%204-hour%20Workweek-%20What%20Tim%20Ferriss%20teaches%20us%20about%20time%20management-01.svg
---
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# The 4-hour Workweek: What Tim Ferriss teaches us about time management
[By Callum Sharp ](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/author/callum-sharp)
Published 07-Feb-2019 08:00:00 Updated September 23 2024
> "I saw a bank that said "24-hour banking", but I don't have that much time."
>
> – Steven Wright, comedian
How much would you pay for an extra hour in the day?
We feel your struggle. Fortunately, the world graced us with Tim Ferriss – the man behind the book [The 4-Hour Workweek](https://tim.blog/). His productivity hacks put our time management excuses to shame. The truth is; we all have [enough time](https://www.turbinehq.com/time-off-requests), we just don’t know how to manage it effectively.
## Lesson 1: Adopt selective ignorance
> "There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant."
>
> – Ralph Emerson (1803-1882)
'Most information is time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to your goals and outside of your influence', says Tim. [One fifth of a CEO’s time is spent reading the news or engaging on social media,](https://time.com/4076563/ceos-productivity/) according to Time magazine. Be selective with what you read at work and **you will improve productivity and get more done.** The rest you don’t need.
## Lesson 2: Use the time you do have
**'Since we have eight hours to fill, we fill eight hours. If we had 15, we would fill 15'**, says Tim. His advice is to adopt [Parkinson's Law](https://www.economist.com/news/1955/11/19/parkinsons-law), which argues that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion'. So set yourself tight deadlines, and stick to them.
[](https://www.turbinehq.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJoL6ChEsaNE1I7adI9lcu4alRP%2FDzLKu4UMFHtNa9i7s%2BQJSSTbrH4Vikto9w8Iartyf4BOb18i20eQUq2kd51tQtIayw9uzZk3lqapDXJb7MIz4NZwsrylUJZvqO1%2F1jamUC7xOKWuY0SsNn8t7wIdeD705w5uYTG6qmBjUjKrfsvSDvPWdwIz3qFYnuawYyJj08%3D&webInteractiveContentId=179198303298&portalId=2183131)
'Time is wasted in proportion to the amount that is available,' Tim explains. If you give yourself an entire day to complete an hour-long task, you’ll likely use the entire day. **The key to Parkinson’s Law is to create a sense of urgency.** Remember university? Those late nights trying to scrape together an essay were never fun, but boy they were focused. Set false deadlines in a tight timeframe, and stick to them. Added pressure increases productivity and gives you back your time.
## Lesson 3: Focus on the 20 percent
One of the biggest lessons learned from the 4-Hour Workweek is [Pareto's 80/20 rule](https://www.economist.com/news/2009/06/19/joseph-juran). This rule applies to [everything](https://www.businessballs.com/self-management/paretos-80-20-rule-theory/): 80 percent of negativity comes from 20 percent of the people. 80 percent of revenue comes from 20 percent of your clients, and so on.
Tim recommends [automating the non-essential](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/to-do-list-tips-for-better-time-management) and focusing on your most profitable clients. If you apply yourself to the core 20 percent, you'll regain time without seeing a decrease in business performance.
## Lesson 4: Outsource, outsource, outsource
> "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."
>
> – [Bill Gates](https://www.businessinsider.com/quotes-from-the-worlds-second-richest-man-2013-3?IR=T)
Minimum time input, maximum output; that’s the goal. **Workplace automation is the key** to regaining time. [Virtual assistants](https://tim.blog/outsourcing-life/) and apps are your friends. They give much needed support and help you offload those irrelevant but important errands.
## Work smarter, not harder
Time is precious, and we don't utilise it. Only [half of time in the workplace is spent working](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240076). The rest consists of [unimportant meetings](https://www.articulatemarketing.com/blog/better-meetings), emails and admin, which you can automate. In the words of Ferriss himself:
> "Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash."
[](https://www.turbinehq.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJoL6ChEsaNE1I7adI9lcu4alRP%2FDzLKu4UMFHtNa9i7s%2BQJSSTbrH4Vikto9w8Iartyf4BOb18i20eQUq2kd51tQtIayw9uzZk3lqapDXJb7MIz4NZwsrylUJZvqO1%2F1jamUC7xOKWuY0SsNn8t7wIdeD705w5uYTG6qmBjUjKrfsvSDvPWdwIz3qFYnuawYyJj08%3D&webInteractiveContentId=179198303298&portalId=2183131)
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## Related articles
[Efficiency](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/efficiency) [Productivity](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/productivity) [Timekeeping](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/timekeeping)
### [The best kept secrets: advice from the time management gurus](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/time-management)
Few of us would admit to working stupidly. Yet how often do you get to the end of a day and wonder where the time went? It’s possible to be...
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[Efficiency](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/efficiency) [Employees](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/employees) [Productivity](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/productivity)
### [5 struggles remote workers know all too well](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/struggles-for-remote-workers)
Although we’re often happier and more productive than the average office worker, us remote workers do face our own fair share of struggles...
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[Time Off](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/topic/time-off)
### [Why time off from work is good for your productivity](https://www.turbinehq.com/blog/time-off-from-work-productivity)
Here’s a question for all you workaholic SMB owners out there: when was the last time you took time off from work? I’m not talking about a...
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