24 Hours with Tim Ferriss, a Sample Schedule 53 Comments

Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: 4-Hour Case Studies, Filling the Void

pinar.png
The goal is NOT inactivity. (Photo: the super smart and sexy Pinar Ozger)

Perhaps the most common question I’m asked is “what do you do all day?”

I was recently interviewed by J.D. Roth on his popular personal finance blog, and one of his readers wrote in with the following:

“I would like to know as best he can give, what Tim’s average NON-mini-retirement day entails.”

Here was my answer:

My days almost never look the same. I ask my assistants to avoid phone calls on Mondays and Fridays, in case I want to take a long weekend on either end, and I almost always allocate Mondays for general preparation and prioritizing for the week, then any administrative tasks that I need to handle (paperwork for accountants, lawyers, etc.).

I put very few things in my calendar, as I do not believe most people can do more than four hours of productive work per day at maximum, and I loathe multi-tasking. For example, my day tomorrow [Tim: this was about 14 days ago] looks like this, with items in my calendar preceded by an asterisk (*):

10am — get up and eat high-protein breakfast of 300-400 calories (I’m typing this at 2:22am, as I do my best writing from 1-4am)

10:30-12* — radio interviews and idea generation for writing (note taking)

12 noon — workout involving mostly posterior chain (back, neck extension, hamstrings, etc.) and abdominals.

12:30 — lunch in a restaurant of organic beef, vegetables, pinto beans, and guacamole (I have this almost everyday. Here is my diet.)

1-5pm* — write piece for The Economist (I’m not writing this whole time, but I block out this period)

5pm* — review my designer’s latest updates on planned blog redesign

5:30pm — first dinner - small

6:30-8:30pm — Brazilian jiu-jitsu training

9pm — second dinner - large

10pm — ice bath and shower

11-2am — chill out and do whatever, probably reading for enjoyment or drinking wine with friends

Before you ask “but what happened to the 4-hour workweek?!”, realize that the goal was never to be idle.

I hate laziness and make this clear in the book, the “Filling the Void” chapter being just one example. The goal is to spend as much time possible doing what we want by maximizing output in minimal time.

I don’t have to do anything in this schedule. I choose to do them because I like them. None of them are financially-driven or unpleasant obligations. If the chance to do something more fun comes up last-minute, I can cancel all of them.

Remember: having time isn’t hard nor necessarily desirable in and of itself—just quit your job and go on unemployment. It’s how you use time and trade it for experience that counts.



Posted on March 10th, 2008

53 Responses to “24 Hours with Tim Ferriss, a Sample Schedule”

  • Albert March 10th, 2008
    5:10 am

    Who can disagree. The hardest part is to learn to relax into the other 20 hours after you have your 4 hours of productive work.

    A while ago I took an afternoon off from work to go to my son’s birthday party. One of his friends arrived with a babysitter and announced that “My parents couldn’t bring me because they are very busy.”

    My good Calvinist indoctrination of an upbringing whirred into action and I felt useless and disempowered. Why wasn’t I busy? Was I just slacking? Why am I not that that much in demand? Blah, Blah….

    Then in a moment of grace my Muse made me say: “Being busy is horrible. It makes you grumpy.” All the little ones burst out laughing because they knew it was true.

    Later I remembered how many times had I seen this same little guy’s father all irritated when he was dropping his son off at school in the morning. Hardly something to strive for.

  • Mark Chambers March 10th, 2008
    5:46 am

    It’s how you use time….

    So very true. There is a mass of difference between ‘want to do’ and ‘have to do’. Nice distinction. Kinda refocused the point of the blog & book if you ask me, which is a good ting.

    People who say ‘what do you do all day?’ of people like yourself or lottery winners or the retired often, I find, have no imagination and don’t stray too far from the things they have to do.

    Mark’s Two Cents

  • Mark Chambers March 10th, 2008
    5:53 am

    Just spotted the OLPC in the background.
    Nice ;)

  • Matt March 10th, 2008
    6:25 am

    I’ve always found it interesting to see how some of the people I respect spend their days (especially if they’re likely to be busy). Especially in your case Tim, since you’re living the 4 hour workweek. I’m still personally wrestling with being able to follow an unstructured schedule. It definitely means you can get a lot more done if you want but the ability to goof off for the day is also there which makes it that much more challenging.

  • EJ March 10th, 2008
    7:42 am

    Hi Tim,

    Thanks for showing us your sked. Very interesting. I think breaking one’s habits …whether checking email dozens of times a day or feeling the need to stick to a 9-5 sked is sometimes hard to do. And “Filling the void” is also key!

    In 2000, I excitedly outsourced most of our operations (warehousing, shipping, customer service, basic accounting etc) thinking I would then be able to get more things done. But things didn’t work out as planned. Why?

    All of a sudden I had all this time on my hands. Instead of focusing on the “big picture” and re-designing our life, I felt guilty about having all this free time. For whatever reason, I felt I had to be busy. Very busy ALL DAY. If I wasn’t terribly busy I felt guilty. So, I desperately tried to come up with a bunch of other un-important things to add to my to-do list so that I would be busy…just like everyone else. Yes, sounds a bit daft now, doesn’t it?

    So, from my own personal experience, I think freeing up time is great but it is also important to try to answer the question “why.” If you are able to free up time by using Tim’s techniques, what will you do with the time? Being idle isn’t the answer. EJ

  • Morgan March 10th, 2008
    7:48 am

    Nice refocusing, very to the point. Out of curiosity, have you ever heard of a book called the Young and Successful? My brother had it a couple of years ago and I started reading it recently (after reading 4HWW) and it seems to have some of the same points, just geared towards a younger crowd (so far anyway, haven’t finished the whole book yet).

    - Morgan

  • Dennis Mangan March 10th, 2008
    9:00 am

    Tim, you and your readers may be interested in another account of one of your days, written by someone who sat next to you, Bryan Caplan: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/03/free_lunch_at_s.html

  • Teranceofathens March 10th, 2008
    10:12 am

    Hey Tim! I’ve been enjoying your stuff for a while now, I appreciate it!

    Quick heads up on something I think you might enjoy - Frolicon. It’s in Atlanta March 20-23rd and it’s one hell of a party. I saw the picture of you at whatever Con you’re at and a light came on.

  • J. Kevin Tumlinson March 10th, 2008
    10:17 am

    A while back, I inadvertently walked away from a lifestyle that let me have the kind of schedule you’re talking about here. Long story. But let’s just say I let the idea that I had to make lots of money sway me.

    I think I’ll change that.

  • Steve Olson March 10th, 2008
    10:37 am

    Tim,

    Brazilian jiu-jitsu! Are you getting ready for the UFC? I have my son training in MMA at the American School of Matial Arts - it is Royce Gracie certified. Cool stuff. I was invited to be on the SXSW chitika beer bus with you this weekend but I couldn’t make it. I look forward to meeting you some other time.

  • blogrdoc March 10th, 2008
    10:46 am

    Tim,

    I wonder if ice is really necessary. Why not just take a cold shower? Do you really need 0°C?

  • John Hanusek March 10th, 2008
    12:18 pm

    I think that girl in the background is the one that bought my OLPC and then complained it had a bad pixel and ruined my perfect score on eBay. Arrrrrrrrgh!!!

    ###

    Wow, really? Small world. If so, shame on her. That’s lame. Tim

  • Jan March 10th, 2008
    1:34 pm

    I read your diet and noticed that it’s okay to have white carbs after resistance training. I thought resistance training was weight training but on here it says Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. What exactly IS resistance training? Endurance training?

    Also, what restaurant can you get your organic fed beef lunch with guacamole and pinto beans?

    ###

    There is a place called “Aqui” in Campbell, CA where they serve this, and I just substitute grilled vegetables for rice. Whole Foods should have something like this as well. Tim

  • Nate Green March 10th, 2008
    3:31 pm

    Tim,

    I find it interesting that you don’t schedule your training or martial arts sessions in your calendar (no asterisk).

    Have they become enough of a habit to where you just “wing it” week by week?

    Do a lot of your activities seem to follow the same pattern?

    I ask because I’ve found that a certain level of familiarity, expertise and trial and error take an activity from “must schedule” to “I know what to do and will get it in when I can.”

    I like this instinctive style. Nate

  • Peter March 10th, 2008
    3:46 pm

    I remember reading that you train approximately twice per week in the gym, aside from BJJ (please correct me if I’m mistaken). Do you find it more difficult to keep up the schedule either during a mini-retirement, or when you’re on the road in general? Do you have any exercises that you would recommend when there isn’t a gym around?

    ###

    Hi Peter,

    I’ll do a post on this soon. It’s a useful topic. Tim

  • Alex Weber March 10th, 2008
    5:19 pm

    I think it’s awesome how you’ve managed to separate your “idea generation/note taking” period from your actual “writing” period.

    I’m curious though: how do you manage to organize, review, and harvest good ideas from the massive amount of notes you take?

    Also, how does your schedule get changed when you’re travelling?

    I’d love to read about your note-organization-and-review ideas, and how you keep in shape/keep productive while traveling. Alex

  • Karl March 10th, 2008
    6:16 pm

    Hey Tim / others -

    Did you ever read “The Virtual Corporation” by Davidow (easy find on Amazon). I found it super-influential when setting up my company, and it maps well onto your book and GTD / 43folders, etc. An interesting read - written just before the internet made many of the ideas in it practical.

    - Karl

  • Marvin March 10th, 2008
    7:57 pm

    Albert wrote, “Then in a moment of grace my Muse made me say: “Being busy is horrible. It makes you grumpy.” All the little ones burst out laughing because they knew it was true.”

    Truer words have rarely been spoken. Brilliant. Kids seem to understand this intuitively. Where did us grown-ups go wrong?

  • Steve March 10th, 2008
    9:14 pm

    Thanks for sharing this. On a side note, I’m totally going to try an ice bath tonight.

  • Chris March 10th, 2008
    9:32 pm

    Tim:

    Love the site. Love the book. The blog is great. Trying to unload minutia.

    QUESTION: UNRELATED TO THIS POST BUT, WHAT KIND OF PACK ARE YOU SPORTING IN THE PICTURE ABOVE? Chris

  • Evan March 10th, 2008
    9:35 pm

    Tim, I’m guessing from your schedule that you sold Brainquicken (not sure if you brought it up in other posts)? How do you keep up with all the questions on the comments?!

  • Russell March 10th, 2008
    9:50 pm

    Thanks for posting your schedule. It’s helpful to see what you undertake in a day.

    I have noticed that on a regular basis that I only get about 4 hours of productive work done in any one day. The rest of the time is spent socializing or other minor tasks that don’t necessarily add up to productive work.

    Lately, I’ve been undertaking a lot in each day, a full day of work and then working on my house, then working on a second job when I have the energy. Also, I have been getting sick a lot lately, I usually don’t get sick and I have had several ailments here recently…

    Our society and culture have placed the expectation on each one of us to be “at work” for 8 hours or more a day… when we take off early or don’t get “8 hours” in we feel guilty. Not that we should feel guilty, but we do anyway… None of us want to feel like an outsider so we conform to the norm.

    Thanks for posting this Tim, it is helpful.

  • Norman Dacanay March 10th, 2008
    11:32 pm

    Excellent point about laziness…and was one of the best things that I got out of reading your book. It is something that believed in so much that a couple days ago my Branch manager and I had a heated discussion about what we saw laziness as. He saw my reading of your book as laziness judging by the title of the…in his own words he said “…working less than 4 hours a week, what are you 23-24?…you’re so f***ing lazy”. After hearing that I calmly closed the book and lectured him on what I perceived as laziness, to the awe of my co-workers I not only held my own against my boss, but I eventually made him see that laziness was not in enriching or trying to enrich one’s life, but in the mindless, indiscriminate action which we perform everyday in our branch.

    P.S. I am planning to very soon fire my job. More info on this later on, or check my site for details. Oh man I can’t wait.

  • Evan March 11th, 2008
    12:22 am

    Tim, sorry to add to the onslaught of questions, but curious as to how much you read (magazines, books) and what topics? Thanks.

    ###

    Hi Evan,

    Running to lunch, but take a quick reread of the “low-information diet” chapter where I talk about this. Gotta run for now… Tim

  • Personal Blog » Blog Archive » Lost Time and My Schedule March 11th, 2008
    12:39 am

    […] after reading this post by Tim Ferriss: 24 Hours with Tim Ferriss, a Sample Schedule, I wanted to post my own normal daily routine. While not nearly as exciting as his, I think it is […]

  • Dave March 11th, 2008
    4:51 am

    Yo Tim,

    Completely unrelated but can you make the links posted in your blog content open in a separate window or tab? Sometimes I click on a link while reading your blog and I get so involved in the “new content” that I forget press the “back-button” to go back and finish your post. I use Firefox so the left-most tabs gives me a visual reminder of what I was reading first. Nice redesign btw.

    ###

    Hi Dave,

    I had some wordpress issues after an upgrade and will be trying to do this for future links. Good call :)

    Thanks, Tim

  • Rens March 11th, 2008
    6:14 am

    Hi Tim,

    Nice article !

    I’m a uni-student and I truly believe that 4 hours intensive work / day is the maximum. However, I have days where I have 7 hours classes. How would you handle that? What about a little article : “The 4 hour studyweek”. Maximal output with minimal output :p

    Any insights on that?

    You rock, love your book. Rens

  • Jon March 11th, 2008
    8:00 am

    Hey Tim,

    Great post. If you happen to be in Tokyo March 15th-19th, shoot me an email. It’s my senior year of college and I’ve been wanting to go for years now, but I’ve made excuses up until now. I’ll be staying near Shinjuku Station and it would be cool to hang out and have a drink or two if for some odd chance you ended up being in Tokyo around that time.

    Keep up the great work, Jon

  • Philip Fortuna March 11th, 2008
    8:56 am

    Hi Tim,

    Great post, inspired a shake-up of my own routine.

    I was wondering about one thing…the 4 hours of productive work a day..where does that idea come from?

  • EJ March 11th, 2008
    11:19 am

    Hi Tim,

    I’m chiming in on a couple of the above posts.

    Would be great to know more about how stay organized & focused when working towards a major goal, whether it’s writing a book or planning a major trip. Big goals & lots of steps.

    How do you stay on top of everything and moving in the right direction? EJ

  • Dave McDowell March 11th, 2008
    12:15 pm

    Interesting post. Inspired me to think about my own average day. But, I took a slightly different approach and examined the artifacts left by my software usage to create a more statistically significant ‘average day’. Would be interested to see a similar analysis from you…

  • peter March 12th, 2008
    6:14 am

    Tim,

    Two quick questions. 1.) Do you brush your teeth after drinking red wine in the evenings? I detest brushing my teeth after drinking alcohol, and thus i had to give up red wine in the late evening, because it started to stain my teeth.

    2.) I understand you are a fan of the Drs. Eades Protein Power lifestlye, yet your diet is quite low in fat. What are your thoughts on a diet high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbs?

    Peter

    ###

    Hi Peter,

    I do brush my teeth afterwards, and I find that protein is the key component, not necessarily fat. That’s been my experience. I don’t avoid good fats (I consume tons of olive oil and avocado/guacamole, for example), but I don’t chase fat either. If the protein level is high enough, I find that even moderate carb intake is allowable, though not always ideal.

    Hope that helps, Tim

  • Matt March 12th, 2008
    7:48 am

    Tim,
    Thanks for the insightful post on your schedule. I’ve always had a disdain for my 40-hour workweek, but after watching people in ‘retirement’ be bored off their asses, I thought that would be equally painful. I like how your ideas bring work/life into a nice balance, and it’s interesting to see an example of that.

    One of the many things I liked about the book was the exercises on rediscovering my dreams. When you talk of a 4-hour workweek, I think everyone has a knee jerk reaction of “what would I do all day?”. However, the more you marinate in it, the more you come up with answers.

    Pen tricks, anyone? :)

  • akthe47 March 12th, 2008
    9:57 am

    Tim,
    I fully agree that we should keep ourselves busy in our spare time, all the while doing things we enjoy as much as possible (which is where your concept of the 4-hr work week comes in). However, I’ve been asked an interesting question from someone who made a cursory glance through the book:

    What if someone wanted to employ your ideas of a 4-hour work week, but only to feed their vices and/or be lazy? Would the 4-hour work week concept fail at some point in their life? What if someone wanted to outsource everything, but instead of travelling and finding new interests, they wanted to stay home to sleep, watch tv, and live the rest of their life with indifference? I’d think the person would get bored over time and then seek a full-time job to fulfill their time, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on this and how such a lifestyle would impact one who has setup a muse to financial stabilize their life.

    Another way to word this is: Is it necessary to find fulfilling and/or productive things to do in your freed up time in order for the 4-hour work week concept to remain possible in one’s life? Is the 4-hour work week unsustaining if we don’t continually find new opportunities to further develop ourselves?

    Many thanks if you touch upon this subject. It’s been bothering me for some time.

    Regards, Alex

  • Adam March 12th, 2008
    10:10 am

    and idea generation for writing

    That got me curious. Is this referring to the Economist piece, some other article(s), the next edition of the book, or possibly some new larger project?

  • gucci socks March 12th, 2008
    4:24 pm

    Tim,
    Thanks for sharing your schedule. The bit I’m most interested in is the BJJ training. I train BJJ, as well (purple belt), and I was wondering if you could give some insight as to your training methodology.

    -Do you take notes?
    -When you roll, do you have a plan for which techniques you will work on?
    -How do you decide which techniques to make part of your game?

    I’d be very curious to hear your thoughts on “Hacking BJJ”.

    ###

    Cool recommendation. If I’m training for competition, yes, I take notes. I’ll also video sparring from certain positions and tend to focus on one position (like half guard) for a week or two until I can execute a few staple moves on larger and well-trained partners. Frequent but short practices are better than marathon sessions a few times a week.

    I might write more about this in a dedicated post… Tim

  • Cath Lawson March 12th, 2008
    6:47 pm

    Hi Tim - It all seems like really pleasant stuff aside from the bed/sleep hours and the ice bath. Oh well, I suppose you’re young - the early to bed thing will hit you in another decade.

    Now, I’m going to try the ice bath thing and I promise to try not to flame you if it is really brutal.

  • David Jackson March 13th, 2008
    12:06 am

    Do they even post comments in real time? Or does someone approve them one by one?

    ###

    Moderated one by one to keep the community troll-free :) Oftentimes with assistants, sometimes through me. I like my readers and prefer to keep an ear to the ground…. T

  • Jennifer Grigg March 13th, 2008
    9:52 am

    When do you blog? I like the consistency of your posts. Not too much, that would be overwhelming, just enough to keep us tantalized.

    I am having trouble getting into a routine on my blog.

    ###

    Hi Jen,

    I’ll be covering this at length soon. More to come :) Tim

  • Allan White March 13th, 2008
    1:25 pm

    So, wait - when do you sleep? In the 2am - 10-am window?

    ###

    Exactly. Sometimes I’ll wake up later, but that’s the basics. If I’m training hard, I make a 10am practice so go to bed earlier. Tim

  • Andy Xie March 13th, 2008
    2:30 pm

    Hi, Tim

    Thanks for sharing this! High protein breakfasts are the best, I like to have one every day.

  • Maria March 14th, 2008
    11:33 pm

    Hey Tim,

    I heard that early to bed and early to rise, make a MAN. Healthy Wealthy and Wise!

    Dont you believe in this? or What? Maria

  • Lewis Howes March 15th, 2008
    12:21 am

    Tim,

    This is a great post! I like the friendly reminder that we should continue to focus on doing the things we LIKE to do, not have to do throughout our days.

    I am glad you continue to talk about the necessity to take care of the body through an exercise that you like to do, and by eating the right way. Thanks for those updates.

    For those out there who haven’t tried the ice bath, I highly recommend it. Most elite football, basketball, and soccer players do this on a daily basis, or at least after games. The ideal time in the ice bath I have found is 12-15 minutes. Anything shorter than 10 mins is not going to give you the full affect. It will seem unbearable at first when you get in 45-55 degree water, but after the numbing takes place within 5 mins, it won’t be that bad for the remainder.

    Tim, maybe you can give an entire post on the ice bath and its affects on the body, how it acts like a battery recharge for your muscles. A picture of you in the ice tub with a smile might make your readers more inclined to take the plunge.

    Thanks Lewis

  • Sarah March 16th, 2008
    12:59 pm

    It’s a good thing that you don’t have to do things like cleaning and laundry, like most people do.

    ###

    Sarah, no need to get snarky. I pay a wash and fold laundromat less than $1 per pound to do my laundry. I did this even when I was making $8/hour as a student. I pay a great Serbian woman $90 once per month to clean my house, and I also did this my first year out of school. It’s not much money, but it saves a huge amount of time and attention.

    Hope that helps, Tim

  • Derrick March 17th, 2008
    11:17 pm

    Tim,

    I’m curious also about the 4 hour max per day, especially in terms of study and academic work. Where’d you get it? How/when would you use it for studying? I’ve heard of very similar opinions - right now I’m thinking Dirac and Hardy/Littlewood.

  • Doug March 20th, 2008
    10:39 am

    Also, (unrelated to my last comment, sorry to double post), what were you doing at a networking conference? My dad does network research at some business schools out east, so that’s why I’m curious.

    Doug

    ###

    Hi Doug,

    ETech (I assume you’re referring to) is about much more than just networking, but that could be one technology represented. I was invited to speak and wanted to attend a number of the presentations. Hope that helps! Tim

  • Jonathan March 20th, 2008
    4:33 pm

    Hi Tim - first thanks much for a great book. A month ago I “fired my boss” and now I’m out here living the life. Haha. Or working on it.

    I just re-read the 4HWW while in Hawaii and realized that even though I was now working for myself I had quickly fallen back into the W4W phenomenon.

    On that note - I’m going to take my canoe out now because my productivity this afteroon just sucks!

  • Cassandra March 29th, 2008
    1:39 am

    Dream Date: 2 islands - 1 country

    Assume we’re in Chora, Mykonos.

    Spend morning gathering food for the day/evening—wine, tarmasalata, pita bread, baklava, etc. plus a few other items we’ll need for spending an evening under the stars on a sacred island.

    Take ferry to Delos, mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis; now a sacred island. Spend day exploring the what remains of a once-powerful city.

    Find a good place to hide from the on-site island “guardians” so we can stay on this sacred island for the evening.

    Spend evening in candlelight, under the stars sharing spiritual insights, adventurous life stories and other romantic experiences as a couple might conjure up in such a situation.

    Take ferry back to Chora the next day (ok, so the tix were for yesterday…whatever!)

    2nd stop: Santorini, Fira Town

    Take ferry from Mykonos to Santorini—3 wonderful hours on the Mediterranean Sea!

    Check into Theoxenia Hotel (http://www.theoxenia-hotel.com/). Enjoy wonderful shower!

    Rent motorcycle and explore Santorini, including remains of beautiful city on cliff peninsula, relaxing on volcanic sand beach and diving into mystical caldera.

    Return to hotel and get ready for a delicious dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the edge of the caldera. Marvel at the beauty and mystery we are gazing at together on this intoxicating island while sharing Greek delicacies and wine.

    Stroll back to hotel…walk into our most romantic room…and close the door!

    2 Ferry tix to Delos, food, etc: $60
    2 Ferry tix Mykonos to Santorini (RT): $100
    Hotel: $150 (includes VAT & breakfast)
    Motorcycle rental/food in Santorini: $70
    Dinner: $100
    Total: $480

    Dream date with dream man: Priceless, of course! (where is dream man, by the way?)

  • Cassandra March 29th, 2008
    1:58 am

    Sorry, gang. Dream date post was meant for another chain. Can you please ignore? I posted it on correct chain after I saw my mistake. (I’m working on letting go of “multi-tasking” for this exact reason!) Thank you!

  • Ged April 27th, 2008
    12:35 pm

    Hi Tim

    Interesting post and ideas. I wonder though whether you might agree with me that sometimes there is a false dichotomy between “work” and “play”

    After “retiring” from teaching and moving from the UK to southern Spain, I am in some ways “busier” than ever. And I love it! I have a business making natural cosmetics and running workshops and I have recently (at 60!) started singing professionally at weddings and concerts. These are my passions, and I combine them with studying for an advanced psychology degree, developing my design skills, spending time with my grandchildren, reading, sunbathing, having lunch with girlfriends and imbibing rather a lot of good Spanish wine!

    I am not stressed as I deliberately keep my business small and don’t accept more than a couple of singing engagements a month. I know that I am lucky in that my husband and I have reasonable pensions and own our house … but I still have to earn money!

    The problem with “leisure” time seems to me not how to fill it, but how to choose between all the myriad fascinating things to learn, make, experience and enjoy while we still have time! Ged

  • Pablo Matamoros April 30th, 2008
    1:47 pm

    Hi Tim,

    I bought your book recently. I had thought about it before, but I wasn’t sure if you were for real ;)

    One of the things that convinced me was that you travel often to Argentina! Although I live in New Zealand, I am from Argentina.

    Go back in line with your topic….

    I misunderstood part of your book. I was worried that I was “working” too much. But, I am actually doing what I like: writing posts for my blog, and stuff related with the IT world. I’m also working on creating a “product” in similar following some of your techniques. It is all fun! Hard work though.

    If you are a geek like me, you spend most of the time in front of a screen for pleasure. To keep my mind in a healthy state I completely disconnect on the weekends.

  • Sharon Samtur May 12th, 2008
    12:42 am

    I think you need my imput re nutrition.

    1) We need enzymes. Where is the raw food to balance the cooked and create a good acid-alkaline ratio in your diet? Where is your vitamin C?

    2) Microwaves are toxic as hell. Tons of studies done on this - they are
    not natural and disturb the normal cellular structure of the food - hence
    the food you cook in them can disturb your cellular structure. Nuke the microwave. And please don’t tell people to use them!

    What is good for your immediate goal of losing fat, and strong muscle is not
    necessarily good for a proper nutritional balance in the long run. Also, different blood types respond differently to different foods. We all have different dietary needs and desires at different times in our life and get on
    certain modes of thought re diet that we change later on. Be flexible.

    Just came upon your site and it is wonderful! Will read your book. Thanks for all the tips. Happy travels and adventures. Maybe if I read your book I can get out from under my decade long paper pile and meet you on the road!

  • Ernie J. Zelinski May 13th, 2008
    7:14 pm

    Here are some quotes about Ways to Put More Time into Your Life

    If you don’t have enough time to accomplish something, consider the
    work finished once it’s begun.
    — John Gage

    Remember that nothing matters very much, and few things matter at
    all.
    — Arthur Balfour

    One of the best ways of avoiding necessary and even urgent tasks is
    to seem busily employed on things that are already done.
    — John Kennett Galbraith

    If you’re already in a hole, it’s no use to continue digging.
    — Roy W. Walters

    Never do today what you can do as well tomorrow; because something
    may occur to make you regret your premature action.
    — Aaron Burr

    The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.
    — Sydney J. Harris

    Don’t’ overdo things that shouldn’t be done in the first place.
    —Unknown Wise Person

    Doing a thing well is often a waste of time.
    — Robert Byrne

    from Ernie Zelinski
    Author of The Joy of Not Working
    (Over 225,000 copies Sold and Published in 17 Languages)
    and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
    (Over 90,000 copies Sold and Published in 7 Foreign Languages)

Subscribe to followup comments via RSS | TrackBack URL

Leave a Comment or a Question

Comment Zen: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be -- cool. If you're not, we'll delete your stuff. Also, please use cursing artfully if you must, and put your URL in the "website" field and not in the comment box. Danke and have fun! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration)