(This podcast is also available from iTunes under Productive Flourishing.)
Authenticity, Productivity, and the Four Hour Work Week
In Episode 4, Dustin, Andre, Jonathan, and I discuss authenticity, identity, money, and the Four Hour Work Week. You’re catching the second part of the conversation.
In this episode, you’ll hear about…
- Why it’s important to look at the Four Hour Work Week’s principles and not necessarily the showmanship
- Why living the unexamined life can be more challenging than a lot of people realize
- How it’s really important to get comfortable with space
- How taking your work seriously through productivity systems while not honoring your personal stuff makes us less apt to take ourselves as seriously and alienates us from our work
If you like this episode, please share it on Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious, or your favorite social media service. But, more importantly, please join the conversation by commenting either here or on your own blog.
And if you like what they panelists are saying, why not visit them in their spaces, too?
p.s. If you’ve liked the content from this series but not the audio, bear with us. We recorded Episode 5 using a better solution. Thanks for sticking with us!
This Episode’s Panelists
Dustin Wax is the project manager at Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the creator of The Writer’s Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he’s not writing, he teaches anthropology and gender studies in Las Vegas, NV. He is the author of Don’t Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College.
Andre Kibbe is the author of Tools for Thought, a blog that explores productivity, creativity and thinking, with an emphasis on the infamous Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. By day, Andre works as a freelance technology writer based in Los Angeles. He can be reached at akibbe02 AT gmail DOT com.
Jonathan Mead is a graphic designer, idea pusher, the author of Illuminated Mind, and a regular writer for Zen Habits. He writes about uncommon and counter-intuitive ways to improve your life and follow your dreams. He has just released his ebook, Reclaim Your Dreams, which helps people live from their dreams rather than just dreaming them.
Again, this is an advanced discussion of productivity and I appreciate that. You’ve identified something I think is a concern for a lot of people, which is the fear of having too much freedom, or too many choices regarding what to do with their time. Many people don’t want to even acknowledge this exists, I think, and so they tell themselves and others “I have no time to do anything; I spend all my time just scraping by to survive at the bare minimum.” When we become willing to look right at that fear of freedom I think it’s actually less scary than it seems when it’s lurking in the back of our minds.
Chris Edgar | Purpose Power Coachings last blog post..4 Lessons Babies Can Teach Us About Productivity
Great discussion on the 4HWW. I have read and heard many reviews of this book and this is the first one that didn’t treat Tim Ferris like a God, nor did they demonize him. Its a good reminder to use what is useful to you and discard the rest.
Carlas last blog post..Is it too late?
@Chris: Thanks so much for continuing to comment on these conversations – we really appreciate it.
We’re really uncomfortable with space in just about all aspect of our lives. Bare rooms, empty canvases, empty document screens – it’s enough to unnerve some. But it’s within those empty spaces that we make meaning, and therein lies the problem: meaning-making comes from internal spaces and are placed on external places. Part of the appeal to plans – Big Ones (religions) or small ones (GTD) – is that it fills this space for us, and that’s why we get into trouble with them: they’re filled for us and not by us. (Actually, they are, but we don’t see us accepting a plan as the same type of choice as making a plan.)
@Carla: I really liked the different perspectives here, too. Tim is but a man – with some great insights, as well as some questionable suggestions.