The not to do list: 9 habits to stop now | Hacker News Reader

The not to do list: 9 habits to stop now

fourhourworkweek.com

52 pointsmorphle221 comments

0. Don't believe that you know what's best for others.

I check and send email first thing. Starting the flow of communication starts me, personally, on the right foot, and gives the addressee more time to respond.

I most always have a cell phone on me. I like people and have no problem ignoring a call if need be. And as for not answering unknown numbers, give me a break. People are shy and often don't like leaving voicemail.

You guys are missing his points. Read his book and you will understand much better.

Tim Ferris is about CUTTING OUT THE CRAP. He is about efficiency. Tim ferris checks his email once per week. He did this while running a very profitable business. He got to where he is by employing these principles. And unlike other "gurus" that just make money on selling their "guru" information (like rich dad poor dad guy, tony robbins) this guy actually did A WHOLE LOT of things. Now he is sharing his experience on "lifestyle design".

His advice is meant to free up your time, to invest in things that actually matter, and actually produce returns. Do you mean to tell me that posting on yc, checking your email a billion times a day, and screwing around on your phone is productive? It's not, you can bash me all you want, but it simply is not.

Being up to date on news is bullshit. Sure its "nice to know", but does it really get you anywhere? Read his thoughts on "information overload" and you will understand.

All this stuff we are doing, its "nice" but its not efficient, and optimized. If you want to get anything done in this life, you need to be efficient and optimized.

I certainly agree he has some good ideas--but like everything else, what he says should be taken with a grain of salt.

He personally outsources much of his life, including personal e-mails and dating (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/24/mail-your-ch...):

Online dating is largely a numbers game, so I hired virtual teams of people all over the world â€” India, Philippines, Jamaica, Canada, and others â€” to compete against each other and set dates for me on an online calendar. Each of them were assigned one of my accounts on either online dating sites like Match.com, or on social networking sites like Friendster, and there would be a $150 bonus to whichever team set the most good dates. Excluding the bonus, the entire experiment cost less than $200 dollars

If this is your thing then go for it, for me its too impersonal.

I haven't read his books so this may be in there but what did he do before releasing these books that makes him different from the other "gurus"? From the sounds of it in your comment he was a successful businessman because of this then decided to write a book about it and became famous but what business was he in before? Wikipedia nor Google have offered any insight into this.

Drug dealing, actually.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=299663

Geez that thread is filled with such cynical, judgemental, and straight-to-absolutest right/wrong , black/white thinking.

I don't get it. Why was it shady? Just because he is good at business/marketing? The drug was geared toward the sports industry and was for athletes to improve performance. I'm not saying his product worked or it didn't, but HE DID NOT MAKE the product. He simply marketed it well. What is also funny is that this guy is the opposite of those "get rich like me" late night informercials. He DOES NOT CARE how much money he makes. He DOES NOT care about material wealth. He does not care about most things our information-overloaded, consumer, more more more, American culture cares about.

I just want to officially say "give the guy a break". If you don't agree with him that's fine, its just a point of view, just an opinion, everyone has one - but don't bash a guy that made it - what is the yield?

If you don't agree with the product, why would you ever sell it?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194942

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194411

Those links clearly tell me you are in support of Tim Ferris, so I feel we are on the same page! As for your question, well I would not personally, but I do not see where it mentions that he supports a product he does not believe in? But overall, yes, lets just take the POSITIVE things that we can from this guy, and be done with it. I just wanted to state for the record, that "submitting response posts to articles" always seems to contain 1 of 2 things:

1. "hey look at me, I posted a witty comment". 2. "Fail, F-this guy, wak, fake, douche, etc"

Where does that get any of us? Sometimes being a part of these posts is just not worth my energy. (none of this is toward anyone specifically)

Absolutism is stupid.

Agreed, which is why I brought up the positive AND negative about him. You asserted something that was wrong so I supported my argument with proofs of prior posts.

Google the products he sells. The claims are ridiculous and filled with slime. They are glorified penis pills. Looking at only the positives blindly is stupid.

He DOES NOT CARE how much money he makes. He DOES NOT care about material wealth.

Highly unlikely.

Really? My take has always been: if it's important they'll either leave a voice message, call multiple times or try other methods of communication. It's rarely important (at least for me).

I used to agree with that line of thinking, but now I see that as a self fulfilling prophecy: if you don't make an effort to communicate with others, then others won't communicate with you (unless they have to).

I've honestly never had any problems. Then again I make sure to save everyone's phone number in my phone, and I'm the opposite of important. I've never had any problems with having a good amount of friends or staying in touch. I've always preferred email any way.

I guess when you're getting biz dev calls or what have you every day it'd be different.

Or be insulted...some people expect an answer.

Hmm but wouldn't I have those people in my phone? I'm just trying to think of someone I care about who I wouldn't have in my phone. Or someone who would actually be upset with me. If a friend had to borrow someone else's phone they'd probably either call twice or send me a text. Either way they wouldn't be insulted. I guess we associate ourselves with different people.

a potential customer or partner.

Customers never call (they can't) and a partner, at least one of my partners, would never be upset. I see what you're saying though. Just different businesses & people associations.

I wouldn't be interested in doing business with people like these. Odds are I'd insult them in some way I didn't realize down the line anyway.

Aside: these people are always the 20%, IMHO.

Sure; don't form a joint venture with someone like this. But refuse a customer/client over it? Good luck in business.

Some customers cost more than they are worth to you. That's not to say that you should be an asshole, but I'm not their indentured servant either.

I like his approach of "GTP" unfortunately based on my experience it does not apply to all cultures as a whole. There are some cultures most particular in Asia that enjoy the moment of light hearted banter before getting down to business.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com