#809: The 4-Hour Workweek Tools That Still Work — The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek (amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywher…). Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? This episode features two of the most important chapters from the audiobook of The 4-Hour Workweek. The chapters push you to defend your scarce attention—one by saying no to people, the other by saying no to excess information.
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Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:07:24] The low-information diet.
[00:09:45] Cultivating selective ignorance.
[00:14:32] How to read 200% faster in 10 minutes.
[00:17:09] Questions and actions: Go on an immediate one-week media fast.
[00:21:05] Develop the habit of asking yourself, “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?”
[00:22:03] Practice the art of nonfinishing.
[00:22:49] Comfort challenge: Get phone numbers.
[00:25:14] Interrupting interruption and the art of refusal.
[00:28:16] Not all evils are created equal.
[00:29:36] Time wasters: Become an ignoramus.
[00:30:09] Limit email consumption and production.
[00:33:05] Screen incoming and limit outgoing phone calls.
[00:36:10] Master the art of refusal and avoiding meetings.
[00:38:33] In order of preference, steer people toward email, phone, and in-person meetings.
[00:38:59] Respond to voicemail via email whenever possible.
[00:40:50] Meetings should only be held to make decisions about a predefined situation, not to define the problem.
[00:41:53] If you absolutely cannot stop a meeting or call from happening, define the end time.
[00:43:00] The cubicle is your temple — don’t permit casual visitors.
[00:44:24] Use the Puppy Dog Close to help your superiors and others develop the no-meeting habit.
[00:46:48] Time consumers: Batch and do not falter.
[00:50:05] How much is your time worth?
[00:50:45] Estimate the amount of time you will save by grouping similar tasks and batching them.
[00:51:14] Determine how much problems cost to fix in each period.
[00:53:02] Empowerment failure: Rules and readjustment.
[00:59:44] Questions and actions: Create systems to limit your availability.
[01:01:55] Batch activities to limit setup cost and provide more time for dreamline milestones.
[01:02:25] Set or request autonomous rules and guidelines with occasional review of results.
[01:03:18] Tools for eliminating paper distractions, capturing everything.
[01:05:28] Tools for screening and avoiding unwanted calls.
[01:07:12] Tools for scheduling without back-and-forth.
[01:08:23] Tools for choosing the best email batching times.
[01:09:13] Tools for emailing without entering the inbox black hole.
[01:10:20] Tools for preventing web browsing/internet use.
[01:11:10] Comfort challenge: revisit the terrible twos.
[01:12:07] Lifestyle design in action.
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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show (tim.blog/podcast) include Jerry Seinfeld (tim.blog/2020/12/08/jerry-seinfeld), Hugh Jackman (tim.blog/2020/06/26/hugh-jackman), Dr. Jane Goodall (tim.blog/2020/04/16/jane-goodall), LeBron James (tim.blog/2018/11/27/lebron-james-mike-mancias), Kevin Hart (tim.blog/2020/05/20/kevin-hart), Doris Kearns Goodwin (tim.blog/2018/09/07/doris-kearns-goodwin-leade…), Jamie Foxx (tim.blog/2015/12/06/jamie-foxx), Matthew McConaughey (tim.blog/2020/10/19/matthew-mcconaughey), Esther Perel (tim.blog/2017/05/21/esther-perel), Elizabeth Gilbert (tim.blog/2020/05/08/elizabeth-gilbert), Terry Crews (tim.blog/2017/12/20/terry-crews-how-to-have-do…), Sia (tim.blog/2020/08/12/sia), Yuval Noah Harari (tim.blog/2020/10/27/yuval-noah-harari), Malcolm Gladwell (tim.blog/2016/06/21/malcolm-gladwell), Madeleine Albright (tim.blog/2020/05/27/secretary-madeleine-albright), Cheryl Strayed (tim.blog/2017/03/30/cheryl-strayed), Jim Collins (tim.blog/2019/02/18/jim-collins), Mary Karr, (tim.blog/2020/11/11/mary-karr) Maria Popova (tim.blog/2014/10/21/brain-pickings), Sam Harris (tim.blog/2020/05/15/sam-harris-2), Michael Phelps (tim.blog/2021/01/21/michael-phelps-grant-hackett), Bob Iger (tim.blog/2020/01/16/bob-iger), Edward Norton (tim.blog/2019/10/31/edward-norton-motherless-b…), Arnold Schwarzenegger (tim.blog/2015/02/02/arnold-schwarzenegger), Neil Strauss (tim.blog/2014/06/24/neil-strauss), Ken Burns (tim.blog/2019/09/12/ken-burns), Maria Sharapova (tim.blog/2017/08/26/maria-sharapova), Marc Andreessen (tim.blog/2016/05/29/marc-andreessen), Neil Gaiman (tim.blog/2019/03/28/neil-gaiman), Neil de Grasse Tyson (tim.blog/2019/10/03/neil-degrasse-tyson), Jocko Willink (tim.blog/2016/09/21/jocko-willink-on-disciplin…), Daniel Ek (tim.blog/2020/12/03/daniel-ek), Kelly Slater (tim.blog/2020/09/08/kelly-slater), Dr. Peter Attia (tim.blog/2019/11/27/peter-attia-fasting-metfor…), Seth Godin (tim.blog/2016/02/10/seth-godin), Howard Marks (tim.blog/2018/09/25/howard-marks), Dr. Brené Brown (tim.blog/2020/02/06/brene-brown-striving-self-…), Eric Schmidt (tim.blog/2019/04/09/eric-schmidt), Michael Lewis (tim.blog/2020/05/01/michael-lewis), Joe Gebbia (tim.blog/2018/03/08/joe-gebbia-co-founder-of-a…), Michael Pollan (tim.blog/2018/05/06/michael-pollan-how-to-chan…), Dr. Jordan Peterson (tim.blog/2021/03/01/jordan-peterson), Vince Vaughn (tim.blog/2017/05/31/vince-vaughn), Brian Koppelman (tim.blog/2020/04/23/brian-koppelman), Ramit Sethi (tim.blog/2019/05/07/ramit-sethi), Dax Shepard (tim.blog/2020/11/18/dax-shepard), Tony Robbins (tim.blog/2014/10/15/money-master-the-game), Jim Dethmer (tim.blog/2020/05/18/jim-dethmer), Dan Harris (tim.blog/2020/11/19/dan-harris), Ray Dalio (tim.blog/2017/09/13/ray-dalio), Naval Ravikant (tim.blog/2015/08/18/the-evolutionary-angel-nav…), Vitalik Buterin (tim.blog/2021/03/08/vitalik-buterin-naval-ravi…), Elizabeth Lesser (tim.blog/2021/03/16/elizabeth-lesser), Amanda …