How To Make The 16 Hour Workday Into The Four Hour Workweek

For many years working as an estate agent in the Spanish property market a 16 hour day was considered for wimps. 18 hours a day 7 days a week and no holidays was the norm. We were so busy that we literally had no time to build a business and therefore when things slowed down of course the business didn’t work too well.

Four Hour Work Week

In 2007 I heard of the Four Hour Work Week and on getting to the States for a visit it was the first thing I bought. I read it in a few days and had my eyes opened very wide. Immediately back in Spain I outsourced some work and saved myself about 60 hours per week. I went on with this for a couple of years until I re read the book and realized I could get so much more done by tracking what was being done better. The new version of the book came out with a lot of personal experiences in it from others who had put this into place and again I was knocked out of my torpor and forced to take action.

More and more I am now outsourcing work that needs doing. And as I get more hands off more gets done. However my goal is still nowhere near. The goal is to have four functioning businesses on autopilot. Why four? Well if one stops functioning or slows down then I can rely on the other three while applying triage to the one needing attention.

Eventually the idea is to have a real estate business working in a much more hands off manner. Currently I do everything. Previously when I had others in the business things still required my attention to come to a conclusion. In the future it will be automatic.

The other businesses will be online and fun. Firstly, I will be buying and selling websites. Currently that is working excellently well. I have managed to automate many of the processes in it too which helps enormously. Next I am working on a big project about Spanish internet marketing about which more to come eventually. Lastly the Devanio big project is ticking over too. When put together there are a ridiculous number of hours to do at the moment. As I learn to write the outsourcing book for each project that will change.

Is a four hour workweek a reasonable goal? Not really for me. I want about a twenty hour workweek to keep me occupied, my kids are at school and my wife a teacher so I need something to do each day between 9am and 5pm. However, things are getting towards that goal if they come off and the extra work now should ensure they do. Previously the null void of the 60 hour minimum workweek was the only option. That book has made me see things very, very differently.

Related Reading

1) Imitation and Flattery

2) Starting From Scratch

3) Niking Your Writing

Originally posted 2010-04-03 13:55:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter