It took me less than a week to read even the expanded version of 4-Hour Work Week. This wasn't for lack of content, but for a combination of speed-reading reminders and rants about focus and Getting Things Done (GTD).

In all honesty, I started this book with ill intentions. I'm often skeptical of anything too many people get excited about and author Tim Ferriss fits the bill. Still, I figured if I wanted to bag on the guy I was going to do the homework first.

I'm glad I did. While I don't buy into all of Ferriss' ideas, the book was a real page-turner. It's almost a perfect split of legitimate ideas you can use to increase productivity and stories of success and attainable luxury that invoke feelings similar to if you were reading about Narnia. I love the idea of dropping the excuses and doing what you've always wanted, but I've done more of these wild bucket list items than many and I don't totally agree with the level of ease the book describes. Further, if the typical employee tried many of the virtual assistant/remote work ideas presented in these pages they may very well be dismissed and perhaps even prosecuted. I certainly couldn't get away with it in my government contracting job but I couldn't have pulled it off in my prior high-security IT positions either. The author admits the techniques aren't for everyone, I would guess they aren't for that many people at all.

These things said, don't put me in the haters category. I'm behind the spirit and intentions of this book. After finishing it, I don't even mind the trend of young professionals looking to Ferriss as a sort of role model, having seen where his heart is.