I used to be a massive fan of Tim Ferriss and his Four Hour Work Week. One thing that book did for me was to show me that work is not what it was to our parents and previous generation. That the work rules have changed, and it’s about the quality, not the quantity these day. Work smart, not more. Actually work less is the motto.

Mr Ferriss is as good at marketing as he is at productivity and at some point seeing him everywhere got a bit too much (why not do like Seth Godin who promotes his thought leadership smartly and organically?) so I unsubscribed from his blog and his second book is still unread on my shelf. I am now consuming his wisdom in moderation 🙂

I am going to cite here his list of productivity hacks which I found recently and which I thought was brilliant. We spend so much time at work that if we are not happy there, we can not be happy overall. I especially agree with the 80/20 rule, giving yourself less time (I use the egg timer to time myself on tasks and projects, otherwise I never finish them), ‘selective ignorance’ (it works!) and hiring a virtual assistant (I did, successfully, and will again when I am back to work full time). I can recommend Fancy Hands, they are in NY, have flexible pricing and are great. You could hire VA’s on elance.com too.