So I started reading the Four Hour Workweek a second time (if you haven’t read it, go to amazon.com right now and order it! Warning, however — you should only buy it if you want to quit your job.), and I’m starting to put some of the principles into action in my life:

The 80-20 rule:

This rule says that 20% of all your actions produce 80% of your results. Or 20% of all input equals 80% of all output. This isn’t set in stone, and the output number is often higher. Tim cites an example in his own business where 90% of his customers were causing him most of his headaches, yet were only bringing in 5% of his profits. He subsequently “fired” his headache customers, concentrated on his big customers (10%) who were making him over 90% of his profits!

He also applies this rule to correspondence, consumer goods/stuff and clothes.

So, first I started with something I thought would be easy: getting rid of clothes. Because really, when it came down to it, I only wear about 5 shirts and the rest are just taking up space. It was a little difficult starting, but once I got going and came to an item that I questioned, I would just think to myself: how many times have I worn this in the past 3 months? Boom. Salvation Army loves me.

The Check Personal Email Only Once A Week Rule:

My first step was to combine my old Hotmail email address with my new Gmail address. First, I programmed it so that everyone who emails my Hotmail account will get an auto-response email saying that I’ve switched to Gmail.

The next step is to not have internet access at my new apartment in Japan and then only go to an internet cafe to check email once a week. “Batch Email Checking,” it’s called. Because life before email did exist. People got by just fine, and had much more time to pursue excitement and real living.

I know some people will be pissed, but there are things in my life way more important than email. I find that if I have a computer connected to the internet I check email about 600 times a day and it wastes my day.

Oh yeah, and this includes Facebook. I think it can be a great social networking tool, but like anything new and addictive, people are not quite sure how to integrate it into their lives.

So, down to once a week, and the specific questions/queries get priority. Don’t get me wrong, I like the “Hey, how’s life treating you” emails too, but they’re just not making the cut if I’m pressed for time and actually taking massive actions toward life goals.

Eliminate information overload and a feeling of being overwhelmed:

This one I’ve noticed the stress roll off right away. I unsubscribed myself from a bunch of email lists that had just been wasting my time, and not really contributing anything to my life.

Then, I took a look at the RSS feeds (like a news headline service) and cut them down from around 20 to just my top four (one of which is the Four Hour Workweek Blog).

I’m really trying to “batch together” my time spent on the internet. I figure, if I am going to waste my time, I’m going to try to do it away from the computer. Or at least write more, if I happen to be glued to the keyboard.

Outsourcing My Life To Indian Masters Grads:

This one is still in the process. I’m using www.elance.com to find me a team to do work tasks for me. The going rate is about $5 an hour, and if I look at how much I value my time at, this is a no-brainer. I’ll have them mostly doing projects that take up too much of my time or that are too mundane for me but still need to be done (research for writing, web advertising projects).

It’s like when I was in Vietnam and I could hire a maid to clean my whole four-storey house for 5 or 10 bucks rather than spending the day doing it myself. The maid is happy because she’s making way more than she usually makes, and I’m happy because I’m saving money (time) by having her do it. Win-win.

I’ll keep everyone updated on other Four Hour Workweek developments in my life, and if you haven’t bought it yet, go to amazon right now and order it! I just realized I already plugged the book up top, but seriously, Tim Ferris is a marketing and lifestyle genius.